Peru will face off against El Salvador at Audi Field in Washington DC on Tuesday, with both sides having to look forward to a summer without World Cup football.
Hugo Perez's El Salvador will be playing their first game since June, after their scheduled friendly on Friday against Honduras was cancelled.
Match preview
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After losing out to the heroics of Australian keeper Andrew Redmayne in the intercontinental playoff for one of the final World Cup places, Peru returned to the international stage with a 1-0 friendly defeat to Mexico on Saturday.
2022 started off well for Peru, but everything came down to qualifying for the World Cup. They missed out on automatic qualification by two points and, after losing the playoff, manager Ricardo Gareca resigned, being replaced by former Cruz Azul manager Juan Reynoso.
Fans in the United States, where this fixture against El Salvador is being held, will be familiar with Seattle Sounders striker Raul Ruidiaz, who has reached double-digit goals every year since 2018 and has scored nine MLS goals so far this season.
Manager Reynoso will be looking to learn more about his side in this friendly, as the international year comes to a premature end for them.
The next competitive chance to test his team will be in the 2024 Copa America, so this friendly gives him an opportunity to experiment and familiarise himself with the team.
El Salvador had a difficult time in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, only picking up 10 points in 14 games and finishing seventh in the table.
However, the 2026 World Cup will provide an unprecedented opportunity for CONCACAF sides to reach the biggest stage, and Hugo Perez's side will be bidding to qualify for their first World Cup since 1982.
With the USA, Canada and Mexico hosting the tournament, six CONCACAF teams will have automatic places after qualifying, with the three hosts included.
On top of that, two CONCACAF teams will compete in the intercontinental playoffs, so there are plenty of chances to qualify if El Salvador can find a winning formula.
The CONCACAF Nations League has been successful for La Selecta, with El Salvador having already secured their place in the Gold Cup and still in contention for a Nations League Finals spot depending on their result against USA, who they held to a 1-1 draw in their last outing, next year.
Since becoming the manager in April 2021, Perez has made significant steps to improve the team; not only have the results in the Nations League been positive but Perez has also emphasised picking players born in the United States to Salvadoran parents to help bolster the roster he can choose from.
Nelson Bonilla will be key to the El Salvador attack if they are to provide any attacking threat against Peru; he scored twice in their 3-1 win against Grenada, their only win in a successful Nations League campaign so far.
Team News
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The lineup for Peru is challenging to predict as it is only Juan Reynoso's second game in charge; he played a 4-2-3-1 formation against Mexico, as opposed to the 4-1-4-1 that his predecessor regularly played.
One decision that will be interesting to see is if he starts Anderson Santamaria or Carlos Zambrano at centre-back - Santamaria started the last game against Mexico but was taken off at half time.
In the Nations League, El Salvador used the 4-2-3-1 formation twice in their three games so far so could well match formations with Peru in this fixture.
The selection of the attacking midfielder could be the key choice to look out for in the starting lineup. Christian Martinez, Eric Calvillo and Enrico Hernandez have all played that position in the Nations League, so there are plenty of options to choose from.
Peru possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Lopez, Callens, Zambrano, Advincula; Flores, Tapia, Cueva, Aquino, Carrillo; Ruidiaz
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Larin, Dominguez, Gomez, Tamacas; Reyes, Orellana, Martinez, Landaverde, Henriquez; Bonilla
We say: Peru 1-2 El Salvador
With El Salvador having a much more settled side and Peru having a manager who is only taking charge of his second game for the national team, there is a chance for El Salvador to pick up a really good result here. After their draw against the USA, a win in this fixture could definitely be on the cards.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
