Kick-Off:
Saturday, 15 June at 6:00 AM (IST)
Location: Subaru Park, United States
Match preview
El Salvador will enter Friday’s friendly off the back of two 2026 World Cup qualification matches, with the national side currently competing in Group F of the second round.
La Selecta occupy third position in the section with four points from two matches, having drawn 0-0 with Puerto Rico before recording a much-needed 3-1 victory over Saint Vincent & the Grenadines last time out.
David Doniga’s side will now face Peru and Guatemala in friendly fixtures before returning to competitive action in the CONCACAF Nations League against Montserrat at the start of September.
El Salvador will be tackling Peru for the seventh time in their history, and they have previously recorded two victories, including a 2-0 success in a friendly in March 2019, but Peru ran out 4-1 winners when the two national sides locked horns last time out in September 2022.
La Selecata’s success over Saint Vincent & the Grenadines proved to be their first win since June 2022, and they will now be aiming to make it back-to-back victories for the first time since the middle of 2021.
Peru, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 0-0 draw with Paraguay, which followed friendly wins over Nicaragua and Dominican Republic back in March.
Jorge Fossati’s side will now complete their preparations for the Copa America against El Salvador, before beginning their 2024 tournament against Chile on June 21, while they will also face Canada and Argentina in the group stage of the competition.
The White and Reds finished fourth at the 2021 Copa America, while they were runners-up in 2019, so it would not be a surprise to see them advance deep into this year’s tournament.
Peru won the South American Championship in 1939, meanwhile, before landing their first Copa America in 1975, and they have since been regulars in the knockout round of the tournament.
The White and Reds have won three of their last five friendly matches and will now be aiming to put another positive result on the board ahead of their Copa America opener against Chile.
Prediction
It’s fair to say that El Salvador is coming in well-heated for this international friendly, having been involved in two CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches just last week, where they made a decent start to the second phase.
In their section opener, La Selecta settled for a point against Puerto Rico in a dull scoreless encounter, but swiftly bounced back onto the winning track as they cruised to a routine 3-1 triumph over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on matchday two.
Amazingly, that victory has finally put an end to their two-year winless streak – having drawn 12 and suffered an equal number of defeats during their dry spell of 24 matches – but now they aim to string together consecutive wins for the first time since June 2022.
On the opposite end of the pitch stands the Peru national side, who delivered a rather poor on-field performance in their first warm-up match ahead of the 2024 Copa America, failing to register a single shot on target, yet they were successful at the back to hold Paraguay to a nil-nil draw.
After a lifeless draw, which followed back-to-back beatings of Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic in March friendlies, La Bicolor will be hoping to get a morale-boosting win ahead of the big tournament versus Salvador, whom they trashed 4-1 in their most recent clash in September 2022.
Jorge Fossati’s men have the potential to emerge as dark horses at this summer’s Copa America, having excelled in the previous two editions of the tournament, finishing fourth in 2021, while two years earlier they were beaten 1-3 by Brazil in the final.
While Peru should do enough to pick up the necessary victory, we think there’s a realistic chance this could turn into a quiet and uneventful affair. La Bicolor have struggled in attack during their recent outings, having gone scoreless in three away matches, with seven of their last 10 games culminating in fewer than two goals. A similar scenario unfolds for El Salvador, who have failed to find the scoresheet in four of their last seven outings, five of which produced no more than two goals.
Team News
El Salvador have not reported any fitness concerns from their last match, but Adan Climaco was substituted at the interval of the clash with Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, so he could potentially drop out of the side.
Pablo Punyed was the player to replace Climaco at half time, and the 34-year-old is now in line for a start, while there could also be a change in the final third of the field.
Indeed, Nelson Bonilla came off the bench to register in the team’s last game, and the 33-year-old, who has 20 goals for his country, is set to return to the XI on Friday night.
As for Peru, head coach Fossati is again expected to name a strong side for the first whistle, before making changes as the match progresses to keep players fresh for the start of the Copa America.
The White and Reds are again set to line up in a 3-4-3 formation, with Gianluca Lapadula, who plays his club football for Cagliari, bidding to add to his nine goals for the national side.
Captain and all-time leading goalscorer Paolo Guerrero, 40, could also potentially start, while Girona’s Alexander Callens and Celta Vigo’s Renato Tapia should also be in the XI.
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Sibrian, Clavel, Punyed; Tamacas, M Cartagena, Martinez, Flores; Castillo-Orellana, Bonilla, Tejada
Peru possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Araujo, Zambrano, Callens; Polo, W Catagena, Tapia, Lopez; Lapadula, Guerrero, Rivera