In a wave of blue and white, they flooded the parking lots and the long green lawn of Exposition Park hours before their Gold Cup group-stage finale at Banc of California Stadium, their full-throated chants and triumphant pounding of drums drowning out the hum of evening traffic.
For the first hour of their match against rival Honduras, which had already been mathematically eliminated from reaching the knockout stage, the Salvadoran cheering continued, as if their prideful playlist had been put on repeat. They thought they were on their way to the next stage of CONCACAF’s semi-annual continental championship.