JULIAN ARAUJO

Major League Soccer and Liga MX both realize they’re more powerful as partners than rivals.

Forward Jozy Altidore and goalkeeper Brad Guzan are on a preliminary 59-man United States roster with a mostly junior varsity appearance for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Now comes the winner-take-all semifinal Sunday night against Honduras or Canada for a trip to the men’s Olympic soccer tournament. Mexico, the 2012 Olympic champion, won its 14th straight Olympic qualifier dating to 2008 and finished first in Group A at 3-0. Ad“We wanted to win the game to be at the top of our group,” American defender Mauricio Pineda said. In the first game of the doubleheader, Costa Rica routed the Dominican Republic 5-0 in a matchup of eliminated teams. Randall Leal of Major League Soccer’s Nashville scored twice, and Manfred Ugalde, Bernald Alfaro and Aaron Salazar had one goal each.

“This could be World Cup qualifying. and I think we need to just be able to execute and be ready and not take our foot off the pedal. 22, the U.S. used a lineup mostly from eliminated Major League Soccer teams and had wide stretches of open space against 70th-ranked El Salvador in a match played outside the FIFA calendar and without top stars. Right back Julian Araujo also started in his debut, and defenders Marco Farfan and Kyle Duncan debuted as second-half substitutes. Aaronson got the lone goal of the second half in the 50th with a 12-yard right-foot shot from Lletget's pass.