text: [+] Enlarge Frederick Breedon/Getty Images Brek Shea and the U.S. took a one-goal lead into stoppage time. But El Salvador equalized to end the match at 3-3, eliminating the Americans from Olympic qualifying. 
   
   Despite being a heavy favorite to emerge from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament with a ticket to the 2012 Olympics in London this summer in hand, the U.S. Under-23 national team was eliminated in a 3-3 tie to El Salvador Monday night. 
   
   Needing a win to advance from Group A after suffering a 2-0 upset to Canada on Saturday, the U.S. went ahead before a minute was up, surrendered its lead, went behind, equalized, went ahead again and allowed the game-tying goal in the very last minute of extra time. 
   
   A first-minute goal got the U.S. off to a flying start. Brek Shea broke through on the left and sent a cross into Terrence Boyd, who volleyed the ball into the net from close range. 
   
   But the Americans had trouble establishing their usual possession-dominating rhythm in the first half, discovering quickly that they were facing the strongest opponent in the tournament thus far. El Salvador competed for the ball and clogged the spaces well. This forced the U.S. to lump long balls to Shea and Boyd. And although Boyd did his best to be a handful in the box -- winning the ball in the 11th and putting himself through on goal before giving up possession -- this tactic was largely ineffective. 
   
   Crucially, keeper Bill Hamid tweaked his left ankle in the 31st minute. Within six minutes, El Salvador would twice punish his refusal to come off, or coach Caleb Porter's failure to substitute him. Undoubtedly, this will be picked apart in the coming weeks. In the 35th minute, Hamid failed to impose himself, or even move, on a corner to his near post. Lester Blanco rose over Kofi Sarkodi and headed in to equalize. In the 37th, Perry Kitchen and Jorge Villafana stood and watched as a low, straightforward cross into the box rolled toward the post, where Andres Flores beat the stumbling Hamid to the ball and slipped it underneath him and into the net. Shell-shocked and panicked, the U.S. barreled forward for the remainder of the half but produced little of consequence. 
   
   In the second half, El Salvador set about running down the clock, nibbling away the minutes with a series of time-wasting tactics. Mostly, El Salvador frustrated the U.S. by inviting the Americans into its own half before crashing the spaces and clearing the ball to send its opponent back to square one. Throughout the game, the U.S.'s midfield trio failed to secure enough of the ball to settle into a rhythm and provide service to the forwards. All the U.S. could muster, then, for 20 minutes, was a dangerous shot by Freddy Adu. 
   
   In the 64th minute, a flagging El Salvadoran defense slipped up. Boyd brought down a long punt from Sean Johnson (who had replaced the injured Hamid), whereupon Adu slipped Boyd a ball through the back line. Boyd finished cleanly, making it 2-2. Four minutes later, Joe Corona, anonymous throughout the game, found himself on the end of a rare dangerous cross from Adu at the second post and was allowed to head in the liberating goal. With the deficit overturned, the U.S. was seemingly on its way to the decisive semifinal game. 
   
   It had now fallen to the U.S. to ride out the game. But it fell into the same trap as El Salvador had. The Americans allowed themselves to be put under pressure and cede the initiative to their irked opponents, who grew increasingly aggressive. The Yanks appeared to be getting away with it, too. But in the fourth and final minute of extra time, Amobi Okugo lost track of playmaker Jaime Alas, who ran through the center of the U.S.'s defense and hit a bouncing shot that skipped awkwardly. Johnson punched the ball skyward, only to see it skip into the U.S. goal. 
   
   The U.S. had been unable to stamp its authority on a second consecutive game, allowing El Salvador entry points into the game time and again by failing to maintain possession. Brimming with talent, this U.S. team's failure to qualify for the Summer Games will be remembered as both a stain on a federation that failed to send a U-20 team to the 2011 World Cup and a blight on the resume of coaching prodigy Porter. 
   
   But given its performances, it's hard to argue that the U.S. deserved much better. Here are our player grades (10=best) 
   
   GK -- Bill Hamid, 3: Was convincing in the early going but should have indicated that he was in no condition to proceed after taking a knock in the 30th minute. El Salvador's first two goals could have been avoided by prompter interventions from Hamid (or the coach) before he came off in the 39th minute. 
   
   D -- Kofi Sarkodie, 4.5: Simply beaten in the air on the 1-1, Sarkodie was once again better going forward than he was defensively. 
   
   D -- Ike Opara, 4: Looked sharper than he had against Canada, but he failed to step out on Alas on the dooming 3-3. 
   
   D -- Perry Kitchen, 4: Kitchen was steady enough throughout the game, but he should have been more alert as the eventual 2-1 rolled past him. 
   
   D -- Jorge Villafana, 4.5: Impressive early on, Villafana just let Flores run by him undisturbed to make it 2-1. 
   
   M -- Amobi Okugo, 5.5: A seventh-minute yellow card took the sting out of his game but he nevertheless had a strong night plugging holes and shielding the defense. And then he let Alas run away from him to score the 3-3. 
   
   M -- Mix Diskerud, 5: Not a banner night for him, but not his worst either. He tried his best to distribute but was sometimes sloppy and didn't find enough of the ball to go around. 
   
   M -- Joe Corona, 4.5: Scored the goal that should have sent the U.S. through but was otherwise invisible. Like he had against Canada, Corona appeared completely lost. 
   
   F -- Freddy Adu, 7: Played out on the right again, a position where he never looked comfortable, Adu was most effective on set pieces and when he drifted inside. His two assists were incisive, however, and should have made the difference. 
   
   F -- Terrence Boyd, 7: Active and mobile, Boyd replaced Agudelo capably by providing a good target and getting teammates involved. He converted two of four big chances and should have been the hero of the night. 
   
   F -- Brek Shea, 6: Did good work disturbing the back line and picked up an assist. But his crossing often let him down. 
   
   Subs: 
   
   GK -- Sean Johnson, 4.5: Confidently stepped in for Hamid in the 39th minute and made a handful of crucial saves. But that bouncing shot that sent the U.S. crashing out may haunt him for years, as he probably should have dealt with it. 
   
   M -- Michael Stephens, Incomplete: An 88th minute substitute for Corona, Stephens had little impact. 
   
   F -- Joe Gyau, Incomplete: A 93rd minute time-wasting substitution. 
   
   Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at leander.espn@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderESPN. ||||| The Americans had only a handful of seconds left to run out the clock and advance a step closer to the Olympics. With the pressure building with each tick, the victory slipped right through their hands. 
   
   El Salvador's Lester Blanco (17) celebrates with Andres Flores (20) after Blanco scored a goal against the United States in the first half of a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer match on Monday, March... (Associated Press) 
   
   El Salvador's Lester Blanco (17) slides on the grass to his teammates after scoring a goal against the United States in the first half of a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer match on Monday, March 26,... (Associated Press) 
   
   El Salvador's Richard Menjivar (16) chases down the ball with United State's Mix Diskerud (8) in the first half of a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer match on Monday, March 26, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn.... (Associated Press) 
   
   El Salvador's Jaime Alas (10) falls as he chases the ball with United States' Freddy Adu (7) nd Kofi Sarkodie, right, in the first half of a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer match on Monday, March 26,... (Associated Press) 
   
   The United States, known for producing top goalkeepers such as Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Tim Howard, found itself done in Monday night when substitute Sean Johnson couldn't handle a long shot from Jaime Alas of El Salvador in stoppage time. 
   
   The ball bounced off his hands, up over him and into the net, and El Salvador ousted the United States from Olympic qualifying with a 3-3 tie. 
   
   The stunned Americans missed the Olympics for the second time since 1976 and second time in three games. 
   
   "This is probably the worst feeling I've ever felt in my life so far as a pro athlete," U.S. captain Freddy Adu said. "This is going to be hard to get over. But at the end of the day things like this happen. For me, I never want to feel this way again, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to never feel this way again." 
   
   The Americans had to win to reach Saturday's semifinals in Kansas City, Kan., and they led 3-2 on Joe Corona's goal in the 68th minute. Officials added 4 minutes of stoppage time onto the game, and U.S. coach Caleb Porter said they were "seconds away" from closing out the win and taking the top spot in Group A. A television clock showed the ball going in 4 minutes, 14 seconds into stoppage time. 
   
   What happened is something U.S. midfielder Mix Diskerud said no one wants to experience in life, something he couldn't believe. 
   
   "The last 20 minutes after our third goal, all those minutes felt like very, very long hours. But I thought we were going to make it. Everybody thought we were going to make it.," Diskerud said. 
   
   "One shot." 
   
   Several Americans dropped to the field in exhaustion and disbelief after Alas' score, and Porter had to rally them back to their feet for one last gasp chance that didn't materialize. Porter said he hugged Johnson after the game. The 6-foot-4 keeper did not speak with reporters. 
   
   "He feels like he's let everybody down, let his teammates down, and I told him he didn't," Porter said. 
   
   El Salvador reached the semifinals, putting it a win away from its first Olympic berth since 1968. Canada, which tied Cuba 1-1 earlier, finished second. Lester Blanco and Andres Flores also scored for El Salvador, a team coach Mauricio Alfaro pointed out had less than two weeks to prepare for this tournament and didn't have the whole roster together until late. 
   
   "It was just incredible," Alfaro said of the win, speaking through an interpreter. 
   
   But Alfaro also said he had told his players to shoot more in the second half to try to pressure Johnson and the El Salvador coach said he did feel Johnson made a mistake on Alas' kick. 
   
   "The shot didn't have much power," Alfaro said. 
   
   Terrence Boyd scored twice for the U.S., and Johnson replaced keeper Bill Hamid in the 39th minute. 
   
   After a 2-0 loss to Canada in the second of this three-game, round-robin tournament, the Americans needed to win to advance. 
   
   So did El Salvador, and the crowd of 7,889 was about evenly split between the countries keeping the U.S. from a true home-field advantage at LP Field, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans. El Salvador survived a physical game with plenty of yellow cards on each side. 
   
   Boyd went to the sideline with blood on the front of his shirt late in the game. Diskerud said both he and Adu were bitten and showed reporters marks as proof. 
   
   "Part of the game, I guess," Diskerud said. 
   
   The U.S. had a little bit of time left to try and go ahead but couldn't get anything going before the game ended. The result leaves the Americans adding 2012 to 2004 and 1976 as years they failed to qualify for the Olympics, missing out on a 15th appearance overall. 
   
   Boyd got his first start in this round-robin tournament with Juan Agudelo recovering from surgery in New York to fix torn cartilage in his left knee, and Boyd gave the Americans the scoring boost they missed against Canada on Saturday night. The Americans attacked from the start, Boyd scored 61 seconds into the game. Brek Shea dribbled out of three defenders and sent a cross over to Boyd who scored off a left-footed volley. 
   
   And Boyd nearly scored twice more. His header went over the crossbar in the 10th minute, and he had a breakaway chance in the 11th only to see keeper Yimy Cuellar come out to break up the play. 
   
   Hamid rolled covering up a ball and appeared to hurt his ankle midway through the first half. 
   
   El Salvador took advantage by scoring two goals in two minutes to grab the lead and the momentum. Blanco scored on a header off a corner kick over Hamid's hands in the 35th minute, and Flores beat Hamid in the 37th minute off what had been a weak shot by Alas that turned into a cross. Porter pulled Hamid in the 39th minute, putting in 6-4 Johnson for his first appearance in the tournament. 
   
   Boyd tied it up with his second goal off a pass from Adu in the 65th minute. Corona, whose mother is a native of El Salvador, scored off a header just inside the left post off a pass from Adu. 
   
   Johnson smothered one strong kick from Isidro Gutierrez, but couldn't stop the ball when it mattered at the end.
target: – The US won't be competing in men's soccer at the Olympics, thanks to a heartbreaking goal that came literally at the last minute. El Salvador battled the US to a 3-3 draw last night, the AP reports; the US, which had been heavily favored to win its group in CONCACAF qualifying, needed a win after being upset by Canada 2-0. It was a back-and-forth affair, with the US scoring in the first minute, then falling behind, and finally coming back to lead 3-2. But in stoppage time El Salvador's Jaime Alas bounced a ball off the hands of substitute keeper Sean Johnson and into the net. Starting keeper Bill Hamid had been injured in the 31st minute, but, in a move ESPN suspects will be much-criticized, he wasn't pulled out immediately. El Salvador scored two goals against him in six minutes.“This is probably the worst feeling I've ever felt in my life,” says captain Freddy Adu. “This is going to be hard to get over.”