U.S. shakes off bite, wins fight in Cup
“There’s a history of that in our sport,” he said. Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was given a four-month suspension for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup.
A furious Altidore shoved Romero, then grimaced and fell but stayed in the game.
“It’s never happened before, but in CONCACAF, it never ceases to amaze me,” Altidore said. “You got to keep your cool. I shouldn’t be saying these things happen, but they do.”
Canadian referee Drew Fischer, a Major League Soccer regular, did not penalize the incident, which occurred in the 57th minute.
“I can’t fault the referee,” Arena said. “Those things are not easy to see on the field.”
CONCACAF’s disciplinary committee has leeway to impose punishment.
“These things always happen in football,” El Salvador coach Eduardo Lara said through a translator, although it was unclear he knew bites had occurred.
The Americans, who started five veterans added for the tournament’s knockout phase, overcame a shaky defense and poor passing. They face Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
El Salvador’s 26 fouls disrupted the U.S.
“Our timing wasn’t good. We didn’t deal well with the physicality.” Arena said. “So it took us, really it took us 30 minutes to play a little bit, and then we got a little bit more assertive …”
Arena changed all 11 starters for the second straight game and at 7-0-5 set a record for longest unbeaten streak at the start of a U.S. coaching tenure, topping Bob Bradley’s 10-0-1 in 2007.