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NEW YORK - El Salvador was to be without defender Alexander Larin for Saturday's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying semifinal against Honduras - and two additional matches - after being suspended by FIFA for striking U.S. forward Terrence Boyd in an off-the-ball incident in their group match on Monday.
The incident in the 84th minute at the top of the penalty area left Boyd, who had scored two goals in the match, with a bloody nose and he needed to leave the field for treatment and a change of shirt.
Larin was not sanctioned during the game but video showed him raising his arm to hit Boyd in the face, resulting in FIFA's review and penalizing the Salvadoran under Article 48, Paragraph 1 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
Jaime Alas scored in the fifth minute of injury time to rally El Salvador to a 3-3 draw against the United States, earning it the top spot in Group A and a berth in the semifinals and eliminating the Americans.
Besides the semifinal, Larin would be suspended for Monday's final and the first game of the London Olympics should El Salvador advance.
