SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- El Salvador hosts Costa Rica Friday night in a match that could well prove decisive to the chances of each nation of advancing to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

It will be one more in a long line of showdowns between two regional foes perfectly familiar with one another.The rivals have met countless times since they first squared off in 1935 -- a game that ended with a 6-1 victory for Costa Rica.

Coincidentally, that match took place in San Salvador, the location at which they will face each other again, more than three quarters of a century later.  It is not necessary, however, to go back nearly so far in time to the last meaningful match between these two teams.In fact, these two nations met on the road to the 2010 World Cup in San Salvador just a few years ago.

On September 9, 2009, El Salvador struck a crucial blow to Costa Rica's chances of qualifying directly for what would have been a third straight World Cup appearance.  With their own backs against the wall that night, the Salvadorans managed to take all three points on a late goal by Rudis Corrales, who entered as a substitute in the 81^st minute and scored the game winner ten minutes later.

That marked a third straight qualifying loss for the Ticos, and proved an important result in sending them to fourth place in the hexagonal, and a play-off series with Uruguay.  Costa Rica would go on to drop that series, 2-1, to the eventual fourth place team at South Africa 2010, and the Ticos missed out on the World Cup completely.

Winding the clock forward three years, the two historic rivals were placed in the same semifinal round group along with Mexico.  After four matches, Mexico has sealed advancement, leaving the two Central American nations to fight it out for the last available final round spot from Group B.

So perhaps even more will be on the line Friday than the last time these teams met at Estadio Cuscatlan, since both will in essence be playing for survival.  The Ticos will call on the experience of that evening in 2009, as the base of their current squad -- players including Michael Umaña, Cristian Bolaños, Bryan Ruiz, and Cristian Oviedo -- started that game three years ago and are likely to do so again.

That Costa Rican experience will be up against a younger Salvadoran side whose strike force averages just 23 years of age, and doesn't include the 2009 hero, Corrales.  Nevertheless, players such as Dennis Alas, Eliseo Quintanilla and Alfredo Pacheco bring not only the memories of that night to the table, but also the experience of having faced Costa Rica earlier this year, in the first game of the semifinal round for both teams.

In San Jose in June, the Cuscatlecos managed a heroic comeback after falling behind by two goals in the first fifteen minutes.  The subsequent tie, and a vital point on the road for El Salvador, could well end up the difference for both teams in their hopes to qualify for the 2013 hexagonal.

With a difficult visit to Mexico on the schedule for the final match day next week, the Salvadorans know they need to take advantage of their home field advantage by beating Costa Rica, their direct rival for that second hexagonal spot from Group B.  No matter the result, with so much history between these two old rivals, Friday night promises to be another one for the record books at the fabled Cuscatlan.