EAST HARTFORD, Connecticut—The night belonged to Landon Donovan but the early goal came from Mix Diskerud. Unfortunately for the record Rentschler Field crowd of 36,265 fans—some of whom didn't arrive until after halftime due to brutal traffic—Ecuador's Enner Valencia tallied a late equalizer and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

It was a night when the past and the future collided in the present and it took just five minutes for the United States to go on top.

The goal came, fittingly, through the man of the night, who picked up a long throughball in the left channel and lofted a left-footed cross to Jozy Altidore on the far post. The forward, so often the recipient of Donovan's pass through the years, whiffed on the volley but managed to control enough to find DeAndre Yedlin, who in turn gave a backpass to an onrushing Diskerud.

The U.S. catalyst scored with a perfectly placed shot past Ecuadorian goalkeeper Maximo Banguera.

The teams traded possession for 10 minutes with a couple half chances—Juan Cazares' effort matched by an Alitdore near miss—but no goals came and Joe Gyau limped off the field with a sprained left knee, eventually heading back into the tunnel on crutches. Bobby Wood replaced the Borussia Dortmund midfielder.

In the 25th minute, Donovan nearly scored what would have been the perfect cap to his dream career, but his close range shot after a backheel from Altidore ricocheted off the post after easily beating Banguera.

Brad Guzan kept the U.S. ahead during the Donovan-on-the-field portion of the evening with three straight saves before the half hour mark. He stoned Renato Ibarra on a near breakaway, then made a save at the near post on the ensuing corner kick before deflecting away another ball at the far post seconds later.

Donovan had another chance in the 38th minute when he started a break, then passed to Altidore who took a couple touches and returned the ball to his teammate. The Los Angeles Galaxy star struggled to get the ball out from under his feet before putting a shot wide left. Jurgen Klinsmann, watching from the sideline, raised his arms in agonized frustration.

And then, it was over. In the 41st minute, Donovan came off for Joe Corona, earning a loud ovation and a blue smoke flare from the American Outlaws section. The player and the coach shook hands then hugged, and Donovan walked to the bench for the final time in a U.S. jersey, his team on top 1-0.

After halftime, there was also a soccer game, one that was more important to the future of the American team. Klinsmann did not make any changes coming out of the locker room and while the U.S. had more of the ball in the opening 15 minutes, they failed to put much pressure on the visiting side's net.

At the hour mark, Alfredo Morales, Omar Gonzalez, and Tim Ream came on for Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Orozco, and John Brooks.

Wood nearly made it 2-0 when he found the end of a tantalizing cross from Yedlin but his left foot volley hurtled harmlessly over the cross bar.

Ecuador mounted pressure as the U.S. subs struggled to mesh together on the field. A few frantic defensive stops from Gonzalez, Yedlin, Ream, and Greg Garza went a long way to keeping the clean sheet.

A pitch invader ran onto the field, took a photo with Ecuadorian goalkeeper Banguera, and jumped back into the stands. Altidore wondered when support was going to arrive, then got replaced by Chris Wondolowski, who took the captain's armband.

While the Americans showed flashes—a strong push from Diskerud, only to see him miss Yedlin; a nice run from the Seattle Sounders player, who dribbled over the sideline—they weren't sharp enough to break down a good enough and organized opponent. It's a story we've written before.

As is the one about conceding a late equalizer. Enner Valencia found one in the 88th minute. The West Ham United forward was open in the middle of the field 25 yards away and blasted a right-footed shot that knuckled past a helpless Guzan.

After four minutes of stoppage time and a golden chance for the U.S., the game concluded. The Landon Donovan era ended on Friday night, but the work for Jurgen Klinsmann's United States national team was just beginning.