RSS
ATOM
advertisement
Gold Cup Preview: United States vs. Panama
The Gold Cup quarterfinals pit the USA against Panama. Goal.com's Noah Davis previews the action.
Jul 15, 2009 11:49:10 PM
, USA
By Noah Davis
Who: United States vs. Panama
What: Gold Cup quarterfinals
When: 8 pm ET, Saturday, July 18
Where: Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: Fox Soccer Channel and Telefutura
After going undefeated during group play of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States Men's National Team drew Panama as its quarterfinal opponent. The squads will play on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The Red Tide, which earned the last spot in the quarterfinals thanks to a 4-0 victory over Nicaragua in its third match of group play, battled the Americans to a 0-0 draw in the final of the 2005 competition, before falling in penalty kicks. (The teams have played two additional times in the Gold Cup, with the U.S. winning both matches in regulation.) The winning streak should continue as Bob Bradley's team, despite being short-handed, advance to the semifinals of the regional championship.
Europe Calls
Four American players -- Charlie Davies, Steve Cherundolo, Michael Parkhurst, and Freddy Adu -- have flown across the Pond and returned to their club sides, leaving Bradley with just 18 of his original 23-man roster. (Jon Busch is available but not with the team.) The coach can call any of his seven reserve players -- although Benny Feilhaber, who played in the first group play game, also went back to his club team -- but reports indicate that he won't exercise this option for the quarterfinal match. Clarence Goodson, who missed the match against Honduras with an injury but was on the bench for the Haiti game, should return, and give the middle of the American defense a lift.
Goals Aplenty
The U.S. team is an offensive machine, leading the first round with eight goals scored. (Panama, for its part, finished in second place with six.) While the defenses it battled weren't world class -- no offense to Grenada, but I imagine most Major League Soccer teams could get a goal or two against the Spice Boyz -- the Stars and Stripes showed they can score in a number of ways. Panama will be hard pressed to deal with the increasing effectiveness of Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers, and Santino Quaranta, especially if Davy Arnaud can match the work rate he showed against Haiti. With Troy Perkins back in net for the U.S., the defense should post another clean sheet.
Another Shocking Result?
After an opening match loss to Guadeloupe and a chaotic, red card-filled draw with Mexico, Panama turned up the pressure and defeated Group C whipping boy Nicaragua 4-0 to punch its ticket to the quarterfinals. Gary Stempel will get Armando Gun and Ricardo Phillips -- both sent off against El Tri -- back and will hope that Luis Tejada, who had two late strikes against Nicaragua, can inject some offense into the match (although he probably will continue to come off the bench). Netminder Jaime Penedo will be under attack all day long from the U.S. attack, and he'll need an excellent performance between the pipes if Panama hopes to post another impressive Gold Cup result. Unfortunately, it looks as though the road ends here for the 2005 runner-up.
Projected U.S. Line Up
-------------------Perkins------------------
Evans----Goodson---Marshall----Pearce
Quaranta--Holden--Beckerman--Rogers
-----------Ching---------Arnaud-----------
Projected Panama Line Up
------------------Penedo------------------
Moreno-----Torres-----Baloy-----Gun
Gomez--Henriquez--Phillips--Escobar
----------Garces----------Perez----------
Goal.com Prediction
United States 2-0 Panama
Noah Davis covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
Visit Goal.com for more coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Who: United States vs. Panama
What: Gold Cup quarterfinals
When: 8 pm ET, Saturday, July 18
Where: Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: Fox Soccer Channel and Telefutura
After going undefeated during group play of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States Men's National Team drew Panama as its quarterfinal opponent. The squads will play on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The Red Tide, which earned the last spot in the quarterfinals thanks to a 4-0 victory over Nicaragua in its third match of group play, battled the Americans to a 0-0 draw in the final of the 2005 competition, before falling in penalty kicks. (The teams have played two additional times in the Gold Cup, with the U.S. winning both matches in regulation.) The winning streak should continue as Bob Bradley's team, despite being short-handed, advance to the semifinals of the regional championship.
Europe Calls
Four American players -- Charlie Davies, Steve Cherundolo, Michael Parkhurst, and Freddy Adu -- have flown across the Pond and returned to their club sides, leaving Bradley with just 18 of his original 23-man roster. (Jon Busch is available but not with the team.) The coach can call any of his seven reserve players -- although Benny Feilhaber, who played in the first group play game, also went back to his club team -- but reports indicate that he won't exercise this option for the quarterfinal match. Clarence Goodson, who missed the match against Honduras with an injury but was on the bench for the Haiti game, should return, and give the middle of the American defense a lift.
Goals Aplenty
The U.S. team is an offensive machine, leading the first round with eight goals scored. (Panama, for its part, finished in second place with six.) While the defenses it battled weren't world class -- no offense to Grenada, but I imagine most Major League Soccer teams could get a goal or two against the Spice Boyz -- the Stars and Stripes showed they can score in a number of ways. Panama will be hard pressed to deal with the increasing effectiveness of Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers, and Santino Quaranta, especially if Davy Arnaud can match the work rate he showed against Haiti. With Troy Perkins back in net for the U.S., the defense should post another clean sheet.
Another Shocking Result?
After an opening match loss to Guadeloupe and a chaotic, red card-filled draw with Mexico, Panama turned up the pressure and defeated Group C whipping boy Nicaragua 4-0 to punch its ticket to the quarterfinals. Gary Stempel will get Armando Gun and Ricardo Phillips -- both sent off against El Tri -- back and will hope that Luis Tejada, who had two late strikes against Nicaragua, can inject some offense into the match (although he probably will continue to come off the bench). Netminder Jaime Penedo will be under attack all day long from the U.S. attack, and he'll need an excellent performance between the pipes if Panama hopes to post another impressive Gold Cup result. Unfortunately, it looks as though the road ends here for the 2005 runner-up.
Projected U.S. Line Up
-------------------Perkins------------------
Evans----Goodson---Marshall----Pearce
Quaranta--Holden--Beckerman--Rogers
-----------Ching---------Arnaud-----------
Projected Panama Line Up
------------------Penedo------------------
Moreno-----Torres-----Baloy-----Gun
Gomez--Henriquez--Phillips--Escobar
----------Garces----------Perez----------
Goal.com Prediction
United States 2-0 Panama
Noah Davis covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
Visit Goal.com for more coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
19 Comments
Advertisement
Inside Goal.Com
-
DEMPSEY'S DIARY: Playing in the World Cup was the ultimate dream
In his latest diary entry for Goal.com, the U.S. international and Fulham midfielder talks about playing in his first World Cup despite a back injury and what it meant to score.
-
ROGERS: Capello resigns as coach, but the villain is FA chairman Bernstein
Capello and John Terry are far from blameless in the England saga, but the real culprit is the FA chairman.
-
LABIDOU: Is MLS falling behind? The league's new younger direction
With high-profile players like Nicolas Anelka and Luca Toni rejecting MLS for other developing leagues, is the league falling behind its competition?
-
ROSANO: Mexican soccer needs to address referee treatment
Nick Rosano argues that Mexico's continued officiating problems may have less to do with referees themselves and more to do with how they are treated by the federation.
-
VERTELNEY: MLS owners take to Twitter to spread their team's word
"Any time you tweet, it's a mini press conference," says Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.
Advertisement
Advertisement