That will do it for our live coverage of this Gold Cup match between Panama and the United States! We hope you enjoyed following along, and will join us again soon!
Both of these sides knew they would advance heading into the day, and now we know their seedings. With today's win, the United States progress as Group D winners and will face Curacao in the quarter-finals, while Panama, from their second-place slot, will come up against Jamaica on Sunday.
Well, it wasn’t pretty, but the United States end the day as both winners of this match, and Group D on the whole. After taking control of the ball for most of the first half, the match seemed to balance a bit more after the break, though neither side created anything meaningful for quite some time. US coach Greg Berhalter, clearly aware and potentially annoyed by this, brought on talisman Christian Pulisic to change the match. Then, just a minute later, Altidore pulled off an excellent overhead kick to open the scoring (66’). Panama, especially after taking off Fajardo, never really produced a meaningful move forward, though Escobar and Machado both unleashed strikes from distance that were closer than Johnson would have liked. On the whole, the United States were the better team on the day, but they’ll need to improve if they want to make the Gold Cup final for an 11th time.
90' + 2' FULL-TIME: Panama 0-1 United States
90' There will be two minutes of added time.
90' CHANCE! Escobar launches a shot from distance that only just misses wide right of goal! That looked good when it left his foot!
87' Frenetic, end-to-end stuff as Panama push for a leveller, leaving space in behind in the process.
85' Murillo somehow escapes a yellow card after wrestling Pulisic to the ground to prevent a counter-attack.
G. Zardes
J. Altidore
83' Altidore receives a standing ovation as he's taken off, with Zardes taking his place up front for the United States.
81' If the United States can keep Panama from scoring in the final 10 minutes, the Yanks will have conceded zero goals in the Gold Cup group stage for just the second time in their history.
80' Play starts back up despite Mihailovic still standing on the edge of the pitch, though it does look like he intends to continue.
77' Play stops as Mihailovic is down on the pitch after being tackled from behind. The medical staff are out and looking at him now.
A. Murillo
K. Galván
76' Galvan, who just recently was shown yellow, is hauled off with Murillo entering the match.
76' Altidore lined-up the free-kick from shooting range, and fired it high and into the stand behind the goal. That's a disappointing attempt and, judging from his reaction, he knows it.
K. Galván
Yellow Card
74' Galvan takes down Cannon on the edge of the box and then kicks the ball away, drawing a card from the referee.
72' Morris is quick, but he's unable to chase down a ball that was played down the line to him on the right, and it rolls behind for a goal-kick.
70' A loose ball finds it's way to the foot of Machado on the edge of the box, and the Panama forward unleashes a strike that was always rising and soars above the crossbar.
T. Boyd
J. Morris
70' Boyd replaces Morris on the right for the United States.
Y. Bárcenas
G. Torres
68' Panama make their second change with Barcenas replacing Torres.
J. Altidore
Goal
66' GOOALLLL!!!!! THE UNITED STATED TAKE THE LEAD! After a header was blocked on the way in, the ball floated in the air and Altidore met it with an overhead kick that he somehow put on target! Pulisic had literally nothing to do with the goal, but he sure seems to have brought some good luck onto the pitch with him having come on just a minute before the goal. Panama 0-1 United States
C. Pulisic
J. Lewis
65' So much for resting the stars! Berhalter opts to bring on Pulisic with Lewis making the way and the fans cheer.
63' Brown launches a hopeful shot wide left of goal with an attempt from outside the penalty area.
61' Lewis is getting more, and more involved down the left but the final product has been poor thus far.
59' The United States starting to apply the pressure over the past couple of minutes with plenty of play in the opposing penalty area.
58' Browne is unable to corral a cross-field pass on the right wing, and the ball trickles out for a US throw.
56' Altidore tries to leave the ball for Morris behind him, but the latter seemed surprised by that choice and the ball is cleared by Panama.
54' After a ponderous build-up, Roldan opts to chip the ball to the back-post despite no one, from either side, being there. Goal-kick to Panama.
52' Browne takes a free-kick in the opposing half, and curls his effort just a little too high for Torres and the chance goes.
50' Cannon tries to pull a pass back to Altidore on the edge of the box, but it's cleared away before it could reach the striker.
48' The United States look the brighter of the two sides after the break, though there's certainly plenty of match left.
46' The referee's whistle sounds once more, and this match is back underway!
A. Arroyo
J. Fajardo
46' Despite having been their biggest threat in the first half, Fajardo is taken off for Arroyo.
It will be interesting to see how these sides approach the second half. Panama are already through to the next round, but need a win if they want to win the group and avoid Jamaica. With that in mind, the addition of another forward, or a creative midfielder would likely help them threaten a bit more frequently in the attack. As for the United States, a draw is enough for them to hold onto the Group D crown, so they may be a bit more conservative with their changes in the final 45 minutes.
This match has gone about as well as it could considering 20 of the players on the pitch didn't start in their previous match. The United States have been able to hold onto the ball more, and Morris looks a threat down the right but there have not been an abundance of chances for the Yanks. The best opportunity was Altidore's shot in the 21st minute but he played it a little too close to Calderon who got down early and saved it. As for Panama, Fajardo tested the high-line of the United States early and often and has been getting through with relative regularity. If anyone can perfectly time and weight their lofted through ball to him, the forward will likely get on the scoresheet today.
45' + 1' HALF-TIME: Panama 0-0 United States
45' + 1' Roldan runs under a ball in the box and tries to play the ball over to Altidore that is kicked behind for a corner.
45' There will be one minute of added time.
44' Escobar pulls off a cheeky nutmeg on Mihailovic before attempting a through ball to Fajardo that's cut out by the United States defence.
42' Some cheap challenges creeping into the match as Trapp goes in with a heavy challenge that causes the Panama players to surround the referee. That could, and probably should, have been a yellow.
40' Morris gets a chatting to from the referee after the former pushed Galvan while the two of them battled for a ball in the air.
38' Fajardo beats Gonzalez for pace, gets into the box, and fires a shot wide right of goal. Panama really starting to threaten now, particularly through Fajardo.
37' Rodriguez makes a run at the back-post and dives trying to connect with a header, but it had already soared past him. That was certainly enough to send Johnson scrambling along his line.
34' Fajardo launches past the defence again, this time the flag goes up though and the move ends for Panama.
32' Brown plays a defence-splitting pass to Fajardo who dribbled into the box and took a weak shot that was caught easily by Johnson. Despite not scoring there, Panama are starting to look a real threat on the counter.
30' BLOCK! Escobar made up loads of ground to close down Lewis in the box and deflected the shot of the latter behind and away from danger! That would have surely been a goal had it not been for the intervention of the defender.
29' Mihailovic sends his free-kick right into the arms of Calderon with Altidore the nearest team-mate.
27' A long ball is played over the top to Fajardo, who had beaten the offside trap, and it's hit just a little too hard which allows Johnson to get there first.
26' Nobody closes down Lovitz on the left and he whips in a cross... that makes it quite clear why none of the defenders were worried. Goal-kick to Panama.
24' Sanchez fouls Altidore to prevent a run from the latter, and the United States will have a free-kick in Panama's half.
22' PENALTY SHOUT! Fajardo goes down in the penalty area and screams to the referee, who casually points to the linesman who has his flag raised. Offside.
21' CHANCE! Altidore has a chance from inside the box and he tries to curl a left-footed effort past Calderon, but the 'keeper got low early and parried the ball away from danger!
20' Rodriguez does not look in a good way as he is currently limping around the pitch. One to keep an eye on.
18' Cannon overhits a pass intended for Morris down the right and it rolls away for a Panama goal-kick.
16' CHANCE! Morris shrugs off a tackle on the edge of the box before slipping Altidore in behind the defence where the latter fired a shot just past the left post! No goal, but that's definitely the closest anyone has come to a goal today.
15' Morris has a cross blocked right back to him on the right wing, lines another one up, and this one is deflected behind for a corner.
13' The United States are out to a slight early lead in possession with 56 per cent of the ball thus far.
11' Panama try to play a quick free-kick in the final third, but the referee makes them take it again... and it's less than successful on the second attempt.
9' Lewis hacks down Brown, gifting Panama a free-kick.
7' Sanchez fouls Morris, and the United States will have a free-kick.
6' A lot of sloppy play thus far, which is fairly unsurprising considering 20 of the 22 players on the pitch did not start their teams' previous match.
4' Just a fun bit of trivia as this match warms up... Omar Gonzalez, who captains the United States today, made his first club start alongside the man that has become his national team coach: Greg Berhalter!
2' Mihailovic plays an excellent diagonal ball into Morris on the right wing, though the ensuing cross in was blocked out for a US throw.
1' Referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim blows his whistle, and this match is underway!
The teams are out on the pitch as the national anthems play throughout Children's Mercy Park. Not long to go until kick-off now!
The United States make a full 11 changes after their 6-0 thumping of Trinidad and Tobago. Johsnon, Cannon, Gonzalez, Miazga, Lovitz, Trapp, Roldan, Mihailovic, Morris, Lewis, and Altidore all come into the starting XI, while Steffen, Lima, Zimmerman, Long, Ream, Bradley, McKennie, Pulisic, Boyd, Arriola, Zardes all drop to the bench. Like Panama, the assumption is that the US are already resting their stars for the next round. The most interesting change from coach Greg Berhalter though, is the swap of Zardes for Altidore. The former has already scored three goals at this tournament and, while Altidore is generally preferred when fit, he will need to put in a good performance today if he wants to start the next match as well.
A whopping nine changes for Panama off the back of their 4-2 victory against Guyana last time out. Meija, Murillo, Torres, Davis, Barcenas, Cooper, Quintero, Arroyo, and Blackburn find themselves on the bench today with Calderon, Palacios, Machado, Fajardo, Rodriguez, Walker, Torres, and Browne starting the match. Having already advanced, coach Julio Dely Valdes has clearly opted to swap the majority of his squad out for this match with their place in the quarter-finals already secured. Despite all of the changes, the United States’ defence will still need to keep an eye on Torres and Machado, both of whom have scored over the last five matches for their national team.
United States substitutes: Zack Steffen, Tim Ream, Tyler Miller, Gyasi Zardes, Michael Bradley, Aaron Long, Paul Arriola, Walker Zimmerman, Tyler Boyd, Christian Pulisic, Zack Steffen, Nick Lima, Weston McKennie.
United States (4-1-4-1): Sean Johnson; Reggie Cannon, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Miazga, Daniel Lovitz; Wil Trapp; Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan, Djordje Mihailovic, Jonathan Lewis; Jozy Altidore.
Panama substitutes: Luis Mejia, Michael Murillo, Orlando Mosquera, Armando Cooper, Rolando Blackburn, Eric Davis, Alberto Quintero, Valentin Pimentel, Roman Torres, Abdiel Arroyo, Marcos Sanchez, Edgar Barcenas.
Panama (5-4-1): Jose Calderon; Fidel Escobar, Francisco Palacios, Harold Cummings, Adolfo Machado, Kevin Galvan; Jose Fajardo, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Ernesto Walker, Gabriel Torres; Omar Browne.
Now, let’s take a look at the team news!
The United States will be hoping to get on the scoresheet first today, considering they have won 29 of the 31 Gold Cup group stage matches in which they scored first. One of those two matches, though, did come against Panama in 2017 (1-1).
Panama come into this match having won just two matches in 2019 but, with both coming at this tournament (against Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago), Los Canaleros have already secured a place in the quarter-finals.
These sides are quite familiar with one another, though the United States have had the upper hand of late having gone unbeaten against Panama in their last 12 meetings (W8, D4).
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of this Gold Cup match between Panama and the United States!
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