USA vs Panama score, result, highlights as USMNT eliminated from Gold Cup on penalties in semifinals

Forced to play through extra-time and a penalty shootout for the second consecutive time in just three days, tired legs took over as the game dragged on. Jesus Ferreira’s dramatic 105th minute goal equalized, cancelling out Ian Anderson’s go-ahead goal, but it wasn’t quite enough to get them through.

Utilizing a backup roster after the starters served their national team duty through the Nations League a few weeks prior, interim head coach BJ Callaghan saw his side put forth another sloppy performance. They got away with a sub-par showing in the quarterfinals against Canada, as Matt Turner bailed them out in the penalty shootout, but this time they would not escape.

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Tonight’s USMNT Starting XI vs. Panama: 1-Matt Turner (capt.), 3-Aaron Long, 5-Bryan Reynolds, 6-Gianluca Busio, 8-James Sands, 9-Jesús Ferreira, 11-Cade Cowell, 12-Miles Robinson, 14-Djordje Mihailovic, 15-DeJuan Jones, 19-Brandon Vazquez

Substitutes: 18-Sean Johnson, 23-Gaga Slonina, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 4-Matt Miazga, 10-Cristian Roldan, 13-Jordan Morris, 17-Alex Zend

• Seven starters are age 24 or younger: Djordje Mihailovic and Brandon Vazquez (24); James Sands (23); Jesús Ferreira and Bryan Reynolds (22); Gianluca Busio (21); Cade Cowell (19).
• The lineup also averages 16 caps and 11 appearances in official competition.
• USMNT head coach B.J. Callaghan makes three changes from the XI that started against Canada on Wednesday, inserting defender Aaron Long and forwards Cade Cowell and Brandon Vazquez.
• After becoming the first USMNT player to record three goals as a substitute in the Gold Cup, Brandon Vazquez earns his first start of the tournament tonight in his hometown of San Diego.
• Making his second start of the competition along with Aaron Long (June 24 vs. Trinidad and Tobago), Cade Cowell (June 28 vs. St. Kitts and Nevis) becomes the fourth youngest player to start a Gold Cup Knockout Round match for the USMNT.

• Jesús Ferreira and James Sands are the only two players to start all five matches at the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
• Sands becomes the sixth player to appear in 11 consecutive Gold Cup matches for the USMNT. A substitute in his Gold Cup debut against Haiti on July 11, 2021, the midfielder has started each of his last 10 Gold Cup appearances.

• Captaining the team for the fourth time tonight, goalkeeper Matt Turner makes his 10^th Gold Cup appearance, tying Tony Meola for third all-time among USMNT goalkeepers in the confederation championship.
• Turner also makes his eighth appearance in a knockout round match, moving past Meola for third among USMNT goalkeepers. The 29-year-old is 5-1-1 in knockout round contests, recording five clean sheets along the way.

• Aaron Long and Miles Robinson pair in central defense for the second time tonight. The duo previously worked together in the 7-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago on Jan. 31, 2021 in Orlando.
• Six players have featured against Panama previously: Aaron Long and Djordje Mihailovic (2 GP); Gianluca Busio, Jesús Ferreira, Miles Robinson and Matt Turner (1 GP).
• Djordje Mihailovic made his USMNT and scored his first international goal in the 3-0 win against Panama on Jan. 27, 2019 in Glendale, Ariz. Jesús Ferreira scored his first goal in official competition against Los Canaleros, tallying in the 27^th minute of the 5-1 World Cup Qualifying win on March 27, 2022 in Orlando.
• Five starters have previous semifinal experience. Miles Robinson and Matt Turner both appeared in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Semifinal against Qatar and 2023 Concacaf Nations League Semifinal against Canada. Gianluca Busio and James Sands also appeared in the 2021 semifinal against Qatar, while Aaron Long featured in the 2019 Gold Cup Semifinal against Jamaica.
• Should he come off the bench tonight, 19-year-old Jalen Neal (6 caps) would tie Mike Windischmann for most USMNT appearances by a teenage center back at seven.
• Five substitutions are allowed in three different moments during regulation. Halftime does not count as a substitution moment. Should the match be tied at the end of 90 minutes, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played and both teams will be allowed another substitution. If the teams are tied at the end of extra time, the match will be decided by penalty kicks.
• The USMNT has gone to shootouts seven times in official competition, advancing on five occasions.

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• Video assistant referee will be used for all matches in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup. 
• This is the 26^th all-time meeting between the USA and Panama. The USMNT holds a 17-2-6 overall advantage in the series. The team also has a 13-2-6 edge in official competition and is 6-1-4 in Gold Cup play.
• The USMNT is 29-8-6 all-time in the Gold Cup knockout round and 11-3-1 in Gold Cup semifinal matches.
• The referee for tonight’s match is Walter López of Guatemala. The USMNT is 3-0-0 in matches officiated by Mr. López:

• March 24, 2017: 6-0 W vs. Honduras (2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying)
• July 26, 2017: 2-1 W vs. Jamaica (2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Final)
• Nov. 12, 2021: 2-0 W vs. Mexico (2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying)

On Thursday night, July 13, as part of the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the U.S. national team will meet with the national team of Panama. The hosts of the tournament only managed to get the upper hand over Canada after extra time, while the Panamanians easily defeated Qatar with a score of 4:0.

Projected lineups

USA: Turner; Reynolds, Robinson, Miazga, Jones; Busio, Sands, Mikhailovich; J. Morris, Ferreira, Zendejas.
Panama: Mosquera; Escobar, Cummings, Andrade; Barcenas, Welch, Godoy, Davis; Fajardo, Waterman, Diaz.

Stadium

The Tricolours are advancing to the Gold Cup semifinals for the 11th time in a row, but last Sunday in Cincinnati, the US team conceded as many goals in two hours of play as in six previous matches at the CONCACAF Gold Cup (two). They faced Canada in the quarterfinals, drawing the world 2-2 after extra time and winning in a penalty shootout thanks to two saves by Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner. The Americans are the current holders of the continental championship, and this year they will successfully defend their title in the fight for a record eighth trophy.

The hosts scored 15 goals in just four matches, which is the best indicator at this stage of the championship since 2011 (16). Interesting fact: the Yankees have not conceded goals at the beginning of the halves in the playoffs of this tournament since they lost to Jamaica in the semifinal round of 2015 with a score of 2:1.

Jalen Neal, who suffered a knee injury in the match against Canada and was replaced by Aaron Long, may be absent from the host camp. Julian Gressel entered the field for the first time in an official international match on Sunday, and James Sands became the 11th player in history to play in 10 consecutive Gold Cup meetings.

Cincinnati’s Brandon Vasquez also became the first player in the history of his national team to score at his club’s stadium since Clint Dempsey did it in Seattle at the Copa America Centenario in 2016. Djordje Mihajlovic scored his 10th goal for the national team last weekend, and the striker has every chance of appearing at the start tomorrow night.

Panama hat

Panama is also successfully competing at the Gold Cup, and this week reached the semifinals of the tournament for the first time since 2015. In the last round, the guests staged a real performance, taking the lead already in the 19th minute.

The wards of Thomas Christiansen had 62% possession of the ball and allowed only one shot on target of their goal, once again proving that they belong to the leading football countries of this region. Victoria with a score of 4-0 on Saturday was the biggest victory of the Canaleros at this tournament since they defeated Cuba in the quarterfinals in 2013 (6:1) and eventually reached the final, where they lost to the USA (1-0).

Christiansen is especially encouraged by how clearly his players acted defensively last weekend, because the Panamanians played for zero for the first time since the end of March.

There were six changes in the starting lineup of the Panamanians last weekend: instead of Roderick Miller, Cesar Blackman, Giovani Welch, Christian Martinez, Freddie Gondola and Cecilio Waterman, Andres Andrade, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Anibal Godoy, Eric Davis, Jose Fajardo and Alberto Quintero took the field.

Yoel Barcenas scored the winning goal at the Gold Cup for the second time this year, Ismael Diaz scored a hat-trick in nine minutes, and Orlando Mosquera managed to keep the “cracker” at the tournament for the first time in his career.

Face-to-face meetings

There were 25 meetings between the U.S. and Panama national teams. The hosts have won 18 of them, while the Canaleros have won only three times. The last match took place at the end of March last year as part of the selection for the World Cup, and then the Yankees defeated the opponent with a score of 5:1.

Forecast for the USA – Panama match

The USA has a three-match winning streak and has no defeats in 10 extreme matches in all competitions. The hosts of the tournament have scored 15 goals in the current Gold Cup and are deservedly considered the main favorites for the triumph.

Panama also won three of the four extreme matches, although it had previously won only two victories out of 10 meetings. Given the support of the stands and a more skilled team, I think the Yankees will be able to achieve victory in the main time of the match.

Forecast for total

USA vs Panama
In four of the last six matches between these teams, more than 2.5 goals have been scored. I suppose it will be the same this time.

Forecast for the corners

The Americans serve an average of 6 corners per match – hardly a similar figure will surpass the stunted Panamanians. I bet on Victoria Yankee on this indicator.
Forecast for yellow cards

I don’t expect any particular rudeness from the teams, given the style of their game. The Americans received only 3 warnings for all 4 matches at the tournament, so we put less than 3.5 on the total total of yellow cards.

USA vs Panama: Extra-time 2H

120th min: There’s only one minute of added time shown, which is a bit wild considering Ferreira was down for at least two minutes. The referee has to calm the touchlines down as the ball goes out of play near midfield.

119th min: Ferreira is able to walk off under his own power, refusing the stretcher. The U.S. plays a man down for now, but he looks to be preparing to come back on imminently.

Matt Turner has to make another save, his fourth, as Ian Anderson takes a shot centrally with the outside of his foot, but it’s right at the U.S. goalkeeper, who makes no mistake with the ball bobbling. Ferreira is back on now.

117th min: Now Jesus Ferreira is down in clear pain, holding the back of his leg or groin. The stretcher comes out, and this could also be problematic for the U.S. Not only would they be forced to play a man down for the final minutes, but Ferreira is an obvious candidate to take a penalty in a potential shootout.

During Ferreira’s treatment, an announcement is made in Snapdragon Stadium as a warning to fans against discriminatory chanting.

115th min: This is an absolute mess. Neither side can maintain possession, as tired legs consume both teams. John Tolkin fouls Christian Martinez on the touchline right in front of Panama head coach Thomas Christiansen, who screams for a yellow card, but none is shown. There have only been two bookings from Guatemalan referee Walter Lopez.

112th min: The U.S. could be in trouble as Djordje Mihailovic is limping badly but the U.S. is out of substitutions. Play continues for now.

109th min: Chance, Panama! Matt Turner makes a relatively simple save off a shot from deep, but it’s another warning shot from Panama who get a free look on goal. Matt Miazga has not been good since coming off the bench, and he lost his man there again.

Kickoff: Snapdragon Stadium is BUZZING as the second half of extra-time begins. The U.S. may be sensing blood here as Panama looks to be reeling from the gut punch of Ferreira’s goal.

USA vs Panama: Extra-time 1H

105th min: GOAL! USA! JESUS FERREIRA EQUALIZES FOR THE UNITED STATES OUT OF NOWHERE! WHAT A FINISH IT IS!!

A long ball to the top of the penalty area reaches Jordan Morris, who heads it to Ferreira at the spot facing away from goal. He somehow whips his body around at the ball to poke it exquisitely past Orlando Mosquera.

What a wonderful goal, and at the perfect time! The U.S. has found an extra-time equalizer for the second straight game!