by Brian Turrel
The U.S. Men’s national soccer team defeated Panama 1-0 on Wednesday evening at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The result gained the U.S. the top spot in Group D of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
A spectacular bicycle kick goal by striker Jozy Altidore was the game winner.
U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter upended expectations when he replaced all 11 starting players from the previous game. With a position in the quarterfinals already guaranteed before the match, he rested his top lineup, getting game action for his backups and evaluating players for the future.
“We believe that everyone can contribute in this team and the team’s success,” Berhalter said. “We wanted to show that.”
Berhalter is at the beginning of a rebuilding project for U.S. men’s soccer and has been frank about his focus on the future of the program.
In the first half, the play was “sloppy,” a word chosen by both midfielder Cristian Roldan and defender Matt Miazga. Crosses and passes forward were mistimed or not weighted accurately. The defense was the strongest part of the game, and held Panama to just 2 shots. The first half ended 0-0.
In the 65th minute, off a corner kick, Miazga got a head on the ball near the Panama goal. The ball bounced between two Panamanian defenders and then floated down toward Altidore, who measured it up and then whipped his body backward to knock it home with tremendous force. As Roldan said, “Jozy does what he does best, finish.”
The U.S. will play Curacao in the quarterfinal match on Sunday in Philadelphia. Curacao is the surprise of the tournament so far, getting past the group stage after never having previously scored a goal in Gold Cup competition.
The Gold Cup is the regional tournament among the nations in North and Central America and is played every two years. This year, the tournament is held at 15 sites around the United States, along with sites in Costa Rica and Jamaica.
