The U.S. national team will be looking to take a step closer to a third straight CONCACAF Gold Cup title today when it takes on Panama in the quarterfinals.
These teams have met in the past two Gold Cups, with the Americans winning the 2005 final via penalty kicks, and the 2007 quarterfinals in a tight 2-1 match.
The winner of USA-Panama will take on Honduras, which defeated Canada, 1-0, in the earlier quarterfinal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
I will be providing live commentary from the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Share your thoughts below.
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FINAL- That's all for me tonight. Please feel free to share your thoughts on tonight's match in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL- Not that many bad performances from the Americans tonight. Beckerman, Holden, Marshall and Ching all stepped up and gave good performances. Robbie Rogers is probably the one American player who really struggled.
Now the Americans face Honduras in a rematch of the group game won by the United States, 2-0, at RFK Stadium. It will be much tougher this time around because Charlie Davies, Benny Feilhaber and Steve Cherundolo won't be there. All three played key roles in the first meeting.
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FINAL- Kyle Beckerman was named man of the match. Very deserving (and nice work by somebody because word I get is Cooper won the initial voting until some common sense prevailed).
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FINAL- USA 2, Panama 1. Sad display from Panama, whose players confronted the referee after the match Chelsea-style. Felipe Baloy got a red card and some fans threw stuff.
On the better news. The Americans show heart in overcoming a deficit and beating a game opponent.
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120th minute- Clock is ticking.
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120th minute- Kudos to Logan Pause for stepping it up late.
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118th minute- Heaps with a clutch tackle.
Ching lays off a great pass to Cooper, who for some reason decided to stop his run. He still got a shot off, but what was the stopping of the run?
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116th minute- Who will finish off the insurance goal for the Americans?
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115th minute- Panama is on fumes and the Americans are maintaining composure.
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110th minute- Brad Evans is coming in for Robbie Rogers.
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108th minute- Dangerous cross in by Panama after Pearce swung and missed on a clearance.
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107th minute- Does Panama have anything left in the tank?
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HALFTIME- USA 2, Panama 1. Americans are 15 minutes from the semifinals. Roman Torres wears the goat horns for his Daniel LaRussa-like flying kick of Cooper. Panama is still arguing the call. The really need to see a replay.
Cooper steps up and delivers a quality PK to the inside of the left post. Credit to him for stepping up and taking the kick.
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106th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cooper hits it off the inside of the left post. USA 2, Panama 1.
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106th minute- Cooper is taking the PK. Interesting.
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105th minute- PENALTY!!!! Cooper just got karate kicked in the stomach. Great call. Terrible tackle.
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104th minute- Cooper just can't help himself. If he has the ball within 40 yards of goal, he takes a shot. Does he get paid per shot? He needs to settle down.
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102nd minute- That sound you hear is MLS fax machines sending in Discovery Claims on Luis Moreno.
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101st minute- Panama is worn out. If the Americans are patient, and keep the ball, good chances will come.
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100th minute- Rogers FINALLY beats Moreno, but then gets stripped by the next guy.
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99th minute- PEARCE BLAST SAVED!! Nice sequence to give Pearce that shot. Panama's defense is ripe for the beating.
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98th minute- Herrera impressed in the 2005 Gold Cup, but never really developed a good club career. Apparently he was never the hardest working player, but the speed and skill are there.
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96th minute- Panama corner. Cleared away.
Victor Herrera has come in, his speed on the left will cause problems for the USA.
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95th minute- Pause gets cleaned out and again, no card. You have to actually punch someone in the face to get a card if you're Panama.
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93rd minute- Marshall tweaks his knee, but walks off and is now back. He looks fine.
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91st minute- And overtime is underway.
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OVERTIME- Americans have one sub left. It should be Quaranta. You may recall that Quaranta converted one of the USA penalty kicks in the 2005 Gold Cup final against Panama.
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OVERTIME- Interesting scene right now. The USA players are all standing in a huddle and taking instructions from Bob Bradley. Meanwhile, the Panama players are all laid out on the field, getting stretched and looking worn out. That definitely looks good for the USA.
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END OF REGULATION- USA 1, Panama 1. It's time for two 15-minute overtime periods followed by penalty kicks if there are no goals scored.
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92nd minute- When will we see Santino Quaranta for Robbie Rogers? The towel should have been thrown on Rogers a while ago.
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90th minute- Three minutes of stoppage time.
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90th minute- It's looking like overtime.
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87th minute- Baloy knocks down Ching for the 60th time. Free kick.
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86th minute- MLS teams need to be lining up to make bids for Moreno because he has absolutely locked down Rogers tonight. I'm sure some teams could use a right back in MLS.
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85th minute- Moreno takes the ball from Rogers A-GAIN. Drink.
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84th minute- Ching gets a foul called against him. Apparently, if someone crashes into you it's a foul on you.
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82nd minute- While I may run the risk of jinxing him, Jay Heaps has had a tidy game today. He's kept himself in good positions all night. To be fair though, Panama hasn't really gone at him.
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80th minute- Cooper with an open look and his header is awful. Waste of size.
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79th minute- Americans have dominated this half, but this game is still tied. Who will score the winner? Will it be Cooper? Holden? Ching?
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78th minute- Tonight's attendance: 31,087. Not bad.
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78th minute- Whoa, Holden almost replayed his Haiti goal, but the shot is blocked.
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77th minute- Cooper in for Arnaud.
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76th minute- Rogers losing the ball to Moreno should definitely have been a drinking game.
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74th minute- Ricardo Phillips is warming up and may be coming in soon. Someone remind Bob Bradley not to kick him (oh right, he, like most sensible people, know not to do that).
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73rd minute- A nice crowd tonight at the Linc. Philly Union fans are definitely in the house.
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71st minute- Panama doesn't look that interested in defending right now. They're giving up space that the Americans should exploit.
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70th minute- Panamanian players never miss a chance to get a shot in, do they? And I don't mean shot of the ball.
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66th minute- Pearce with a long-dstance shot that doesn't trouble Penedo.
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63rd minute- Ching misses just wide, makes some very nice moves to get open.
Baloy earns a delayed yellow card for just FLATTENING Stuart Holden.
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60th minute- I've been a bit critical of Pause, but he's put himself in positions to relieve pressure for teammates and has kept the ball moving. No-frills work, but he's getting it done.
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59th minute- Who will score the next USA goal? It certainly feels like one is coming.
Clarence Goodson has looked sharp since coming in.
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56th minute- The game is getting a bit chippy.
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55th minute- Is it me or has Luis Moreno Pwned Robbie Rogers this game? To be fair, Rogers did sent the initial ball in on the USA goal.
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54th minute- USA is on the front foot right now. Very confident-looking bunch.
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52nd minute- Holden JUST WIDE!!!! Wow. Great build-up by the Americans.
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51st minute- Beckerman's goal is his first for the national team. He becomes the eighth different goal-scorer for the national team this tournament.
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49th minute- Davy Arnaud lays the pass off to a wide-open Beckerman, who buries the shot. We are TIED.
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48th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!!! Kyle Beckerman with a BLAST. Wow
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46th minute- A replay of the Panama goal shows that Holden wasn't exactly in position to get that ball out of danger. Just a fluky play.
Panama with a dangerous free kick a yard above the arc.
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46th minute- And we're back.
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HALFTIME- So what's wrong for the USA? They've had some chances, and some good possession, but they haven't finished and haven't put shots on frame to test Jaime Penedo. One shot on goal isn't going to cut it.
Subs? Quaranta for Pause makes sense. They need to push Holden further up the field to let him go at Panama's central defense. Pause really hasn't done much and his lack of work has been covered for by Beckerman and Holden.
That's the only glaring move I can see. We could see Kenny Cooper at some point, but not right away.
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HALFTIME- Panama 1, USA 0. Americans had the better of the possession and chances, but Panama buries one of its few chances and the Americans trail for the second straight match.
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45th minute- Marshall lays it to Holden, but Holden doesn't clear the danger and Perez buries it.
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45th minute- GOAL PANAMA!!!!! And it's Blas Perez with a beautiful shot. A corner bounces in the area and Perez pounces.
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45th minute- Will Goodson be up to the task? Perez and Garces are a handful.
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44th minute- Conrad collided with Blas Perez on the play, taking a head straight to the skull. He was wobbly and is still staggering.
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43rd minute- Conrad is getting treatment but you wonder if he can go. Looks like Clarence Goodson is coming on.
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41st minute- USA corner, looked like a handball not called on Panama.
Conrad is hit HARD. He's dazed.
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40th minute- Ching draws a free kick from distance. Holden sends it well wide.
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39th minute- Ching earns a corner kick.
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37th minute- USA offense has slowed down quite a bit.
Luis Moreno has done a great job on Robbie Rogers so far.
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35th minute- Beckerman has gotten a lot of the ball. He's been very active and looks confident on the ball. Yes, he's had some turnovers, but that comes with havinga lot of the ball.
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32nd minute- Heaps is holding up well so far. Pause has been largely anonymous. Not horrendous, but not sure he's having much of an impact early on.
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31st minute- Nice sequence for the USA, including a nice turn by Ching. Still looking for a good chance in the area.
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27th minute- Holden is everywhere. Great work rate this half.
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24th minute- Great tackle by Conrad to thwart some danger on a Garces run at goal.
And Blas Perez gets a yellow card.
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20th minute- Sharp stuff from Jimmy Conrad, who looks much more comfortable today than vs. Haiti. He played well vs. Haiti, but tonight he's not having to put out so many fires.
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17th minute- Holden looking very sharp early on.
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14th minute- Panama is just a bit, shall we say, chippy. U.S. team needs to keep its cool. Referee Armando Archundia is known for not being afraid to dish out cards.
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12th minute- Jimmy Conrad with a yellow for a shove. That call could wind up being pretty meaningful.
USA moving the ball pretty well.
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11th minute- USA corner.
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10th minute- Panama can't deal with USA set pieces. Not a good sign for them early on.
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9th minute- Americans come so close again. Marshall with a good look
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8th minute- Ching with the header OFF THE POST (not Conrad. Comes so close on that Holden free kick.
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8th minute- USA with a long distance free kick attempt.
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5th minute- Dangerous cross from Panama draws a corner.
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4th minute- USA corner.
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3rd minute- Pause with an early turnover. Will he be the player who impressed vs. Grenada, or the one who struggled vs. Honduras?
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1st minute- We're under way. Panama with an early foul already.
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PRE-GAME- The anthems are done and it's time to play. U.S. team looks pumped.
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PRE-GAME- Will Panama be as physical with the United States as they were vs. Mexico? I think they'll definitely be on the attack early on.
So who scores the goals today? I'll say Ching and Holden for the USA and Blas Perez for Panama in a 2-1 USA win.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the USA bench:
Clarence Goodson, Colin Clark, Sam Cronin, Kenny Cooper, Luis Robles, Santino Quaranta, Brd Evans.
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PRE-GAME- The Panama lineup is the usual squad:
Jaime Penedo, Luis Moreno, Roman Torres, Gabriel Gomez, Blas Perez, Jorge Luis Garces, Nelson Barahona, Armando Gun, Manuel Torres, Rolando Escobar.
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PRE-GAME- A modest crowd today at the Linc, though the Sam's Amy section behind the East goal looks impressive.
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PRE-GAME- So why in the world is Jay Heaps starting? Well, perhaps it was too much to ask Brad Evans, not a natural defender, to handle a start at a position he's still learning, in an elimination game. If Panama did any scouting, they will go right at Heaps from the start. He's clearly the weak link in the U.S. back-line.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the USA starting lineup:
-----------Ching-----------Arnaud---------------
Rogers------------------------------------Holden
-------------Beckerman-----Pause---------------
Pearce-----Marshall----------Conrad------Heaps
----------------------Perkins-------------------------
Yes, Jay Heaps gets the start at right back today despite having a shocker vs. Haiti. Logan Pause gets a surprise start as well. I thought Sam Cronin looked better.
So why would Bradley go with Beckerman-Pause in central midfield? Panama's central midfield is pretty tough and Bradley clearly wants to stifle the Panama attack.
