USMNT Look To Be Perfect In Group Play, Face Panama
By Joe Sudberg
The USMNT face Panama tonight in Sporting Park in Kansas City, Missouri, looking to go a perfect 3-0-0 in Group A matches. The United States defeated Honduras 2-1 on July 7th at Toyota Stadium with two goals from Clint Dempsey and defeated Haiti 1-0 on July 10th at Gillette Stadium with one Dempsey goal.
The United States have locked up a spot in the quarterfinals no matter the result of tonight’s match, while Panama needs a result to have a chance at moving forward. If Panama wins, they will earn the second spot in Group A and will advance to the quarterfinal round, while a draw would have them in the mix to move on based on other results within the group.
This is the second meeting between the two clubs in 2015, with the United States earning a 2-0 victory back in February. Dempsey and Michael Bradley both scored in that contest. The United States would probably get some relief in having someone else score besides Dempsey tonight, as he has been the only USMNT player who has found the back of the net thus far.
For those who have watched the USMNT matches, some fresh faces should make their way onto the pitch this evening. With the top spot in Group A already secure in combination with hot and humid temperatures currently in Kansas City, United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann would be wise to keep some players fresh for the latter half of the tournament. For instance, Bradley has played every minute of the 10 USMNT matches this year and should be watching the final minutes of the match from the sideline. Klinsmann has already proved he is willing to use the depth on his roster with Greg Garza and Aron Johannsson getting minutes in the last match against Haiti.
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So what do fans of the USMNT want to see in a basically meaningless game?
Some creativity for one. Aside from sending long balls in that have been greeted with some fortune, the USMNT haven’t looked spectacular on offense and haven’t had any “wow” moments. It would be nice to see either a creative one-on-one effort from a play maker not named Dempsey (not saying he’s been the creative one during the tournament, but can’t argue with his results), or a nicely developed string of passes that looks like the players on the roster have played together before. Give us a sense of strong chemistry.
Win the games you should win. From USSoccer.com, “In 13 editions of the Gold Cup, the MNT has only lost once in the group stage. That loss came against Panama on June 11, 2011 in Tampa. Since then, the U.S. has defeated Panama six straight times”. To put it simply, these are not games the USMNT should be losing anymore. They haven’t been, and have had tons of success throughout the history of the Gold Cup, but for everyone that is waiting for USMNT to take “the leap” in terms of global competition, these games have to be won nine out of 10 times.
Can the fans repeat? Another stat from that USSoccer.com article is that 46,720 fans showed up to the team’s last matchup in Foxborough, Massachusettes—the most to ever view a USMNT Gold Cup game at Gillette Stadium. In comparison, 22,357 fans showed up to Frisco, Texas for the team’s first matchup in the Gold Cup against Honduras. The support has been excellent from the jump, and assume it will continue tonight at Sporting Park.