The United States Men’s National Team drew against Panama for the final game of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in Sporting Park.  This result is a solid way to finish off a difficult group schedule. The draw could be devastating for Panama as they dropped to third in the group and must now wait out of the final two days of group stage play to see if their tournament will continue. The two third place teams with the highest amount of points will advance to the knockout stage.

Panama scored their needed goal in the first half as Blas Perez and Luis Tejada combined for the score. Perez found Tejada who pushed towards goal and forced Brad Guzan to come out and make a play. A quick centering pass was tapped in by Perez for the opening goal.

Panama’s lead wouldn’t last though. In the second half, after a decent attack, Clint Dempsey played a pass to Alejandro Bedoya on the wing from the ground. Bedoya’s deft first touch created enough space for him to slot a pass to Michael Bradley for a redirect goal. 

Panama looked the better side throughout the first half as they played with a purpose. Haiti’s win earlier in the day left Panama with one option and a monumental task. They created several early chances and had the host country on their heels for much of the opening 45 minutes.

Bedoya appeared poised to get a great chance at goal, but he was taken down by a challenge from behind. Nothing was called, but fans thought it was a foul and worthy of a red card as it denied a clear chance. The incident happened at the edge of the box and it is unclear if it would have been a penalty or not.

The United States started the second half looking much better than the first. Klinsmann’s tactics of rotating players throughout the group appears to have paid off during the second half as Panama faded late to the fresher legs of the Americans. The host side continued to control more and more of the ball as the half wore on. 

Although the United States finished top of the group and advances to the knockout stage where they will play a third place team from either Group B or C, they would have liked the full nine points from their group. 

Panama is extremely disappointed with their standing in the group and feel they should have received a better result from the Honduras game. Their performance against the United States was up to par, and the lack of late chances was by design. A winner was needed, but pressing too many players forward to get it would have left the defense exposed to a probable counter-attacking goal. 

John Anthony Brooks received his second yellow card of the tournament early in the game and will serve a suspension in the first knockout game. 

Overall, the game was a solid showing by both teams and another strong defensive battle. Panama has conceded a goal or less in their last 13 Gold Cup matches and the USMNT done the same in their last nine Gold Cup matches. Both teams feel like they came out of the game well, but Panama is lamenting late collapses to both Haiti and Honduras and blaming those performances for their current standing.