Panama scores stunning upset over U.S.
Posted June 11, 2011 11:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. — Panama has scored a stunning 2-1 upset over the United States to advance to the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup.
Luis Tejada scored in the 19th minute and Gabriel Gomez converted a penalty kick later in the first half to lift Panama to a famous victory on Saturday night, despite Clarence Goodson’s second half strike for the U.S.
The victory was the first for the Panamanians in nine meetings with the Americans, who had never lost a match in the group stage of any Gold Cup.
Despite the loss, the U.S. can clinch a spot in the quarterfinals by beating Guadeloupe in its final Group C match Tuesday night in Kansas City.
Tejada tapped home a rebound after U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard lunged to get on a hand on Armando Cooper’s goal-bound header.
American Tim Ream’s foul set up Gomez’s penalty kick, which the Panamanian lifted over the diving Howard for a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute.
Clarence Goodson gave the U.S. hope for a dramatic comeback, scoring in the 68th minute. The Americans had a couple of opportunities to pull even, but Chris Wondolowski missed a wide-open net in the 80th minute and Jaime Penedo made two saves in injury time to help Panama hang on.
The loss was just the second for the Americans in their past 21 Gold Cup games. They had previously had six wins and two draws against Panama, with all the meetings coming in either Gold Cup or World Cup qualifying.
Despite defeating Panama in the past three Gold Cups, the Americans stressed they could not overlook the Panamanians because each of those games had been close.
The teams played a scoreless draw in the 2005 final, with the U.S. winning a penalty shootout to take the championship. They met in the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2009, with Panama losing 2-1 each time.
Panama opened the tournament with a 3-2 victory over Guadeloupe and beating the Americans gave it consecutive Gold Cup wins for the first time.
The U.S. began its campaign with a 2-0 win over Canada, but wasn’t nearly as sharp against Panama on Saturday.
