What a mess.
"It was just one of those days, but we won so who really cares?" Taylor Twellman, reflecting on the US 2-1 win over Panama.
The objective of the Gold Cup for the US, early on, appeared to be to tighten up their game and gain confidence for Copa America. Early on within their group, it appeared that the US would easily accomplish this objective. Their early games were played strong and confidently, but yesterday, after they barely scraped a win against Panama, their overall objective appears to be in jeopardy.
There were a few things that made this game a nail biter, and it wasn't necessarily the massive amounts of fouls called. The US just didn't seem to know how to handle a team with a style of play (which could arguably be called cheating or just something different from white bread US soccer, either/or). The US just doesn't play a physical game and really doesn't know how to handle teams that do.
"Physical" to the Panamanians appeared to be more akin to blatant fouling which the US just doesn't tolerate and neither do the fans or the refs - eventually Panama had to struggle on with 10 players, and one of the two points the US scored was off a free kick after Donovan had been fouled on a break towards the goal (in truth, with little to no hope of actually netting it, which goes to show how eager the Panamanians were to just stop the US from even trying, which is ridiculous).
Panama employed nearly every type of foul possible - kicking, tripping, charging, striking - and it was unacceptable. The US did not retaliate in the same manner but they were visibly shaken - at least, they probably were as that is the only plausible reason their game was so incredibly scattered and messy and no where near the #16 ranking they garnered from FIFA this past week. The Panamanian's style of play seemed more akin to the Mexican or Argentinian leagues, but the US didn't know what to do with it, which is a problem: being able to continue to play a concentrated game is a pre-requisite to playing on the national level, whether you understand what the other side is doing or not. Cheating aside, the US can't use that as an excuse and their defense was nothing to be proud of. The last minutes of the game were chaos - Panama scored and the US looked disorganized and falling apart, with the semi's possibly slipping from their grasp. They could blame it on Panama's fouls, but out of the 9 yellow cards, the US were responsible for four.
This game showcased how easily the US can slip from a team that gave Italy a run for its money in the last world cup, from a second - tier team that gets scared and scattered when things don't go as predicted. What the US was expecting when they played Panama may have been a game akin to the others they had played in their group - easy wins, with no team able to score against them - but as much heat as the Gold Cup gets (a nothing tournament, with nothing competition), this tournament is at least a good reminder of how great the US can be but how fast they can fall apart - and its this that they should keep in mind as they play Canada (who looked very cohesive and competitive when they beat Guatemala 3-0), and as they prepare for Copa America. Mindsets like Twellman's can get you through a game but its not enough to brush their performance off as just a bad day - this was a classic game for the US, and it showed the world again why the US is still not taken seriously, which the players have to try to change before the rest of the world does.
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