Analysis

U.S. was quite fortunate to escape Panama with a draw.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

PANAMA City, Panama (Wednesday, September 8, 2004) -- Frankly, Panama deserved better.

Panama outplayed and outhustled the United States men over the closing 45 minutes of their CONCACAF World Cup qualifier, but the Americans were fortunate to get Cobi Jones' goal two minutes into stoppage time to escape with a 1-1 draw. It was the second time in as many road matches in this semifinal round robin that the U.S. tied the game when a reserve scored in the closing moments for a 1-1 tie.

Instead of Panama taking over first place in Group 1, it is the U.S. in first place at 1-0-2 with five points. With Jamaica winning 3-0 tonight in El Salvador, Jamaica and Panama are both 1-1-1 with four points, though Jamaica has a plus-2 goal differential while Panama's goals for and against are equal. El Salvador is 1-2 with three points at the halfway point of the six-match round robin.

It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the U.S. withstood a great deal of pressure over the first 10 minutes, but then took charge. The U.S. then created chances but, as has been the case of late, simply could not capitalize on the opportunities.

In the second half, it was a completely different story with Panama dominating play, but unable to translate its effort into goals. Second-half substitute Ricardo Phillips created havoc in the midfield and the forward tandem of Julio Dely Valdes and Roberto Brown gave the U.S. backline fits.

"The story of this game was our inability to take advantage of our control in the first half," U.S. manager Bruce Arena said. "But give us credit for passing the character test. In the end, we wore them down, which surprised me. I thought it would be the other way."

An interesting shift occurred here in the last 48 hours. A week ago, the local media, to say nothing of the Panamanian fans, would have been thrilled with a draw against the U.S. Then, Panama won 2-1 at Jamaica and expectations suddenly skyrocketed. Headlines read, "We can win, we can beat the U.S." A 2-1 victory was widely forecast. Panama coach Jose Hernandez and his team suddenly found themselves under strong pressure to win.

Backed by an impassionate crowd, the Panamanians came out flying. They had the U.S. back on its heels for about the first 10 minutes, but gradually the U.S. took control, but with little to show for it.

Instead of picking up where they left off at the half, it was the home side who took control over most of the second 45 minutes. They beat the U.S. to just about every loose ball, Phillips had several cracks at goal and only two good saves from U.S. keeper Kasey Keller kept the Americans in the match.

Panama's goal, while deserved given its measure of domination in the second half, was a bit fluky. A mixup between defender Grey Vanney and midfielder DaMarcus Beasley on the left side prevented a ball from being cleared. Ricardo Phillips' shot was blocked by Keller, but the rebound returned to Phillips for a second shot of the right post. Robert Brown was open to put that carom away.

"Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way," Keller said.

Days of rain and a waterlogged field, which seemed to drain life from the American legs in the second half, eventually came to the U.S. rescue. Vanney's 30-yard ball into the left-side of the area was headed into the middle, rather than away, by a Panamanian defender who had been pressured in the air by U.S. striker Brian McBride. American midfielder Landon Donovan's was first to the ball, but his attempted shot from 12 yards, sitting in a pond in the penalty area, instead veered at a 45-degree angle to the left. The ball went directly to Jones who, seven yards out, quickly used his right foot to steer a rolling shot inside the left post for the 1-1 tie. That Jones appeared to be offside when the ball arrived will be a matter to be argued by aggrieved Panamanians, possibly for years to come.

"Vanney sent it in and Brian (McBride) went up to head it," Jones said. "It went to Landon who tried to get a shot off but the ball held up on him. I was able to get to it and to slide it under the keeper."

Whether it was because of the pools of standing water or the supportive Panamanian home crowd, the U.S. turned in a ragged effort. The young front line tandem of Conor Casey and Brian Ching received little service and could do little on its own. Casey, despite his size, was pushed around by the Panama's defenders.

Clint Mathis was inserted into the midfield, but had a poor night. DaMarcus Beasley was a targeted by Panama all night and was all but marked out of the match by Engie Mitre.

Panama worked hard and almost pulled off an upset. It benefited from some good individual play but, overall, it is not a finished team. That was fortunate for the U.S. because a more polished opponent might have led by two or three goals at the time of Jones' equalizer.

"You qualify by winning at home and by denying your opponent two points on the road, which we have now done twice," Arena said. "I think you will find it will be a very different game in Washington," when the two teams meet October 13 at RFK Stadium next.

Midfielder Eddie Lewis (77th minute for Ching) - 5.5: Added a dimension to the left side that had been absent most of the second half. Forced Phillips to play defense and opened up opportunities that eventually started the tying sequence.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.