U.S. Men Beat Panama 2-0 To Grab First Place In Hexagonal Standings

As far as I'm concerned, beating Panama (a country of 3.5 million people that has never made the World Cup) is hardly notable except for the fact that the U.S. men's national team handed them a 2-0 defeat tonight in a World Cup qualifier at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.



Coming off Friday's improbable 2-1 win at Jamaica in stoppage time, the U.S. had confidence and it showed since they dominated Panama for most of the match. They were rewarded with three points and first place in the hexagonal standings halfway through the final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Tim Howard only had to make two saves, one difficult shot in stoppage time, for his 26th career clean sheet. Both American goals were top notch as Jozy Altidore scored for the third straight game (something he's never done for the national team) in the 36th minute and Seattle Sounder Eddie Johnson thrilled his awesome home fans with a goal in the 53rd minute.

Old man DeMarcus Beasley was busy, he hit the post in the 60th minute after a remarkable run that was straight out of 2002. Unfortunately, he picked up a yellow card in stoppage time (he was already carrying one) so he'll miss the next U.S. match.

Many trusted American soccer writers felt that Michael Bradley was the man of the match and it was hard to argue after he controlled the midfield, made wonderful passes and won every 50/50 ball. Bradley started the sequence on Altidore's goal as he sent it down the wing to Fabian Johnson who one-touch crossed it across Panama's goalmouth. Altidore finished it perfectly.

Johnson's goal was assisted by Geoff Cameron, who also had an excellent performance and found Johnson with a long aerial pass. Johnson did the rest with a cool shot around Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.



The U.S. (3-1-1) will go for its third World Cup qualifying win in a row next Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium against Honduras (2-2-1).

UPDATE 6/15: Midfielder Kyle Beckerman was added to the U.S. roster for the match vs. Honduras.

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U.S. Men Survive In Mexico To Get What They Need: A 0-0 Draw

Tonight's game at Estadio Azteca had many things that I hate about soccer (no goals, few scoring chances, tons of fouls, plenty of diving) that won't help it appeal to new audiences but I certainly can't complain about the final result: the U.S. men's national team tied Mexico 0-0. Coupled with Friday's 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the blizzard in Denver, four points in two matches is exactly what the Americans needed.

It was only the second time that the U.S. has earned a point in Mexico during World Cup qualifying, the last time was another scoreless draw on Nov. 2, 1997. The draw in the USA’s third of 10 matches in the final round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying moved the Americans to 1-1-1 (4 points) in the Hexagonal and into a three-way tie for second place with Honduras and Costa Rica behind Panama (1-0-2, 5 points) at the top of the table. Mexico (0-0-3, 3 points) is in fifth place and Jamaica (0-1-2, 2 points) sits in sixth. The top three finishers qualify directly to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In other results tonight Panama blanked Honduras 2-0 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City and Costa Rica moved up from last place with a 2-0 victory against Jamaica at Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Mexico outshot the U.S. 17-1 and had 13 more corner kicks (15-2) as the Americans played in an Italian style defensive shell that for once, I totally understood and agreed with. Backup goalkeeper Brad Guzan picked up his second straight clean sheet with a few solid saves but truthfully, Mexico wasted all their chances including headers that somehow went over the net or wide from a few yards away.

Center backs Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler along with fullbacks Geoff Cameron and DeMarcus Beasley were the real stars as they did their best to stay composed despite the fact that they had to play defense basically the entire match. I can't remember one decent U.S. chance that didn't come off a set piece or corner kick.

Their next 2014 World Cup qualifying games are June 7 in Jamaica and then June 11 vs. Panama in Seattle. Hopefully by then, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra (maybe?), Steve Cherundolo, Timmy Chandler, Fabian Johnson etc. are in form, healthy and in the lineup or at least on the U.S. bench. There are only so many games like this where you can get a result with the MLS All-Star team. Before that, Jurgen Kliinsmann's squad hosts two quality European teams: Belgium on May 29 in Cleveland and his home country-Germany-on June 2 in Washington DC.

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This Should Quiet The Jermaine Jones Haters, For A Day At Least

Look I get it, if you just know Jermaine Jones from his caps for the U.S. men's soccer team the past few years then you probably don't get what all the hype is about. So he is a clumsy midfielder that can pick up a bunch of yellow cards, what's the big deal? I'm not a founding member of his fan club by any means but a highlight reel goal like this by him (for Schalke this afternoon in a Champions League Round of 16 match vs. Galatasaray) shows that maybe Jurgen Klinsmann is onto something.



PS With this goal, he became only the second U.S. player to score this late in the UEFA Champions League, joining DeMarcus Beasley.

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