Gold Cup live blog: U.S. vs. Panama 2nd half

The second half starts with Landon Donovan replacing Kljestan. Don't ask me why he didn't start for the second game in a row. As far as I know, he didn't attend any weddings last night.

Panama makes a decent run but get called offsides.

Dempsey wins a free kick outside Panama's box.

Jesus, both Donovan and Jones go down on the field with possible injuries. Hope they're OK.

Well I guess Jones is fine, he just won a ridiculous 50-50 ball with a couple super athletic touches. More energy in that one play than his team has showed for basically the entire match so far.

U.S. is getting stagnant now, I swear if they lose to Panama again, Bradley should be fired on the spot. There's no excuse.

Good run by Lichaj but his cross was too fast for Bedoya to connect on. Finally, some life from the U.S. in the second half and a chance.

Panama with its best chance of the game but they can't connect on a cross that was right on top of Howard.

Freddy Adu is set to come in, don't know yet for who. This illustrates how desperate Bradley is, turning to a guy that hasn't played for the U.S. in years. Yikes.

Adu is in for Agudelo, haha he hasn't played for the U.S. since 2009. Disappointing game for Agudelo, he lacked creativity and his decision making was bad all night.

The U.S. seems to have gotten a spark with Adu coming on, they win a corner.

Bocanegra gets a yellow card for the slightest push you'll ever see. Ugh, don't start handing out cards like that please.

Cooper hammers a shot that Howard deflects over for a corner. Cooper is out for (Edgar?) Renteria.

There we go. Adu finds Donovan, who gives Dempsey a perfect cross that he redirects in. 1-0 U.S. in the 76th minute.

Dempsey's 22nd goal for the USMNT, ahead of Bruce Murray and two behind Joe-Max Moore.

Howard with a routine save, Cherundolo forced the shot with a tackle.

Godoy for Gomez and Torres in for Panama, Barahona out. Last changes for Panama.

Wow, Adu makes a crazy run to keep the ball in play and give it back to Bradley.

Adu wins a corner, mature play. U.S. just needs to milk the clock at this point.

Three minutes of added time and that's before Jones gets cleated up high (possibly in the face).

Ball gets flicked on by Panama in U.S. box but they shoot it wide. U.S. defense did a nice job collapsing on that offensive player.

Final: U.S. 1, Panama 0

It's all about Donovan and Adu's work off the bench. Making Bob Bradley look like a genius (which is pretty hard to do). The U.S. didn't play particularly great but they got the result and didn't have to sweat it out in extra time.

Mexico faces Honduras at 10 p.m. in the other Gold Cup semifinal. As a U.S. fan, you have to want Mexico since it's their biggest rival but Honduras is a much more beatable team. Who to root for?

The final is Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

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No Xavi or Puyol for Spain as they visit the U.S. next weekend

Another day closer to U.S. vs. Spain which is a week from Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The teams are also holding open practices the night before.

Spain announced its roster for that friendly along with a match against Venezuela three days later.

The biggest names left off are Carlos Puyol and Xavi Hernandez, who are both dealing with injuries plus their club team (Barcelona) is playing on Saturday in the Champions League final vs. Manchester United (more on that in the days to come).

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque preferred to rest the Barcelona pair as Puyol has played little in 2011 due to a knee injury.

"He's suffering quite a lot from his problem,'' Del Bosque said regarding the tendinitis in Puyol's right knee that has limited him to three appearances since Jan. 22.

Xavi was being rested after a taxing season which culminates in Saturday's Champions League final against Manchester United.

"I personally spoke with Xavi and we thought it was better not to bring him after such a long season,'' Del Bosque added.

The matches will be the first test of whether relations within the world champion squad have been strained by the recent run of ill-tempered matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona, with a combined 11 players from the two teams included.

Tensions between teammates were raised as the bitter Spanish rivals played four times in 18 days.

"We retain our confidence in the World Cup group of players,'' Del Bosque said. "The most important thing is we're bringing the players we need to.''

Injured Arsenal playmaker Cesc Fabregas is missing, but Fernando Torres kept his place despite his poor form since moving from Liverpool to Chelsea.

"He's a stable player inside this group - we didn't want to open up any debate,'' Del Bosque said from the Spanish federation headquarters.

Del Bosque recalled Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo after a 20-goal season, while Villarreal midfield duo Borja Valero and Bruno Soriano were also included. Striker Manu del Moral earned his first call-up, getting the nod over Valencia pair Roberto Soldado or Aritz Aduritz.
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Spain:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona).
Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carlos Marchena (Villarreal), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao).
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Borja Valero (Villarreal).
Forwards: David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Manu Del Moral (Sevilla), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)

If you're a U.S. fan, you still have to be excited since Spain is clearly bringing almost all of their big names and taking these games seriously. It's only fitting since Bob Bradley has loaded his team too which should make for a great atmosphere at Gillette! Hope we luck out and get some summer-type weather.

5 US subs to start the second half

To start the second half, the US subbed Brian Ching for Eddie Johnson, Sacha Kljestan for Jose Torres, Heath Pearce for Jonathan Bornstein, Robbie Rogers for DeMarcus Beasley and Herculez Gomez for Edson Buddle.

Sacha is the first sub to do something as he sends in a good cross that Cech deflects into traffic in front of the goal.