The United States men's national team lost to Panama in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals stunned once again by the team that played a part in their Copa America elimination.
Mauricio Pochettino, in the wake of losing Antonee Robinson to injury ahead of the semifinals, shifted Joe Scally to left back and played Yunus Musah as a right back. As well, he brought Tyler Adams into midfield as the Bournemouth midfielder made his first appearance under the Argentine. Though, instead of also deploying Diego Luna or Gio Reyna in the creative midfield role, he kept Christian Pulisic there.
The Stars and Stripes were frustrated for most of the game struggling to break down Panama's low block. Josh Sargent thought he had the opener in the first half continuing his strong form at Norwich City, but it was disallowed for offsides.
The USMNT struggled to create clear cut chances for most of the second half... and then Panama had the final word. Cecilio Waterman fired a shot across his body beating Matt Turner at his far post stunning those in attendance. Another frustrating, heartbreaking and embarrassing loss for USA against Panama in less than a year.
For Panama, all the credit goes to the team for how they set up, their intention to play out from the back and create opportunities. USA's revenge for Copa America must wait. Not to mention, the 2023 Gold Cup loss too.
USMNT player ratings below.
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USMNT Player Ratings vs. Panama (4-2-3-1)
Ratings provided by Fotmob
Player of the Match: Orlando Mosquera (Panama)
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as USA 0–1 Panama: Player Ratings as USMNT Stunned Again by Panama.
