Two Concacaf teams who have gotten to know each other well in the last few years square off in their second match of the CONMEBOL Copa América when the United States and Panama clash in Atlanta.
By Jon Arnold
The Concacaf squads have met at least once a year since a January 2019 friendly. Panama’s only win in those six matches was in last year’s Gold Cup semi-final when an alternate U.S. side fell in the penalty shootout and the Central Americans advanced to the Gold Cup final.
Now at full-strength, the U.S. is eager to show it can compete with the best not just in Concacaf but in the Americas. It dominated South American straggler Bolivia in its opening match, with Christian Pulisic scoring in the third minute and Folarin Balogun adding a second in the 44th. Despite dominating proceedings in the second half, however, the U.S. couldn’t capitalise on a number of chances to extend its lead even further.
U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter won’t be concerned if his team continues winning. The biggest fitness question for the U.S. remains midfielder Tyler Adams, who played 45 minutes in the opener and came out as a planned change. While AC Milan midfielder Yunus Musah (and Real Betis’ Johnny) both have given plenty of evidence they’re up to the international standard, neither can influence a game quite like Adams.
Not only did Panama lose its opener against Uruguay, the team favored to top the group, it also suffered the loss of a key player. José Luis “Puma” Rodriguez sprained his shoulder in the 3-1 loss to the South American squad and will be out for the rest of the tournament. That adds to a list of injuries manager Thomas Christiansen has had to cope with.
Veteran midfielder Anibal Godoy had to pull out just before the start of the tournament, and while Panama thought it would replace him with Fidel Escobar, the centre-back said he’s not yet fit enough to play international matches. Fellow centre-back Andrés Andrade and forward Cecilio Waterman already were missing heading into the summer, with Andrade injured in a pre-tournament swing through Spain and Waterman injured prior to June’s World Cup qualification contests.
While the middle of defense finds itself quite shorthanded, Panama feels confident in its wide defenders, Michael Amir Murillo, the Marseille man who scored in stoppage time against Uruguay, and Eric Davis. It now needs Edgar Yoel Barcenas to provide even more of a creative engine, and, while do-everything midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla earned the most touches for Panama in the match with Uruguay, he needs to do more if Panama can spring a shock at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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