In the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Semifinals, the U.S. Men’s National Team and Panama drew 1-1 before Panama won 5-4 on penalties. The American squad went the distance again and faced back-to-back penalty shootouts for the first time in team history only three days after playing 120 minutes. In front of a throng of 31,690 spectators at Snapdragon Stadium, striker Jess Ferreria scored his tournament-high seventh goal to put an end to the USMNT’s participation in this year’s confederation championship.
Panama, the USMNT’s most common opponent in the Gold Cup, was the opponent for the 12th time, and the Central American team had only defeated the USMNT twice before. The 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Final will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 16. Panama will compete against the winner of the other semifinal on Wednesday, which will either be Mexico or Jamaica.
The USMNT quickly established a lead in the opening minutes of the match
After a defensive lapse by Panama, forward Brandon Vazquez laid a risky pass inside the opening minute of play. In his second game of the competition, teenage sensation Cade Cowell blasted the ball off the base of the post with a right-footed attempt from the edge of the penalty area.
Following that, Panama dominated possession and controlled the first-half offensive strategy. Forward Ismael Diaz, who scored three goals for Los Canaleros against Qatar in the quarterfinal, blasted a warning shot at the American defense in the 12th minute, forcing custodian Matt Turner to make a fine save. In the 29th minute, midfielder Yoel Bárcenas put the ball in the back of Turner’s net with a close-range volley after receiving a precise pass from Adalberto Carrasquilla. However, the play was stopped for being offside because the assistant referee’s flag was raised. Turner was forced off his line by another scuffle after DeJuan Jones’ mishandled ball to prevent Diaz from scoring a free header close to the penalty spot.
Similar to the first half, the second one began with a good opportunity for the United States. In the 52nd minute, Cowell broke open the Panama defense with some brilliant approach play on the right side of the penalty area, clipping the ball over the goal mouth. In his first Gold Cup start of 2023, Vazquez hit the centering pass over the crossbar at an unusual height.
Diaz of Panama headed down and goalward a crisp cross from the right a minute later at the other end of the pitch
Turner dived to tip the bouncing ball up and out for a corner kick, recording his second save of the contest.
After an hour, the game started to open up, and the USMNT created its greatest opportunity at that moment in the 65th minute. Gianluca Busio, a midfielder, surged forward carrying the ball across the middle of the pitch after Turner started the play from the back. Ferreira, the Golden Boot leader, was set up by DeAndre Yedlin’s low right-side cross in the second half, but the striker sent his shot just wide of the far post. In the final seconds of regulation, both sides had opportunities to put the game away, but neither was able to do so, sending the U.S. into yet another round of overtime.
On one day less rest than its opponent, the USMNT started to feel fatigued in the opening minute of extra time. Ivan Anderson, a defender for Panama, scored his first goal for his country after holding his run and slipping past the American defense in the 99th minute. Turner jumped off his line to put an end to the threat, but the substitute was a step quicker and scored.
Panama’s lead did not last for very long. In the 105th minute, Jordan Morris, a second-half substitute, leaped to nod a long ball down into the penalty area. In the final seconds of the period, Ferreira volleyed home off his shin with lightning-fast reflexes. Ferreira’s seventh goal in the Gold Cup, which leads the competition, tied him with Clint Dempsey in 2015 for the most goals by an American player in a single confederation championship.
The USA was pushed into a shootout for the first time in team history as a result of the 1-1 tie at the end of extra time. Orlando Mosquera of Panama stopped Jess Ferreira’s initial attempt after the Brazilian had just scored the equalizer. Turner was able to block Cristian Martnez’s attempt, but a save by substitute Cristian Roldan allowed Panama to win, which Carrasquilla clinched with a well-placed shot in the sixth round of the shootout.
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