A grand total of two shots on goal. That includes both American and Panamanian shots - although it should be mentioned that the two mentioned above were both American - and thus it becomes clear that the Gold Cup final this year was a most cagey affair.
The hosts kept pressing for the win, and Panama kept defending, for most of the match.
United States had by far the most possession of the ball, and both Landon Donovan (at 0-0) and Eddie Johnson (at 1-0) missed huge opportunities to score. Both forwards placed the ball wide of goal, so they're not included in the two on-goal chances.
To their credit, Panama players did a great job of blocking persistent American attacks, but were never a dangerous attacking force, not even at 0-1.
And they had no clear chances of scoring.
Klinsmann (who was banned from sitting on the bench, due to the incident during the Honduras semifinal) and his coaching staff performed an excellent switch when they introduced Brek Shea, in the 68th minute.
42 seconds later, a weak diagonal cross was missed by every Panamanian defender, as well as by Landon Donovan, who was inches (or cm, if you will,) away from touching it, and the substitute was there to push it in cleanly, one meter away from Panama's goal line.
How the Panamanians, who had defended almost flawlessly prior to that, failed so abjectly in blocking a seemingly inoffensive ball is to be analyzed on many sports shows, for sure.
But, as unexpected and auspicious as the goal was, the fact remains that that was the only well-taken chance of a long tactical battle between the two squads, and it will remain in history as the winner of the 2013 Gold Cup.
Brek Shea had also scored the only goal in the United States - Costa Rica match, on July 16. And he was a substitute in that match, as well.
So, The United States wins their 5th Gold Cup. First since 2007.
Mexico still leads, with 6.
Next Gold Cup is to take place in 2015.
Highlights:
Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts
Monday, 29 July 2013
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Surprising, or Not So Much?
No Mexico in the Gold Cup final?
That would probably constitute a surprise, under normal circumstances.
But given the squad Mexico brought to this year's competition it's not really such a big surprise that they lost to Panama. Twice.
There's only one positive thing, which is that the Mexican forwards got some saves - two - out of Panamanian goalkeeper Penedo (who has not saved much in this tournament until now).
As a matter of fact, talking about the second save, Isaac Brizuela should really have scored with that chip of his (in minute 80).
Even though he had milliseconds to shoot, he was alone with the keeper. That would have made it 2-2.
But, seeing as how he is a reserve player, people won't be too harsh on him.
It should have been Chicharito there, not Brizuela.
Mexico's defense disappointed, too.
Everyone was left stunned when Ramon Torres scored his header, 16 minutes into the second half.
But, in all honesty, United States and Panama have been the two best teams in this tournament.
And the only two unbeaten.
So, the final USA - Panama makes sense more than the Mexicans might like to admit.
Highlights:
That would probably constitute a surprise, under normal circumstances.
But given the squad Mexico brought to this year's competition it's not really such a big surprise that they lost to Panama. Twice.
There's only one positive thing, which is that the Mexican forwards got some saves - two - out of Panamanian goalkeeper Penedo (who has not saved much in this tournament until now).
As a matter of fact, talking about the second save, Isaac Brizuela should really have scored with that chip of his (in minute 80).
Even though he had milliseconds to shoot, he was alone with the keeper. That would have made it 2-2.
But, seeing as how he is a reserve player, people won't be too harsh on him.
It should have been Chicharito there, not Brizuela.
Mexico's defense disappointed, too.
Everyone was left stunned when Ramon Torres scored his header, 16 minutes into the second half.
But, in all honesty, United States and Panama have been the two best teams in this tournament.
And the only two unbeaten.
So, the final USA - Panama makes sense more than the Mexicans might like to admit.
Highlights:
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Something Wrong with Mexico
Clearly, Mexico is having trouble moving ahead in this year's Gold Cup.
They barely made it past Trinidad and Tobago (who frustrated Mexico for practically the entire match) courtesy of one lucky goal, scored by Raul Jimenez six minutes before the end.
But there's an explanation for this.
Having a look at the squad present at the Gold Cup, versus the squad that was at the Confederations Cup, one can clearly see that the best players are not in the United States right now.
Where are de Nigris, Hernandez, dos Santos, Guardado, Torrado, Ochoa, and others?
Why would Mexico care more about that Confederations Cup? It's a filler tournament.
I guess when they are two Gold Cups ahead of United States, the nearest rival, you start to get cocky...
Still, I have to wonder who made the decision that the first squad would be sent to play in the Confederations Cup, but the Gold Cup would be defended by second-string players.
Maybe the players asked for it, because the clubs don't want them injured, meaning it's a financial/business issue. Otherwise, I find it hard to think that the Mexican football federation would willfully neglect a tournament that is always so good to their national team.
Anyway, now, that they still managed to make it to the semifinals, are they going to manage a better result against Panama than they did in the group stage? That's the question every Mexican fan is asking.
The Panamanians clearly take this competition seriously. If there was any doubt as to their abilities, they put that to rest after getting a better score against Cuba than even The United States did.
Highlights from Mexico - Trinidad and Tobago:
Highlights from Panama - Cuba:
They barely made it past Trinidad and Tobago (who frustrated Mexico for practically the entire match) courtesy of one lucky goal, scored by Raul Jimenez six minutes before the end.
But there's an explanation for this.
Having a look at the squad present at the Gold Cup, versus the squad that was at the Confederations Cup, one can clearly see that the best players are not in the United States right now.
Where are de Nigris, Hernandez, dos Santos, Guardado, Torrado, Ochoa, and others?
Why would Mexico care more about that Confederations Cup? It's a filler tournament.
I guess when they are two Gold Cups ahead of United States, the nearest rival, you start to get cocky...
Still, I have to wonder who made the decision that the first squad would be sent to play in the Confederations Cup, but the Gold Cup would be defended by second-string players.
Maybe the players asked for it, because the clubs don't want them injured, meaning it's a financial/business issue. Otherwise, I find it hard to think that the Mexican football federation would willfully neglect a tournament that is always so good to their national team.
Anyway, now, that they still managed to make it to the semifinals, are they going to manage a better result against Panama than they did in the group stage? That's the question every Mexican fan is asking.
The Panamanians clearly take this competition seriously. If there was any doubt as to their abilities, they put that to rest after getting a better score against Cuba than even The United States did.
Highlights from Mexico - Trinidad and Tobago:
Highlights from Panama - Cuba:
Friday, 12 July 2013
Almost
Martinique held their own for almost the entire match against now-favourites (of Group A) Panama.
But one silly mistake was enough to see them lose the match. 5 more minutes, and it would have been just about over.
Everybody expects Mexico to come back now, and to win their last remaining matches. They're probably going to beat Martinique, in the third match.
With a point, Martinique would have been through, most likely (or, if USA and Costa Rica win again, for sure). And, then, they wouldn't have had to worry about losing big to Mexico.
If Martinique loses to Mexico in the third match, then even Canada could come back to qualify with a decent win over Panama.
This group is not over yet.
What we know for sure, though, is that Panama has advanced to the quarter-final stage with a game to spare.
Highlights:
But one silly mistake was enough to see them lose the match. 5 more minutes, and it would have been just about over.
Everybody expects Mexico to come back now, and to win their last remaining matches. They're probably going to beat Martinique, in the third match.
With a point, Martinique would have been through, most likely (or, if USA and Costa Rica win again, for sure). And, then, they wouldn't have had to worry about losing big to Mexico.
If Martinique loses to Mexico in the third match, then even Canada could come back to qualify with a decent win over Panama.
This group is not over yet.
What we know for sure, though, is that Panama has advanced to the quarter-final stage with a game to spare.
Highlights:
Monday, 8 July 2013
Mexico, Too!?!
What a day to start off the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup!
Canada loses to an overseas region of France, with a population of only roughly 400000 inhabitants, and now Mexico loses to Panama, a team they're usually expected to defeat.
After Mexico tied the score, in first-half injury time, probably most people thought the match was getting back to normal.
But bad defending by Mexico 3 minutes after the break led to another Panamanian goal, scored by the same player: Gabriel Torres.
And that was all.
I knew Mexico had problems getting the wins, due to their 5 draws out of 6 matches played, in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, but this is a loss. It must be shocking for a lot of people, myself included. (Could there be a big shift of power in CONCACAF? Even Costa Rica is looking more dangerous than Mexico now.)
Highlights:
Canada loses to an overseas region of France, with a population of only roughly 400000 inhabitants, and now Mexico loses to Panama, a team they're usually expected to defeat.
After Mexico tied the score, in first-half injury time, probably most people thought the match was getting back to normal.
But bad defending by Mexico 3 minutes after the break led to another Panamanian goal, scored by the same player: Gabriel Torres.
And that was all.
I knew Mexico had problems getting the wins, due to their 5 draws out of 6 matches played, in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, but this is a loss. It must be shocking for a lot of people, myself included. (Could there be a big shift of power in CONCACAF? Even Costa Rica is looking more dangerous than Mexico now.)
Highlights:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)