U.S. opens Gold Cup with draw vs Panama

The U.S. celebrates Dom Dwyer’s goal vs. Panama. The same was true the last time these two played, with the USMNT drawing 1-1 at Panama on March 28 in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The U.S. opens play Saturday against Panama in a Group B game in Nashville.

Federation Internationale de Football Association banned Osorio for six matches on Friday for his behavior during the Confederations Cup third-place game last Sunday, when Mexico lost to Portugal 2-1.

“It didn’t really quite happen the way we wanted but I saw glimpses of what I want from this team”.

“We want to get off to a positive start, which is something we haven’t done in the past few tournaments”, added the Bays United and Lower Island Metro product. He just became eligible for the USMNT after earning United States citizenship in March of this year. “We have to be fairly consistent”.

“I have been around the national team for a number of years now, so I have the experience to help out some of the younger players if they feel they need it”. Baal now plays for Rennes as a left-back.

Yet, in perhaps a marked departure from past eras, head coach Bruce Arena didn’t mince words or pretend all was copacetic. “Hopefully, we’ll get a win there and position ourselves to move on past the group stage”. After three group stage matches, eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals. The top two teams from each of the three sections plus the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-finals.

The U.S. will face their toughest group opponent in the opener against Panama.

Besler, Dwyer, Zusi and the U.S. MNT will now turn their attention to Wednesday’s Group B match against Martinique, which will kick off at 8 p.m. CT on FS1, UniMas and UDN at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

The U.S. would improve after the break, drawing first blood on the 50-minute mark. Costa Rica 11/10 (03:00) The result of this match will likely determine the victor of Group A. Costa Rica are one of the strongest teams in the tournament, with familiar names like Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz on their roster.

Dynamo forward Erick Torres was named to Mexico’s team as an injury substitution.

Aside from upstart Curacao, Costa Rica remains the real lone threat to spoil either the U.S.’s or Mexico’s chances at the Gold Cup title. El Salvador will be backed by a passionate “home” crowd in every match, and will be licking their lips at the opportunity to take one of their biggest rivals, Mexico, in their opener. They look a team in disarray and no match at present for what looks an excellent Costa Rica side. Los Canaleros have yet to qualify for their first World Cup finals though, although they stand a decent chance of booking a ticket to Russian Federation. Arena achieved those results with his best team and, though his Gold Cup roster won’t feature stars such as Michael Bradley or Christian Pulisic, an embarrassing semifinals loss in the 2015 Gold Cup sets up a redemption narrative for this year’s squad. “We have a bunch of good teams here”.