A Forgettable Finish
- Updated: July 25, 2015
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
The U.S. Men’s National Team entered the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup as favorites to reach the final, if not win the tournament outright. Instead, they bowed out of it in embarrassing fashion.
Three days after they were upset by Jamaica in the semifinals, the U.S. fell 1-1 (3-2 on penalties) to Panama in the third place game match on Saturday at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. in front of 12,598 fans.
Roberto Nurse opened the scoring in the 55th minute while Clint Dempsey equalized in the 70th minute to send the match to extra time. Fabian Johnson, Michael Bradley, and DaMarcus Beasley were unable to convert their penalties, allowing Panama to claim the victory.
Following a scoreless first half, Panama took the lead not long after the break when Roberto Blackburn found Nurse on a bursting run that culminated in the opening score.
The U.S. responded 15 minutes later when DeAndre Yedlin brought down a long ball from Bradley and set up Dempsey, who made a late run into the area and buried it to put the match on level terms with full time looming.
After falling short of the tournament final, the U.S. will face the winner of Sunday’s championship match between Jamaica and Mexico in a one-game playoff in October in order to decide which country will represent CONCACAF at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia.
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