Graham Zusi got his first National Team goal in his second National Team game, putting the United States up eight minutes into Wednesday night's friendly against Panama. Both teams pressed the offense in the first-half, with US goalkeeper Nick Rimando and his counterpart Luis Mejia called into service. Rimando would exit for Sean Johnson at halftime, with the second-half starting similarly to the first. US defender Geoff Cameron was red carded in the 52nd minute, leaving Panama with an extra player and several missed opportunities to find an equalizer. The United States would wait until extra time before winning their first corner kick.
"I think we saw a very close game, a very tight game which we luckily won because Panama didn't finish off the chances that they had," US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "Our team had a very hard three weeks, and they had tired legs today and you could see that. After the red card, we couldn't pressure enough anymore to create more chances. Overall, I think it really paid off doing this, not only playing a game in the US, but coming down here. A lot of the young players learned their lesson today."
Klinsmann used five substitutes after the Cameron red card, with the United States playing a counter-attacking game. Panama - fielding a young team - also used their bench making five substitutions.
-- GAME REPORT --
Match: USA vs. Panama
Date: Jan. 25, 2012
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez; Panama City, Panama
Kickoff: 8:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 15,000
Weather: 77 degrees; partly sunny
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Panama 0 0 0
USA 1 0 1
USA - Graham Zusi (Teal Bunbury) 9th minute
Lineups:
USA :1-Nick Rimando (12-Sean Johnson, 46); 2-A.J. DeLaGarza, 4-Michael Parkhurst, 5-Geoff Cameron, 3-Zach Loyd (14- Heath Pearce, 41); 6-Ricardo Clark (16-Jeff Larentowicz, 67), 8-Jermaine Jones (capt.); 7-Chris Wondolowski (13-Jeff Parke, 55), 10-Graham Zusi(15-Brad Evans, 66); 11-Brek Shea; 9-Teal Bunbury (18-C.J. Sapong, 76)
Subs not used: 17-Benny Feilhaber
Head Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann
PAN : 1-Luis Mejia, 17-Carlos Rodriguez, 2-Eric Vasquez, 14-Eduardo Dasent, 3-Rolando Algandona; 11-Amir Waithe (15- Luis Ovalle, 71), 8-Marcos Sanchez, 6-Gabriel Gomez (13-Juan DeGracia, 90+2), 19-Alberto Quintero (20- Rolando Botello, 77); 7-Blas Perez (capt.), 16-Luis Renteria (9-Manuel Mosquera, 75)
Subs not used: 12-Kevin Melgar, 5-Sergio Thompson, 4-Edward Benitez
Head coach: Julio Dely Valdes
Stats Summary: USA / PAN
Shots: 8 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Saves: 4 / 4
Corner Kicks: 0 / 6
Fouls: 11 / 7
Offside: 0 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
USA - Zach Loyd (caution) 14th minute
USA - Jermaine Jones (caution) 42
USA - Geoff Cameron (sent off) 51
USA - A.J. DeLaGarza (caution) 73
Officials:
Referee: Francisco Chacon (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Fourth Official: Roberto Moreno (PAN)
