CHESTER: United States and Panama will vie for some semblance of redemption when they clash in the third-place Gold Cup match Saturday afternoon at PPL Park in Philadelphia.
For the U.S., the stunning 2-1 loss to underdog Jamaica has been called the worst of its kind under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. After being stunned by two first-half goals from Jamaica, the defending Gold Cup champions failed to reach the final for the first time since 2003.
“Obviously the team is disappointed. The fans are disappointed,” Klinsmann said afterwards. “We wanted to play in the big final Sunday.”
For as disappointed as the familiar foes are in not competing for the big prize, the U.S. is taking the encounter very seriously. In fact, the always forward-thinking Jurgen Klinsmann views it as a building block in the effort for the next World Cup in Russia.
JK: We need to finish off this tournament strong against Panama tomorrow. #USMNT
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) July 24, 2015
“We want to continue our process towards 2018,” said the 50-year-old head coach. “This is year one after the World Cup in Brazil and a year of rebuilding the pieces and brining in young, new players, trying a lot of things out.
“Obviously, we wanted to win this tournament very badly.”
For defender Brad Evans, who played the entire 90 minutes in Wednesday’s 2-1 semifinal loss to Jamaica, the third place match holds multiple meanings.
“Anytime you put on this jersey, not matter what game it is…if it’s a friendly, if you’re playing 5v5 in practice, you got to put the effort.,” the Seattle Sounders standout commented. “The last result wasn’t the result that we wanted, but it was the best we had played all tournament.”
Adding more intrigue to the pairing is the fact that Panama’s last outing in each of the previous five Gold Cups has been against the five-time champion. On each occasion, the Canaleros came up short, losing four times, while drawing 0-0 in the 2005 final only to fall ultimately on penalty kicks.
