USA vs. Panama | CONCACAF Gold Cup Third-Place Match Preview

USA vs. Panama
2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup Third-Place Game
Saturday, July 25 | 4 pm ET | PPL Park, Chester, Pa.
TV: Fox Sports 1, Univision, Sportsnet World

The US national team aren’t getting much time to lick their wounds following their shocking loss Wednesday to Jamaica in the Gold Cup semifinals. Nor will there be much consolation in Saturday’s third-place match against an equally reeling Panama squad at the Philadelphia Union’s PPL Park. Pride – and a measure of deflection from head coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s critics – is about all that’s on the line.

FINISH STRONG: When asked how his stunned side would react from Jamaica’s 2-1 upset victory, Klinsmann said he expects the USMNT to rekindle some momentum for October’s playoff to qualify for the 2014 Confederations Cup and upcoming World Cup qualifying cycle.

“Finishing off in style Saturday in front of our fans, being third then and doing that with the right attitude and right approach,” Klinsmann told media following the Jamaica loss. “You owe that to fans and the tournament. Swallowing that pill, it’s not nice to swallow, but it is what it is, you can’t change that anymore. Then we keep building, we keep progressing, we keep working hard in order to go towards World Cup qualifying by the end of the year and it starts all over again.”

UNITED – YET SHORTHANDED – PANAMA: Panama's in pain after their controversial extra-time loss to Mexico in the other semifinal match on Wednesday, resulting in a two-game suspension of LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo and a $15,000 fine for the Panama Football Federation. But Los Canaleros players released a statement saying they would play Saturday’s third-place match out of respect for the sport and opponent.

"In the midst of this pain, we feel the Panamanian National Team lifts itself up with dignity and plays on in this Gold Cup, for our country, for the respect our rival deserves in the third place match, and for all of those who believe this sport is good, despite some wanting to convert it in something totally different to its nature,” a portion of the statement read.

Head coach Hernan Dario Gomez in his Friday news conference also ruled out FC Dallas forward Blas Perez, forward Luis Tejada and midfielders Valentin Pimentel and Gabriel Gomez.

YOU AGAIN? Panama’s consolation from their heartbreaking loss to Mexico is a match-up against a team against which they have an equal history of heartbreak. The USMNT beat Los Canaleros in the 2013 Gold Cup championship match, ending their improbable run to the final. And then later that year, the US, of course, beat them again in a World Cup qualifier after trailing late in the match when a Panama win would have eliminated Mexico and given them a chance to qualify for Brazil with a playoff victory over New Zealand.

Panama did play the US to a draw in the final group-stage match of this tournament.

MIGHT AS WELL HAVE SOME FUN: When you lose a heartbreaker to continue a trend of star-crossed results over the past three years, what else is there to do but play kick ball? That’s the approach head coach Dario Gomez took in his team’s training session Friday, in search of some measure of levity in an otherwise pressure-filled tournament that has also included three group-stage draws and a shootout victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the quarterfinals.  

LAST LAP FOR RUNDMB: USMNT veteran DaMarcus Beasley, who was called out of international retirement by Klinsmann for their Gold Cup run, is expected to play his final match for the Yanks on Saturday in what will be his 122nd international appearance. Klinsmann said the 33-year-old Houston Dynamo defender will play the second half against Panama.

"It looks like it comes to an end tomorrow if he doesn't reconsider," Klinsmann said told media Friday. "It's a very special moment for him because what he gave this team over the last many, many years has been unbelievable."