SAN DIEGO, CAL.- Panama beat the United States 5-4 in a penalty shootout thanks to two saves from GK Orlando Mosquera to win the Concacaf Gold Cup semifinal on Wednesday at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California and move into the final of the tournament.
It is the first time Panama has reached the Gold Cup final since 2013, as the Central American squad moves one match away from winning the Concacaf crown for the first time ever.
The United States started the game strong, with FW Cade Cowell hitting the post in the very first minute thanks to a chance set up by fellow U.S. FW Brandon Vazquez. But Panama drew U.S. GK Matt Turner into action in the 11th minute, with FW Ismael Diaz trying to pick up where he left off after his hat trick in the quarterfinal. Instead, Turner denied his right-footed effort to keep things scoreless.
Neither was able to find a goal in the first 90 minutes, sending the match into extra time. Panama scored first, as Adalberto Carrasquilla played a ball over the top for DF Ivan Anderson. Anderson took a touch to beat Turner, who had come out of his box, and then finished for the first goal of the match.
But before the break in extra time, though, the U.S. was able to find a tying goal. U.S. FW Jordan Morris headed a ball into the box, and FW Jesus Ferreira swung his leg to make contact and volley in an equalizer that thrilled the crowd.
Matters had to be settled from the spot.
In the penalty shootout, Jesús Ferreira, who had scored a goal in regulation time, started by taking the shot, but Orlando Mosquera saved it. Eduardo Anderson from Panama made it 1-0, Djordje Mihailovic equalized to 1-1, Ismael Diaz scored the 2-1, Jordan Morrison equalized to 2-2, and the shot by Cristian Martínez was saved by Matt Turner. Then, Julian Gressel restored the lead to 3-2 for the United States, Edgar Barcenas equalized to 3-3, Matt Miazga made it 4-3, and Cecilio Waterman equalized to 4-4, forcing a new round of penalties. Cristian Roldán began the shootout, but his shot was saved by Mosquera, and with nerves of steel, Adalberto Carrasquilla put the ball into the net, giving Panama a 5-4 victory in penalties and securing their spot in the final."
Panama now moves into the Final at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, while the United States wraps up its summer and will turn its attention toward a defense of the Concacaf Nations League.
