KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Coming off a history-making loss, the U.S. national soccer team landed in Kansas City bloodied but unbowed.
A 2-1 loss to Panama on Saturday night marked the Americans’ first group-play defeat in the 20-year history of the Gold Cup and made their game Tuesday night against Guadeloupe at Livestrong Sporting Park a must-win if they want to advance to the quarterfinals of the 12-team tournament, which determines the best team in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
“We have everything to play for,” said defender Clarence Goodson, who scored the lone U.S. goal against Panama. “It was a little speed bump.”
It might be more than that if the Americans don’t find a way to beat Guadeloupe. The top two teams from each of three groups advance to the quarterfinals, along with the two teams with the next-best records.
Panama (2-0-0) is first in Group C, the United States and Canada are tied for second at 1-1-0 and Guadeloupe (0-2-0) is last. A U.S. victory practically guarantees a spot in the next round, while a loss would make things much murkier.
The good news is the U.S. would seem to have a favorable matchup against Guadeloupe, which didn’t even qualify for seven of the last 11 Gold Cups. But Panama, which was winless against the U.S. in eight previous Gold Cup matches, showed how much history matters Saturday when it outplayed the sluggish Americans and took a 2-0 first-half lead.
U.S. captain Landon Donovan admitted afterward the team “came out flat.” But Goodson insisted they didn’t underestimate Panama.
“We all said leading up to the game they were a team that was dangerous,” Goodson said. “We made some bad mistakes, and they punished us for it like any good team would.”
Goodson scored in the 68th minute, lifting the U.S. comeback hopes, but it turned out to be too little, too late.
“We improved in the second half and had plenty of chances to score,” Goodson said. “We just couldn’t put it in the back of the net.”
Goodson was optimistic Tuesday would bring a more favorable result. A big reason is the team’s continuity; this group has played together for a while.
“We have 17 of 23 guys from the World Cup team, guys who have been around and know each other pretty well,” Goodson said. “We’ve had some times where we looked very good, other times we haven’t. That’s how the game goes.”
The other reason for his optimism is the sellout, pro-American crowd expected to pack Livestrong Sporting Park.
Goodson, who said he watched some of Sporting KC’s home opener against the Fire on Thursday, is hopeful that raucous environment will carry over to Tuesday’s game.
“I know this is one of the premier stadiums in MLS, and from what I hear, the best in the world,” Goodson said. “We’re certainly looking forward to it.”
>Monday’s result: Fire midfielder Marco Pappa scored one goal and set up another as Guatemala beat Grenada 4-0 to reach its first quarterfinals since 2007.
Jose Del Aguila, Carlos Ruiz and Carlos Gallardo also scored for Guatemala in Harrison, N.J.
Guatemala will likely finish third in Group B.
It has a better goal differential than Group A’s third-place finisher, El Salvador, which also has four points.
