As the US are prepared to take on Panama in Panama on Wednesday, there are many of questions surrounding this fixture. Which players will step up? What tactics will both teams try to use? After an exciting game against Venezuela, one can only hope this game will be exciting as the last one. Without further ado, here are the 5 biggest questions heading into this international friendly.
This will be the first time that Jurgen Klinsmann will take his side in to a tough Central American environment. This is very important because the USMNT will inevitably have to go to some very difficult environments during World Cup qualifying. The Estadio Rommel Fernandez is a tough place to play and it will be interesting to see if the crowd is able to rattle the young United States squad or if it will pump up the Panamanians. If the crowd does get to the Americans, they could end up hitting their achilles heel: conceding in the first fifteen minutes.
This will be the first time that Jurgen Klinsmann will take his side in to a tough Central American environment. This is very important because the USMNT will inevitably have to go to some very difficult environments during World Cup qualifying. The Estadio Rommel Fernandez is a tough place to play and it will be interesting to see if the crowd is able to rattle the young United States squad or if it will pump up the Panamanians. If the crowd does get to the Americans, they could end up hitting their achilles heel: conceding in the first fifteen minutes.
The US did win against Venezuela, however, they left it late. Until the 97th minute, to be exact. The US can’t wait that long to score a goal this time if they want a result. The question is, where will the goals come from? The US were disappointing in the final third on Saturday, especially in the first half. Brek Shea was really disappointing, and none of the attacking players had very impressive performances. Teal Bunbury was encouraging at times, but I thought the best threat was Chris Wondolowski. He came on as a sub as energized the attack while getting a couple of shots on goal. Ricardo Clark played poorly until that goal rescued his performance.
Who will make their imprint on the national team?
There were several players with strong performances on Saturday night. Geoff Cameron had great distribution and always seemed to be in the right position. Jeff Parkhurst also had a solid game in the back, making sure nothing got past the defense (I’m not sure if Venezuela got a shot on goal all night). Benny Feilhaber had a good game, making some nice passes and opening up the field without stretching it too much, which really benefited the US. If these or other players who have not had many chances with the national team turn in good performances, they could make their mark on the fans and Jurgen Klinsmann for a long time to come.
Will the United States get a win?
This is the question that everyone wants to know the answer to. You would have to say the US controlled the run of play against Venezuela, but they were disappointing in the final third and lacked that drop of creativity to completely open up the attacking game. If they play like this against Panama, they would be lucky to escape with a win. However, I think Klinsmann will make the necessary changes and they will get the win. My prediction: Panama 1-2 United States
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