USMNT flunks Mauricio Pochettino's first test, loses 1-0 to Panama in CONCACAF Nations League semifinals
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The U.S. men's national team failed its first competitive test of the Mauricio Pochettino era in rather embarrassing fashion, losing to Panama 1-0 in a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal here at a half-empty SoFi Stadium.
The Americans played timidly, unimaginatively and laboriously for 90 scoreless minutes. They were booed off the field at halftime. They looked uninspired, even with a home-soil World Cup on the horizon. They seemed destined for extra time against a team they were heavily favored to beat — and one that, based solely on talent, they should have beaten.
But they couldn't. And then, in the 94th minute, the seemingly unthinkable happened.
Cecilio Waterman beat U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner.
[You could win $25K in the Women's Bracket Mayhem contest. Enter now!]
Panama prevailed, and jumped for joy at midfield as Christian Pulisic, and Weston McKennie, and the rest of the USMNT's golden generation trudged out of sight, into Sunday's third-place match.
CECILIO WATERMAN AT THE DEATH🔥PANAMA ARE HEADED TO THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL 🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/3mKdPR668Y
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
They played just as they had toward the tail end of the Gregg Berhalter era. Berhalter was fired following the Copa América, largely because the U.S. lost to Panama 2-1 after playing most of a group-stage match with 10 men.
Pochettino replaced Berhalter last fall. His mandate was to revive a plateauing program. His early results were largely positive.
But in his first true elimination game, with 11 men, the U.S. suffered a familiar fate.
And in a sense, they regressed. The Americans had won all three prior editions of the Nations League. Under Berhalter, in semifinals and finals, they'd beaten Mexico three times, and Canada, Jamaica and Honduras once apiece.
But Panama posed different problems. Under head coach Thomas Christiansen, Los Canaleros are now 4-1 against the U.S. in competitive games. They frustrated the USMNT yet again on Thursday, and earned a famous result.
And they gave Pochettino, and players, and fans a lot to chew on at the start of this last full calendar year before a landmark World Cup.
"The way we approached the game and started the game wasn't in the right way," Pochettino said.
"We played too slow," he added. "We didn't show aggression with the ball" — nor without it. "The first half was really painful to see," Pochettino said.
They played with none of 'the grit, the desire, the nastiness' that McKennie said Pochettino has been trying to instill, and as a result, they have relinquished their grip on regional supremacy; they flunked one of only two competitions that they'll have between now and June 2026; and they got this critical phase of World Cup preparations off to a downright dreadful start.
CECILIO WATERMAN AT THE DEATH🔥PANAMA ARE HEADED TO THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL 🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/3mKdPR668Y
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
A shocking ending as Panama scores in the final minute of stoppage time to steal the win.
¡Cecilio Waterman la manda al fondo de la red! 🇵🇦💥 pic.twitter.com/2QIyCOhcoI
— Concacaf Nations League (@CNationsLeague) March 21, 2025
PANAMA TAKES THE LEAD OVER THE USMNT IN STOPPAGE TIME 😱🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/uaDpAxzhfB
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 21, 2025
IT'S 1-0 PANAMA WITH MINUTES LEFT IN THE MATCH
This game is crying out for somebody who can make a play out of nothing in tight spaces.
Gio Reyna and Diego Luna are two of maybe three U.S. players capable of doing that. And yet Pochettino hasn't turned to either of them.
CLOSE FROM PATRICK AGYEMANG 😱The USMNT have some momentum late 👀 pic.twitter.com/kGZefZXpSG
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
A few injury stoppages over the past 10 minutes.
One chance for the U.S., created by Weston McKennie for Pat Agyemang, was comfortably saved.
Still 0-0, 85th minute.
79' - SubstitutionIN: Mark McKenzieOUT: Chris Richards pic.twitter.com/MLmFeKCYWu
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 21, 2025
The changes have not changed anything so far.
Still dull, congested, and 0-0.
Apologies to those who've spent an hour and a half of their life watching.
Lads. 🇺🇸@HoustonDynamo | @CharlotteFC pic.twitter.com/9CCavCQNDv
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 21, 2025
... but Gio Reyna is not one of them.
Pochettino subbing in Patrick Agyemang and Jack McGlynn for Josh Sargent and Tanner Tessmann.
... has been their Tyler Adams-reinforced defensive solidity.
Panama has created nothing of note. (Which, of course, Panama will be just fine with if the U.S. also creates nothing of note. But still, the U.S. structure, both defensively and in defensive transition, has been good.)
One of the USMNT's problems in the first half was that Panama, with its narrow 5-4-1, was forcing the Americans to attack through wide areas... and the U.S. had nobody capable of making plays with the ball at his feet on the right.
So, Pulisic and McKennie have swapped. McKennie is now in the left halfspace, and Pulisic is playing wide right.
Some early pressure from the U.S. to start the
... by the few thousand USMNT fans who are actually here.
It's 0-0.
Roaring start to the year before a World Cup year! (That's sarcasm, to be clear.)
For a semifinal, between two teams that have played chippy, physical affairs in the past, with a World Cup in the not-too-distant future... this has been quite dull.
A pretty sparse crowd — many of whom are wearing green and waiting for the second game — hasn't helped.
JOSH SARGENT NEARLY SCORES HIS FIRST USMNT GOAL IN FIVE AND A HALF YEARS 😱 pic.twitter.com/P0X280qyxx
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 20, 2025
... Tim Weah was offside in the buildup, by several yards.
A few moments later, Sargent scored, but an easy call to disallow it.
After a rocky, tentative stretch between minutes 5 and 15, the USMNT just created two chances.
First, McKennie found Sargent with a cut-back in the box, and the striker's shot deflected off the post.
Next, Weah found McKennie with a cross, and McKennie's back-post header, from pretty darn close range, was right down the goalkeeper's throat.
CECILIO WATERMAN AT THE DEATH🔥PANAMA ARE HEADED TO THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL 🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/3mKdPR668Y
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
A shocking ending as Panama scores in the final minute of stoppage time to steal the win.
¡Cecilio Waterman la manda al fondo de la red! 🇵🇦💥 pic.twitter.com/2QIyCOhcoI
— Concacaf Nations League (@CNationsLeague) March 21, 2025
PANAMA TAKES THE LEAD OVER THE USMNT IN STOPPAGE TIME 😱🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/uaDpAxzhfB
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 21, 2025
IT'S 1-0 PANAMA WITH MINUTES LEFT IN THE MATCH
This game is crying out for somebody who can make a play out of nothing in tight spaces.
Gio Reyna and Diego Luna are two of maybe three U.S. players capable of doing that. And yet Pochettino hasn't turned to either of them.
CLOSE FROM PATRICK AGYEMANG 😱The USMNT have some momentum late 👀 pic.twitter.com/kGZefZXpSG
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
A few injury stoppages over the past 10 minutes.
One chance for the U.S., created by Weston McKennie for Pat Agyemang, was comfortably saved.
Still 0-0, 85th minute.
79' - SubstitutionIN: Mark McKenzieOUT: Chris Richards pic.twitter.com/MLmFeKCYWu
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 21, 2025
The changes have not changed anything so far.
Still dull, congested, and 0-0.
Apologies to those who've spent an hour and a half of their life watching.
Lads. 🇺🇸@HoustonDynamo | @CharlotteFC pic.twitter.com/9CCavCQNDv
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 21, 2025
... but Gio Reyna is not one of them.
Pochettino subbing in Patrick Agyemang and Jack McGlynn for Josh Sargent and Tanner Tessmann.
... has been their Tyler Adams-reinforced defensive solidity.
Panama has created nothing of note. (Which, of course, Panama will be just fine with if the U.S. also creates nothing of note. But still, the U.S. structure, both defensively and in defensive transition, has been good.)
One of the USMNT's problems in the first half was that Panama, with its narrow 5-4-1, was forcing the Americans to attack through wide areas... and the U.S. had nobody capable of making plays with the ball at his feet on the right.
So, Pulisic and McKennie have swapped. McKennie is now in the left halfspace, and Pulisic is playing wide right.
Some early pressure from the U.S. to start the
... by the few thousand USMNT fans who are actually here.
It's 0-0.
Roaring start to the year before a World Cup year! (That's sarcasm, to be clear.)
For a semifinal, between two teams that have played chippy, physical affairs in the past, with a World Cup in the not-too-distant future... this has been quite dull.
A pretty sparse crowd — many of whom are wearing green and waiting for the second game — hasn't helped.
JOSH SARGENT NEARLY SCORES HIS FIRST USMNT GOAL IN FIVE AND A HALF YEARS 😱 pic.twitter.com/P0X280qyxx
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 20, 2025
... Tim Weah was offside in the buildup, by several yards.
A few moments later, Sargent scored, but an easy call to disallow it.
After a rocky, tentative stretch between minutes 5 and 15, the USMNT just created two chances.
First, McKennie found Sargent with a cut-back in the box, and the striker's shot deflected off the post.
Next, Weah found McKennie with a cross, and McKennie's back-post header, from pretty darn close range, was right down the goalkeeper's throat.
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