TAMPA, Fla. — Luis Tejada scored in the 19th minute, Gabriel Gomez converted a penalty kick later in the first half and Panama stunned the United States 2-1 on Saturday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup.
The victory was the first for the Panamanians in nine meetings with the Americans, who had never lost a match in the group stage of any Gold Cup, the tournament that determines the champion for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Despite the loss, the U.S. can clinch a spot in the quarterfinals by beating Guadaloupe in its final Group C stage match Tuesday night in Kansas City.
Tejada finished a sequence that began with Nelson Barahona's free kick, tapping in a rebound after U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard lunged to get on a hand on Armando Cooper's header from left of the net. American Tim Ream's foul set up Gomez's penalty kick, which the Panamanian lifted over the diving Howard for a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute.
Clarence Goodson gave the U.S. hope for a dramatic comeback, scoring in the 68th minute. The Americans had a couple of opportunities pull even, but Chris Wondolowski missed a wide-open net in the 80th minute and Jaime Penedo made two of his six saves in injury time to help Panama hang on.
The loss was just the second for the Americans in their past 21 Gold Cup games. They had been 6-0-2 against Panama, with all the meetings coming in either Gold Cup or World Cup qualifying.
Despite defeating Panama in the past three Gold Cups, the Americans stressed they could not overlook the Panamanians because each of those games had been close.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in the 2005 final, with the U.S. winning a penalty shootout to take the championship. They met in the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2009, with Panama losing 2-1 each time.
Panama opened the tournament with a 3-2 victory over Guadeloupe and beating the Americans gave it consecutive Gold Cup wins for the first time.
The U.S. began its quest with a 2-0 win over Canada, but wasn't near as sharp in falling behind the aggressive Panamanians, who used their quickness and athletic ability to create numerous opportunities.
NOTES: There were 35 fouls — 18 on the U.S., 17 on Panama. … The U.S. is 24-1-2 all-time in Gold Cup group play. … Panama improved to 1-3-1 against the Americans in Gold Cup. … Freddy Adu was among five players who were not active for the U.S. The midfielder also was inactive for the tournament opener against Canada.