Road to Rio: Mediocre Yanks Edge Panama

The U.S. men's national team narrowly defeated Panama, 1-0, last night in Panama City.

Below are the ratings for the players, who squeaked out a win despite putting together a collection underwhelming individual performances. Below are the player ratings for the starting eleven players:

United States v. Panama

Player Ratings

(1=atrocious, 3=poor, 5=average, 7=good, 10=excellent)

(1) Nick Rimando: 7

Aside from a scary moment in the 15th minute when Rimando very nearly coughed up possession of the ball with a bad first touch in the box, the Real Salt Lake keeper commanded his box well, distributed the ball well, and made a couple big saves. Even though his play wasn't always pretty, Rimando took a shut-out into halftime, before he was presumably being subbed out because of a leg injury.

(2) A.J. DeLaGarza: 5

DeLaGarza wasn't as active in the U.S. attack against Panama as he had been a couple nights earlier against Venezuela. He therefore didn't have as many opportunities to demonstrate the timidness and the indecisiveness that was so annoying in that earlier game. Put simply, DeLaGarza was part of a back line that was pretty leaky, but not consequentially so.

(3) Zach Loyd: 4

Loyd's performance as a subsitute in the game against Venezuela was marked by sharpness and confidence on the ball. Last night, well, not so much. Loyd was often too loose in his marking (which accounts for his desperate yellow card in the 14th minute) and--with the exception of the excellent cross that led to the United States' goal in the 9th minute--his distribution was poor. In fact, it is only his assist on the goal that saves him from a poor rating; unfortunately, it didn't save him from an ignoble substitution in the 42nd minute.

(4) Michael Parkhurst: 5

If Saturday night's game against Venezuela was tailor-made for Parkhurst to emphasize his strengths, then last night's game was an unfortunate opportunity for him to display his weaknesses. The former Revolution defender had relatively few touches due to the pressure Panama's attackers consistently applied, so he was not able to circulate the ball as effectively as he's capable. And his lack of physicality in the face of consistent pressure contributed to a vulnerable back line that was saved more than once by stellar goalkeeping.

(5) Geoff Cameron: 4

As co-quarterback (with Parkhurst) of the backline, Cameron is also responsible for the porous defense that was lucky to escape with a clean sheet. Moreover, even if Cameron's red card in the 52nd minute seemed a little harsh, he was fortunate to not have a foul called on him in the penalty box right before halftime, when he nearly booted an opposing player in the head with a dangerous kick.

(6) Ricardo Clark: 5

Clark had an average game in that he avoided that costly mistake that puts his defending teammates in an awkward position of recovery. However, he just doesn't have much of a possessive presence in the midfield, and he's not the type of holding midfielder that excels at connecting players and changing the points of attack.

(7) Chris Wondolowski: 5

Wondolowski was robbed of a sure goal in the 30th minute, when he followed up on a Jermaine Jones rocket. Only the extraordinary efforts of Panama's goalkeeper, Luis Mejia, prevented his header from tickling the net. Unfortunately, that was the only time Wondolowski was involved in any sequence of consequence before he was replaced by Jeff Parke in the 55th minute. The substitution was part of tactical adjustment to Cameron's red card a couple minutes prior, but it's not like a lot of offensive firepower had to be removed from the field.

(8) Jermaine Jones: 6

If the U.S. attack had an engine, then I suppose it would've been Jones. As previously noted, the captain had a scorching shot in the 30th minute that tested Mejia and very nearly led to a goal for Wondolowski. And his through ball that sprung Brek Shea in the 79th minute should've led to another very good scoring chance for the Yanks. On the flip side, Jones is prone to commit bad turnovers and his consistent barking and chippy play make him vulnerable to team-harming cards.

(9) Teal Bunbury: 3

This obviously was a poor game played by Teal Bunbury. His stone-footed first touch killed numerous counter-attacks and attacks. And the Sporting Kansas City attacker's dreadful turnover after a corner kick by Panama in the 43th minute led to a scary moment in which Rimando had to sprawl to his side to cut down a cross from outside the 6-yard box. It was, unfortunately, the best scoring opportunity Bunbury was involved in until he was replaced by C.J. Sapong in the 76th minute.

(10) Graham Zusi: 5

Zusi scored his first international goal in the 9th minute on a scoring chance that would've been more remarkable had it been a miss. Other than that, Zusi's play was unremarkable until he was replaced by Brad Evans.

(11) Brek Shea: 3

Fortunately for Shea, Teal Bunbury's presence on the field ensured the former wasn't the worst American player on the field. The FC Dallas midfielder appeared sluggish throughout the game as though his legs just couldn't keep up with his mind. And though he had a nice one-two combination with Loyd in the 19th minute, Shea's possessions of the ball too often resulted in a turnover. The absolute worst play for Shea, though, was when his muffed first touch on a great through ball turned what should have a breakaway into a thwarted golden chance for the U.S.

- John C.L. Morgan