USMNT must learn lessons from shock loss to Panama

Published

3 years ago

October 11, 2021

admin

10:41 PM ET

PANAMA CITY, Panama — A team can repeat its mistakes so many times before it gets punished. So it proved for the United States men’s national team in its 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Panama.

In its first four games, the U.S. had managed to avoid defeat. But even as it accumulated eight points from those matches, there were some warning signs. Slow starts were one. A lack of execution at times in midfield was another. And there was a perceived lack of intensity that more than one player mentioned. It’s a lesson that after five qualifiers — three of which were on the road — the U.S. should have figured out how to handle by now. Instead, it’s one they’re still learning.

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“We’re professionals. We expect to have a certain level of play and we didn’t have that tonight,” said U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner. “I think it all boils down to intensity and not quality on the ball or anything.”

All of this left the U.S. vulnerable to a Panama side that has so far during this qualifying campaign proved to be a tough team to break down. And the Canaleros eventually broke through, courtesy of a set piece goal credited to Anibal Godoy but which also looked like it went off U.S. forward Gyasi Zardes.

“It was clear we didn’t have our best stuff,” said U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter. “It was the hope that we get out of there with a point. And, you know, disappointed to give up a goal the way we did, and lose the game. You know it’s a typical CONCACAF game, very physical ,very aggressive. I think we came up short in a number of areas, so it’s about now it’s about rebounding, focusing on the game on Wednesday in Columbus.”

There were lessons for Berhalter too. Granted, the triple fixture windows that are a staple of this World Cup qualifying campaign demand a certain amount of squad rotation. But on this night Berhalter’s changes were near wholesale, retaining just three field players from the starting lineup that took the field three days ago against Jamaica. Some of those changes were forced as both Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson were left at home due to a quad injury and U.K. quarantine restrictions, respectively.

Others were more difficult to fathom. Out was Ricardo Pepi, he of the three goals in his first two international appearances, replaced by Zardes. So were presumed mainstays Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson, with Acosta filling Adams’ role in the center of midfield and Timothy Weah deputizing for Aaronson. Mark McKenzie came in for the in-form Miles Robinson.

Some of the moves worked, but it was as much about execution as it was about personnel. McKenzie was steady alongside Walker Zimmerman. But the midfield trio of Acosta, Yunus Musah and Sebastian Lletget (who seemed reluctant to play forward) that Berhalter trotted out was completely ineffective, ceding control early and only getting it back at times in the second half with the halftime introduction of Adams and Aaronson.

The question then, before the opening whistle and after, was did Berhalter overdo it? He cited Adams recent return to the lineup of club side RB Leipzig as one reason he didn’t start. There was also the travel and the humid conditions.

“Now, it obviously doesn’t look like the best choice,” he said about the lineup changes. “But I think we have to wait till Thursday [against Costa Rica]. Because if we would have played the same players from the last game, first of all, two of them weren’t even here, so that was going to be impossible. But if we would have played the same players in…this game, I’m not sure we would position ourselves in the best way to win again on Wednesday, Again, the conditions that we’re dealing with here with the travel with the weather made it complicated. And we had to make a I guess a somewhat risky decision.”

It didn’t pay off. Berhalter said part of his thinking was to get mobility and fresh legs into the lineup, but rarely did that presumed energy reveal itself. The U.S. won only 45.2% of its duels. The U.S. also struggled to execute the basics on the ball, especially in midfield. It almost as if the midfield wasn’t aware that the game was going to be much more of a street fight than the relative stroll against Jamaica game three days ago. Musah was guilty of dribbling into trouble. Acosta had some poor touches that resulted in turnovers. Both types of errors sparked Panama counterattacks that succeeded in getting the crowd into the game.

“The quality wasn’t high enough in the final ball when we did get in those [attacking] positions,” said Berhalter. “I think the ability for our players to turn and play forward was lacking today. And overall, again, we performed below the expectations that we have for ourselves.”

There was also the issue of the U.S. press. It was completely out of sync in the first half, allowing Panama to play out of its own half pretty easily.

“In the first half, it was probably a little bit of a lack of energy and competitiveness,” Adams said.

Berhalter added: “We didn’t have that pop; we didn’t have the legs that we needed. And we suffered for it.”

Berhalter also clarified his remarks, insisting that it wasn’t his intention to play for a draw, but more to see “how the game was going.”

“We made some adjustments, and we were hoping to get some momentum,” he said. “But when the game keeps going longer at a certain point, you’re like, ‘Okay, we get out of here a point we’ll be doing okay, based on everything,’ and unfortunately we didn’t do that. But to be clear, the mindset, prior to the game was not to play for a point. We wanted to win the game we put a line up on the field that we thought could win the game, and we just didn’t do it.”

When a team is missing the likes of Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna, and — at least on this night — McKennie, there is bound to be a drop-off. But Berhalter is finding out just how pronounced that difference in performance can be for some players when the U.S. goes on the road. He brought up the team’s youth, but the U.S. is rapidly reaching the point where that can no longer be used as an excuse. Berhalter has the team he has, and he needs to make sure that he puts a midfield out on the field that can execute, even under tough conditions.

One would hope that with the presumed return to the starting lineup of Adams and McKennie the U.S. will have more heft in central positions. That will then have a knock-on effect elsewhere on the field, freeing up the U.S. attack. They’ll need all of that this Wednesday against a Costa Rica side full of experience.

With this defeat, the pressure is on the U.S. once again. They’ll need a victory on Wednesday to ease it.

Sports

Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

Published

6 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

ESPN News Services

Apr 3, 2025, 10:42 PM ET

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sports

Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Published

6 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

ESPN News Services

Apr 3, 2025, 08:36 PM ET

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sports

Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

Published

6 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

Associated Press

Apr 4, 2025, 12:20 AM ET

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”