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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.

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Knight’s Choice salutes in Melbourne Cup boilover

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Knight's Choice salutes in Melbourne Cup boilover

Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.

The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.

In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.

Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.

“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.

Zardozi rounded out the first four.

As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.

“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.

“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”

Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.

“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.

“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”

Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.

The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.

“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.

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Brewers’ Montas, Rea headed to free agency

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Brewers' Montas, Rea headed to free agency

MILWAUKEE — The Brewers‘ starting rotation could have a new look next season with right-handers Frankie Montas and Colin Rea heading into free agency.

The Brewers announced Monday that Montas had declined his part of a $20 million mutual option for 2025. The Brewers turned down the $5.5 million club option on Rea’s contract.

Montas receives a $2 million buyout and Rea gets a $1 million buyout.

In other moves Monday, right-hander Kevin Herget was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Nashville.

Montas, 31, had a combined 7-11 record with a 4.84 ERA and 148 strikeouts over 150⅔ innings in 30 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers this season. He was 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts for the Brewers, who acquired him just before the trade deadline.

Rea, 34, was 12-6 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 32 appearances, including 27 starts. He struck out 135 in 167⅔ innings. Rea had an 8.31 ERA in September and was left off the Brewers’ NL Wild Card Series roster.

Herget, 33, had no record with one save and a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances with Milwaukee this year. He was 5-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA in 38 relief outings with Triple-A Nashville.

Zastryzny, 32, was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in nine appearances with Milwaukee. He pitched in 30 games with Nashville and went 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.

The 29-year-old Bauers batted .199 with a .301 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games this season. He also hit a seventh-inning homer that broke a scoreless tie in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Mets, who rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.

Wilson, who turns 27 on Dec. 20, went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 34 appearances, including nine starts.

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Maton hits free agency after Mets decline option

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Maton hits free agency after Mets decline option

SAN ANTONIO — Right-hander Phil Maton became a free agent Monday after the New York Mets declined his $7,775,000 option in favor of a $250,000 buyout.

The 31-year-old was 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA in his first season with New York, which acquired him from Tampa Bay on July 9. Maton was 3-3 with a 3.66 ERA in a career-high 71 games overall and had a $6.25 million salary.

New York also announced left-hander Sean Manaea declined his $13.5 million option to become a free agent for the third consecutive offseason. Manaea agreed to a contract in January that included a $14.5 million salary for 2024, and the 32-year-old went 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts, striking out 184 and walking 63 in 181⅔ innings.

After dropping his arm slot in midseason, he became the Mets most effective starting pitcher and went 6-2 with a 3.09 ERA.

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