US rallies to beat Panama in overtime

Kenny Cooper put away the winning penalty kick in overtime to push the US to an overtime victory over Panama in the Gold Cup quarterfinals.  It was a difficult test for an inexperienced US side in the quarterfinals Saturday night.  The boys found themselves behind 1-0 at the half as Blas Perez grabbed the go ahead goal on a nice strike right at the death of the first half.

Normally such a goal is difficult to rally from, but the Americans got to work in the second half.  It only took 3 minutes to even the match when Davy Arnaud cut a ball back into the box where Kyle Beckerman knocked it home.  The US kept up the pressure the rest of the half looking for the winner.  The end tally was a shot advantage of 15 to 5 for the US, but they were unable to get the winner in regular time.

In the first overtime period Kenny Cooper was fighting for a loose ball in the box where he was kicked in the stomach. The referee awarded a penalty kick which Copper banged in off the post for the winning goal.

The win moves the United States into the Gold Cup semifinals where they will meet Honduras who knocked out Canada despite being outplayed for the majority of the match.