Gold Cup 2013: USA to play Panama in final

Klinsmann was dismissed, not sent off, which is an important distinction to make. Coaches can’t be sent off in the same way players can, at least not in the Gold Cup. Because CONCACAF -- the governing body for international soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean -- is a joke, misinformation was everywhere after the incident. Most believed Klinsmann to have picked up a suspension for the Gold Cup final.

This turned out not to be true, but it wasn’t Wahl’s fault in the slightest that he initially got this wrong, since he heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Mexico got back in the match before the half-hour mark when Luis Montes got on the end of a wonderful Marco Fabian cross. After leveling, they began to find their feet. But even with the stronger play, the rest of their chances went begging. After 15 minutes, the hesitation that plagued them throughout the tournament returned.

The second half went much like the first. Both teams had chances, but Panama showed more organization and composure, while Mexico struggled to pull things together. Even when El Tri had chances, it was the result of great individual play.

Not long after that, Stuart Holden took a rather unfortunate elbow to the face. Incredibly, no one spotted it and no penalty was given.

No one stayed mad for too long, as the United States would score their second goal before the half hour mark, with Donovan scoring on this occasion.

No other country has ever been to four consecutive Gold Cup finals, but the Americans made advancing to their fifth straight look easy. They played directly, often bypassing the midfield that Honduras tried to close down quickly and sometimes with dirty tackles to punish the Catrachos from the start.

But Donovan answered before the Hondurans could blink. Once again, it was Bedoya who got the helper as he raced down the right yet again and crossed for Donovan to finish with ease less than a minute after the U.S. conceded.

We will have an update when the Honduras lineup is released.

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Gabriel Torres, who has been one of the best players in this tournament and Panama’s most consistent attacking threat, scored both of the Canaleros’ goals in their 2-1 win over Mexico back on July 7. They were less than impressive in their other two group stage matches, but they may have been holding something back with progression to the knockout stage virtually guaranteed after that win. They turned things up a bit in their quarterfinal, beating Cuba 6-1.

Mexico were poor throughout their quarterfinal match against Trinidad and Tobago, but the Soca Warriors didn’t have the quality to put El Tri under serious threat. In the 84th minute, budding star forward Raul Jimenez turned in a free kick to send his side through and set up a rematch with Panama.