U.S. holds off Panama, 2-1, to gain semifinal

The U.S. took a 2-0 lead but then got sloppy on defense late in the game.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Landon Donovan and Carlos Bocanegra scored second-half goals, and the United States survived some sloppy defense late in the game to beat Panama 2-1 Saturday and advance to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The defending champion Americans, who jumped from 29th to 16th in the latest FIFA rankings, play Canada Thursday in Chicago for a berth in the final. Canada defeated Guatemala 3-0 in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Blas Perez scored in the 84th minute for 57th-ranked Panama, which lost to the United States on penalty kicks in the 2005 final of the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean. Perez’s goal was the first allowed by the United States in this year’s tournament.

In today’s quarterfinals at Houston, Honduras plays Guadaloupe and Mexico meets Costa Rica.

U.S. goes ahead, 2-0

Donovan scored in the 60th minute, converting a penalty kick for the second time in two games, and Carlos Bocanegra made it 2-0 in the 62nd with a header off DaMarcus Beasley’s free kick. The United States was awarded the penalty kick when Carlos Rivera ran up Donovan’s back and wrapped his arms around him in the penalty area. Donovan scored on a soft, low shot to the right as goalkeeper Jaime Penedo went in the other direction.

With 32 goals, Donovan moved within two of Eric Wynalda’s U.S. career record. It was the 10th Gold Cup goal for Donovan, who moved ahead of Wynalda into second place in the tournament’s history, two behind Mexico’s Luis Roberto Alves.

The United States, seeking its fourth Gold Cup title, improved to 8-0-1 since Bob Bradley took over as coach from Bruce Arena. The Gold Cup winner qualifies for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.