USA vs. Panama: Score and Reaction for 2015 Gold Cup Third-Place Game

Panama shocked the United States on Saturday to claim third place at this year's Gold Cup, defeating the 2013 champions 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 deadlock through extra time at PPL Park.

Panama sealed their third consecutive top-three placement at the Gold Cup, having finished as runners-up in 2013 and third in 2011. Fox Soccer confirmed Panama's underdog triumph:

Engineering motivation for a third-place play-off fixture is never easy, but Jurgen Klinsmann's men were in need of a result following their 2-1 defeat to Jamaica on Wednesday.

The Stars and Stripes came into the clash as heavy favourites, too, with ESPN Stats and Info giving the titleholders an 88 per cent chance to tie up the third spot:

Klinsmann chose to experiment with his starting lineup for the low-risk affair, with Clint Dempsey, DeAndre Yedlin and Kyle Beckerman among those not in the starting lineup.

Though the risk was slight, Panama swiftly looked to punish their opponents' judgment. They were lively in the opening exchanges, though they didn't cause United States No. 1 Brad Guzan any genuine trouble.

Fans in Chester, Pennsylvania, may well have felt aggrieved by the level of action on display. Such was the slow and at times carefree nature with which some United States players went about their business.

Mustering little attacking threat, the five-time Gold Cup winners went in at the break level with Panama at 0-0, although the underdogs were making more of an impression by out-shooting their foes:

Armando Cooper had perhaps the best chance of the opening half when he scythed his way through the United States defence, only for Tim Ream to save his side at the death with a goal-line clearance.

If the defeat to Jamaica had dampened Klinsmann's spirits, Roberto Nurse's 55th-minute opener will have only dismayed him further, as SuperSport analyst Colin Udoh outlined the United States' disappointment:

Nurse collected the ball on the right side of Guzan's box and seemingly found it easy to ghost past Ream and John Brooks, cutting in to fire home a simple finish.

Klinsmann sought to inject some much-needed pace into attack, replacing Chris Wondolowski and Graham Zusi with Dempsey and Yedlin, respectively, and it was mere minutes before the changes took effect.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

It was that pairing, in fact, that capitalised upon an error in the Panamanian defence, with Yedlin chesting down with his back to goal before laying off an onrushing Dempsey. 

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated gave his best attempt to inject some adrenaline into the tie, attesting to the score being Dempsey's seventh in total, which extended his lead as top goalscorer:

Conceding the equaliser did little to deter Panama, however, as the third-place contenders continued to press throughout the last phases of normal time, handing Guzan his fair share of concerns.

DaMarcus Beasley was the United States' only substitution heading into extra time, coming on for Omar Gonzalez. It was Beasley's 122nd and last international appearance for the Stars and Stripes.

Extra time painted a similar picture of the game's landscape. Panama took on the role of the aggressor but just weren't showing the calm in front of goal necessary to go ahead.

Major League Soccer analyst Matthew Doyle illustrated just how badly the shot ratio ran against the United States, with Guzan coming to the rescue on numerous occasions:

Klinsmann could be seen with his head in his hands toward the end of extra time, presumably contemplating how his team had been made to look so average as the score remained 1-1 after 120 minutes of play.

Strangely enough, the United States' last penalty shootout came against Panama in the 2005 Gold Cup final, where the U.S. walked away as easy 3-1 victors.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Aron Johannsson and Dempsey slotted the first two for Klinsmann's side. Roman Torres and Abdiel Arroyo also converted for Panama to level the shootout.

The United States blinked first as Fabian Johnson sent his attempt high, much to the amusement of Men In Blazers, only for Guzan to save Armando Cooper's shot:

However, Johnson's miss was the start of a downturn in accuracy. Michael Bradley and Beasley skewed their efforts, leaving Harold Cummings' conversion as the decider as he steered to Guzan's left.

A bronze medal may not have meant a lot to some United States players, and it ultimately showed on Saturday as the hosts deserved to go down against minnow opposition.

Klinsmann spoke after the match, per the team's Twitter, on what he expects moving forward: "Our goal is to go further in the next World Cup than we did in Brazil. This is a working process. This team will lean [sic] and get better."

Klinsmann and his squad face a difficult fight to bounce back from this Gold Cup campaign, having promised so much with wins over the Netherlands and Germany earlier this year. They fell painfully short of expectations.