USMNT vs. Panama, 2020 friendly: Man of the Match

The Stars and Blobs took on Panama in their second friendly of this international break and the promise and expectations of this young team were on full display. The 6-2 final was a fair reflection of a game where the American talent out played a Panama side that was inexperienced and outmatched once the Yanks settled in.

We tabulated the results from the Community Player Ratings and, of the starters, Nicholas Gioacchini was the best player on the field with a 7.85 rating. Substitute Sebastian Soto scored 7.89, but it doesn’t quite seem fair to give a player who was in the match for 13 minutes.

Here are the full results.

On the negative side, Matt Miazga and Tim Ream showed why starting a player who goes on two loans every year and another who is going to be 35 by the time the 2022 World Cup rolls around might not be an ideal pairing. Zack Steffen also showed poor judgement on the first goal and should be ready to come off his line to challenge for crosses when his centerbacks are getting roasted.

Meanwhile, the midfield all scored a seven or above as Weston McKennie capped off a terrific pair of performances for the US and Yunus Musah showed why America as a country needs to do everything possible to keep him in the Red, White, and Blue. Is there a celebrity he wants to be best friends with? How can we make that happen?

For the substitutes, Sebastian Soto (7.89) and Richy Ledezma (7.16) had the best showings while voters told on themselves a little by giving Sebastian Lletget a 6.35 despite scoring. Someone gave him a 3, like I said told on themselves.

There’s hope that this won’t be the last time we see the USMNT in 2020 as it seems like a domestic camp may be held at the end of the MLS season. A pre-Camp Cupcake might make the real Camp Cupcake more valuable in terms of knowing who stands where in the depth chart by January.