Panama wins qualifier 1-0 as Berhalter shuffles US lineup

PANAMA CITY, Panama — Anibal Godoy scored in the 54th minute and Panama upended the United States 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier Sunday night when American coach Gregg Berhalter started a largely second-string lineup in the middle of another hectic stretch of three matches in seven days.

Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie were out with injuries, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson were on the bench, and Antonee Robinson didn’t travel because of British COVID-19 restrictions that would have required a quarantine on his return to England.

With the U.S. lineup far from its best, the Americans looked both nervous and overamped for stretches of the first half.

Adams entered at the start of the second half and gave away a corner kick that led to the goal on a ball he may have been able to clear. Éric Davis’ corner was headed by the 31-year-old Godoy past goalkeeper Matt Turner and inside the far post, causing a crowd about three-quarters full to shake Estadio Rommel Fernández.

Aaronson gave the U.S. more energy and pace, and Ricardo Pepi, DeAndre Yedlin and Christian Roldan entered in the 67th. During the final hectic minutes, the game was interrupted twice when fans ran onto the field, and a ball was thrown from the stands.

The Americans began the night atop the eight-nation final round of North and Central America and the Carribean, on goal difference over Mexico.

The U.S. has eight points after five of 14 games, ahead of Panama on goal difference, heading into Wednesday night’s match against Costa Rica at Columbus, Ohio. Mexico played Honduras, and Canada had six points heading into its match at Jamaica. Costa Rica hosted El Salvador.

The top three nations qualify, and the No. 4 team advances to a playoff.

The defeat ended a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Americans that included 11 wins.