GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — The United States U-20 side did not play their best game against Panama on Saturday night. But listening to head coach Thomas Rongen, it's all part of the plan.
The American coach referenced the difficulties his squad had during the second game of recent CONCACAF championships – ties in 2007 and ‘09, and a narrow victory in ‘03 – and sounded relieved for the match to be over and done.
"[It's good to] get our rough game out of the way," he said at a press conference after the 2-0 victory gave the US first place in Group B and a quarterfinal date with the host country.
Saturday night's goals came on, according to Rongen, "two great moments," both beautiful passing sequences finished with calm aplomb by UCLA forward Kelyn Rowe.
Part of the coach's leniency with his squad was due to lineup changes. Rongen bumped up defensive stalwart and team leader Perry Kitchen to the midfield against the Red Tide, pairing Gale Agbossoumonde with Sebastian Ibeagha in central defense. The move was designed to prevent first-choice defensive midfielder Amobi Okugo from picking up a second caution of the tournament.
The Americans haven’t conceded a goal in more than 180 minutes – with Zac MacMath making a single save – but the coach admitted that the inexperienced back line duo of Agbossoumonde and Ibeagha struggled at times. Nonetheless, he knows Kitchen will be back in his center back role against Guatemala to help limit mistakes.
In fact, Rongen wanted to focus more on the good parts of the Americans’ performance and ignore the bad.
"We're drawing a lot of positives out of this one and don't want to harp too much on the negatives," he said. "We accomplished a lot of great things. Outside of Eder [Arreola, who came off late with a hamstring problem], we didn't get any injuries. We didn't get any red cards. Everybody is available."
The afternoon heat, though, did take its toll on a few European-based members of the US squad – Rongen pointed specifically to the struggles of Sebastian Lletget and Greg Garza – but the quarterfinal match will take place at 3:30 pm ET.
In short, the US got through their two matches with minimal casualties. The coach is pleased that his squad is deep enough to rotate players and still handily defeat Panama. Okugo and Joe Gyau will return for the tilt with Guatemala and Kitchen will re-take his role in the back.
The victory sets up the American squad well for their critical quarterfinal match: beat Guatemala, and they are through to the World Cup. Given the format of the tournament, that is really the only game that matters; the two group stage fixtures were merely practice examinations, and the US passed easily.
The US will improve the next time they take the field at Estadio Mateo Flores. It's the only option if they want to ensure a World Cup berth.
"The team knows that individually, collectively we have to play better in that third game," Rongen said. "And we will. I'm confident of that."
It's all part of the plan.
Noah Davis covers the United States national team for MLSsoccer.com. Follow him on Twitter at @noahedavis.
