2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup - Night Nine: The US Squeaks Through

The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup came to end Tuesday night at the new Livestrong Stadium in Kansas City with Canada playing Panama and the United States taking on Guadeloupe.

In the night's first match, Canada took an early lead over Panama in the 61st minute when Dwayne De Rosario converted a penalty kick after being fouled by Eybir Bonaga. Canada managed to hold onto its slim lead for almost 30 minutes, but in stoppage time Luis Tejada picked up a goal for Panama. The 1-1 draw enabled Panama to clinch Group C. Panama will play El Salvador on Sunday night at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

In light of the result in the Canada-Panama match, the United States knew that they could not win the group, but they could advance to the quarterfinals with a win or draw against Guadeloupe. It was Jozy Altidore who proved to be the hero for the United States on Tuesday night when he picked up a long range goal in the 8th minute of the match. Despite numerous chances to pick up more goals, the game ended 1-0 and the United States advanced to the quarterfinals where it will face a strong and dangerous Jamaica at RFK Stadium on Sunday.

While the US and Panama play in the quarterfinals on Sunday night, the quarterfinals actually start on Saturday with Mexico playing Guatemala and Honduras playing Costa Rica at The New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup - Night Six: Panama Shocks USA?

Group C wrapped up the second round of Gold Cup group stage matches on Saturday night in Tampa. In the night's opening match, Canada and Guadeloupe were both looking for their first group stage win while the United States and Panama met in the second match with both teams looking for that win that would secure a quarterfinals berth.

The only goal in the Canada-Guadeloupe match came in the 50th minute on a penalty kick that was converted by Dwayne De Rosario. It was De Rosario's 16th international goal. While the Canadian players are happy with the win, it wasn't a convincing win considering Canada played with a man advantage over 85 minutes of the match because Guadeloupe's Jean Luc Lambourde picked up a red card in the 2nd minute after fouling Will Johnson. The win keeps Canada in the mix for advancing to the quarterfinals and they may be helped by the fact that Panama, as detailed below, already qualified and won't have to take Tuesday's match as seriously.

In the hours preceding the United States-Panama match, it was easy to get a sense from US fans on Twitter and Facebook that they considered it a slam dunk win for the United States and that the US would end the night securing a quarterfinals berth. Unfortunately for the United States and its fans, Panama decided it wasn't going to play by that presumed script. Luis Tejada gave the US notice in the 18th minute when he picked up a rebound off of US keeper Tim Howard. It was 2-0 in favor of Panama come halftime thanks to Tim Ream fouling Blas Pérez in the box, giving Panama a penalty kick that was converted by Gabriel Gómez in the 35th minute. The United States wasn't able to get onto the scoreboard until the 67th minute thanks to a Clarence Goodson header. The late goal breathed a certain sense of urgency into the US side, but it was too little too late as they lost a group stage match for the first time in Gold Cup history. The 2-1 victory over the United States secured a quarterfinals spot for Panama.

Group C wraps up group stage play in Kansas City on Tuesday night with Canada playing Panama and the United States playing Guadeloupe.

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup - Night Three: Guadeloupe Falls Short

Group C finally saw action in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday night in Detroit where Panama faced Guadeloupe and Canada took on its neighbor to the south, the United States.

In the night's first match, Panama dominated early with Blas Pérez picking up a goal in the 28th minute and Luis Tejada picking up a goal in the 31st minute. While Panama did not score again in the first half, they got another boost in the 37th minute when Guadeloupe's Mickael Tacalfred picked up a red card. Panama had to be feeling good about its situation at halftime, but it was a Gabriel Gómez goal in the 56th minute that proved to be the game winner for Panama. Despite being down a man, Guadeloupe managed to battle back picking up two goals thanks to Brice Jovial who scored in the 64th minute and again in the 78th minute.

By the time the second match of the evening started, there were just over 28,000 on hand at Ford Field to see Canada take on the United States. Despite the fact that the Canadian team has been improving in quality over the past few years, they were unable to make any kind of statement against the United States, losing 2-0. The United States' first goal came in the 15th minute from Jozy Altidore, who put the ball into goal off of a rough angle. Clint Dempsey got the insurance goal, off of another tough angle, for the United States in the 61st minute. US keeper Tim Howard kept a clean sheet, but he was only challenged with three shots on goal by Canada. While the United States' recent 4-0 loss to Spain in a friendly on Saturday gave many US soccer fans a scare, it's not surprising that the US's performance against Canada was unaffected by the recent loss, after all, the US went into the Spain match just looking to keep all its players healthy for the Gold Cup, a goal that it accomplished.

Now that all three groups have seen action in this year's Gold Cup, it appears that Group C might be the most competitive group, making the US's victory all that more important as it looks to make it to the final in Pasadena.

Today is a rest day in the tournament with action resuming on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina as Costa Rica faces El Salvador and Cuba will attempt to avoid giving up double digit goals to Mexico.