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A look back at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final

USMNT.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By IVES GALARCEP

When the U.S. Men’s National Team takes on Panama in Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, it will mark the fifth straight Gold Cup these two teams have met in the knockout rounds of the tournament.

It will also mark the first time these teams will be meeting in a Gold Cup final since 2005, when the U.S. and Panama engaged in a fierce battle at the old Giants Stadium in New Jersey. A match that went down to penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and overtime.

Kasey Keller was the star for the U.S. team that day, keeping the clean sheet and saving Panama’s first penalty to set the tone for a terrible run of PKs for the Canaleros. Young Brad Davis score the winning penalty for the Americans to give them the first of what would be two straight Gold Cup titles.

In case you missed the drama of that day, here is the penalty kick round from the 2005 final, which features several people who will be on hand in Soldier Field on Sunday when the Americans face Panama again:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8FisET_s8w]

What did you think of this video? Surprised by some of the players involved? Does that seem like more than eight years ago?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • Greg Vanney!! That’s it!!

      I’ve been thinking for a good 20-25 minutes who that other guy was. I’ve been following the US setup for a very long time, decades, but I couldn’t remember his name!! Thanks for that.

      …and why are they so asymmetrical?! Haha.

      Reply
      • That is supposed to be:

        Fe…………..d-u……………p

        the shirt was all stretched out?

        b/c of her big knockers?

        oh forget it, you all have no sense of humor.

  1. I remember this Gold Cup. Beasley and Donovan were the tournament top scorers from what I remember. It struck me because I had been following the ’99 under-17 team since they finished 4th in the FIFA U19 World Cup. Donovan and Beasley won the Golden and Silver Balls for the 2 best players in the tournament. After the ’02 World Cup, I saw this ’05 tournament as further evidence that these two were developing into 2 of the best players that would ever wear the US uniform.

    That ’99 U17 World Cup team had a lot of talent (BTW, USA lost to GHANA in the 3rd place match believe or not). I had huge hopes for a few guys in the team: Donovan, Beasley, Bobby Convey, Onyewu, Alex Yi and DJ Countess. That team also had: Steve Cronin, Kyle Beckerman, Jordan Cila. Most of these guys had substantial pro careers. Convey was voted Reading player of the year when the got promoted to Premiership 7 or so years ago, but he also suffered a lot of injuries.

    PS – Anyone else notice the woman wearing the FED-UP tank top at 3:30min?

    Reply
  2. I went to that game. Came away very unimpressed with Dempsey and thought he acted like a punk. First time I had seen Onyewu and he was an absolute beast. To say the offense was lacking would be an understatement. Santino Quaranta came on and made a huge impact on the flank. Thought he was going to be someone to watch out for in the future. Turns out, it was Dempsey that took off… Just some thoughts.

    Reply
    • I also had huge hopes Santino Quaranta and didn’t think much of Clint Dempsey. I thought Clint was good, but nothing special. Goes to show that you never know the way life is going to play out. Dempsey went to Fulham that year and responded well to challenges. Santino had a rash of injuries and developed a drug habit. Onyewu was good until his knee injury after which he was never the same.

      Reply
      • Interesting – I’ve been wondering if those who remember those days of Dempsey see any flashbacks in his current form. Could he be in danger of being surp@ssed by one of those chasing him?

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