By Official Florida FC
The United States men’s national team finished the calendar year unbeaten. In most years, that would be a cause for celebration. In 2020, its a reminder how much the Covid-19 altered the socceer landscape.
The Americans capped off the year with a 6-2 win over Panama in Vienna, Austria.
Panama has not been a competitive side since it advanced to the 2018 World Cup, but Los Canaleros did score the opening goal. José Fajardo sccored in the eighth minute.
Panama’s advantage did not loast long. Gio Reyna scored the first goal of his international career with a curling free kick from just outside the penalty area in the 18th minute to equalize.
Reyna was one of three Americans to make his debut in a scoreless draw against Wales last week. While he and Yunus Musah retained their places in the starting XI, Florida native Konrad de la Fuente was an unused substitute against Panama.
Nicholas Gioacchini scored a brace on his national team debut to give the Americans a 3-1 halftime advantage. Sebastian Soto also scored his first international goal in the 83rd minute, then followed up with his second in stoppage time to put the game to bed.
Monday’s win means the USMNT finished 2-0-1 for the year and improved to 16-1-6 all-time against Panama.
