Bruce Arena has claimed that he is expecting a difficult match against Panama when the United States travel to the away ground in order to get a victory that would place them in the World Cup 2018.
The United States come into the game after having failed to win the last two qualifiers. It was a major disappointment from the national team, as even the presence of manager Bruce Arena was unable to inspire the club towards success over weaker opponents like Costa Rica and Honduras. As a result, the national team have been made to wait with regard to reaching the World Cup 2018.
The top three teams from the CONCACAF region will be reaching the World Cup automatically while the fourth place team will have to enter into an intercontinental play-off and potentially risk the possibility of missing out on the tournament.
Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama are the three teams in the top three, but United states have a great opportunity to dispossess one of those things and inter into the top three. Panama are the obvious candidates with the team just one point above the USA with two matches left in the qualification group. However, Bruce Arena says that Panama are expected to come in with a highly defensive performance and make it tough for USA to get a victory.
“It’s like any team in CONCACAF and the Hex. The games on the road are difficult. They’re a fairly defensive, physical team. You need the right day in terms of playing well, getting the right officiating, having the right surface to play on. I think all of those factors come into play. The bottom line is that we need to go out on the field and play well, be aggressive to start and get the first goal,” said Bruce Arena.