Final round within reach for Americans

WASHINGTON -- The heavy lifting has been done. The long plane rides to exotic lands and the tough nights on the road playing in front of raucous crowds are a memory for now.

Needing just one win -- or even one point, for that matter, should the rest of the group fall in line -- over the next two home matches has the U.S. National Team in a commanding position to move on to the final round of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

But rather than leave anything to chance when it closes out the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifying on Nov. 17 in Columbus against Jamaica, the U.S. wants to take care of business on Wednesday when Panama visits RFK Stadium.

"You want to get it over with," said striker Landon Donovan, who wore the captain's armband in Claudio Reyna's absence during the team's 2-0 victory over El Salvador last Saturday night. "You don't want have to go to Barbados like we did in the first round last time and get a result. Fortunately, we have another home game if we don't get a result, but we want it over with."

In November of 2000, the U.S. was forced to travel to Waterford, Barbados, needing a tie in its last match of the semifinal round to advance to the final round of qualifying.

Though it pulled out a 4-0 victory, it was hardly a situation the side wanted to deal with. That's why a victory against Panama would make it easier for everyone involved, as it would give Arena a chance to give some young players a game against Jamaica and also allow the European-based players a chance to stay with their clubs.

"It would be nice," said Arena after the U.S. finished training at RFK Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. "However, I think this is going to be a heck of a battle. And nothing is given, so our team needs to be ready to play, and they need to play well."

Play well is not something the U.S. did the last time out against Panama back on Sept. 8 in Panama City.

Only a stoppage-time goal by Cobi Jones allowed the Americans to escape Estadio Rommel Fernandez with a point from a 1-1 tie.

On a rainy night and a waterlogged field, Arena's side didn't keep the ball moving quickly enough and had trouble dealing with Panama's speed up front, particularly when it went with three forwards in the second half.

"The front-runners are a handful," said Arena, mentioning the threesome of Roberto Brown, Julio Dely Valdes and Ricardo Phillips. Brown, who scored Panama's only goal against the U.S., is a big and strong forward who Eddie Pope will be seeing a lot of once again.

"I think he's scored their last three goals," said Arena, "so he's someone to watch out for."

The player that gave the U.S. the most trouble was Phillips, who ran at the defense time and time again from his right wing position.

In that match, Greg Vanney's speed was exposed at left back. This time around, Carlos Bocanegra is slated to move from his usual centerback position to play as a left back -- as he does for Fulham FC -- to help neutralize the diminutive striker.

With Bocanegra on the left, Pope and Gregg Berhalter will be manning the central defense, with Frankie Hejduk on the right side.

Even though a tie would suit Panama just fine since it is tied for second-place in the group with five points (1-1-2) after drawing with Jamaica over the weekend, Arena is expecting to see the same sort of high-pressure, highly-offensive attack from his opponent on Wednesday night.

"I don't think they'll change anything they've been doing," he said. "Obviously only having a point on Saturday, they're chasing the group a little bit, and they certainly have to have the desire to get at least a point here ... In the very least, their objective has to be to get a point."

Arena said the U.S. didn't have a scout down in Panama for the match, but the reports he got said that Panama should have won the match. After seeing the type of firepower the team had against the U.S., he's not surprised.

"They have a good team," he said. "They're one of the best teams I've seen in this competition in the semifinal round. When I go back to the last time around, we were in a group with Barbados, Guatemala and Costa Rica. And I rate Panama right up there with Costa Rica."

Arena also pointed out Panama's ability on the road, alluding to its surprising victory over Jamaica in Kingston last month.

At the same time, getting a result against U.S. has been a very difficult endeavor for teams in the region over the past few years. In fact, the Yanks are in the midst of an impressive 27-match unbeaten streak against opponents from the region, which dates back to Sept. 5, 2001 when the team lost 2-0 to Costa Rica down in San Jose, Costa Rica. The U.S. also holds a 24-6-10 record at home in World Cup qualifying that includes a 2-1-1 record at RFK Stadium.

Though the U.S. hasn't played in many matches over the years where it enjoyed a serious home-field advantage based on the crowd noise or tension-level of the stadium, there are certain factors that could be at play. Like the weather.

"I doubt they're going to want to come here when it's going to be pretty chilly tomorrow night," said Donovan, noting the recent evenings in the nation's capital that has seen the temperature drop to the forties. "We're used to this and to playing here, and we'll be flying around."

Arena said that it's a possibility that Donovan will serve as the team's captain once again. He also hinted that Kansas City Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin would get his second consecutive start as the team's holding midfielder since both Reyna and Chris Armas are not part of the team's 20-man roster here in D.C.

Since Tony Sanneh's hamstring is "more of an issue" than Pablo Mastroeni's bruised right hip, he's unlikely to see time, which gives the U.S. less flexibility in the midfield.

Clint Mathis may get another shot as the team's attacking midfielder after a tough performance against El Salvador with Donovan manning the right flank. Should that change, Eddie Lewis could get the nod on the left side, with Beasley moving to the right and Donovan to the middle of the park.

Up front, Brian McBride is expected to get another start off of his strong performance, which included a beautiful first-half strike, against the Azules last weekend. His partner will most likely be either Josh Wolff as it was the other night or Conor Casey, who didn't dress against El Salvador but got the start against Panama the last time the two teams met.

"Obviously, there's not going to be radical changes," said Arena, "but they'll be some changes."

One position that won't change is in the goal, as Kasey Keller will be getting another start for the U.S. over Tim Howard. The Manchester United goalkeeper is the only other goalkeeper on the roster since Jonny Walker wasn't called back into camp after being released to the MetroStars last Thursday before the Americans left for El Salvador. Keller will be looking for his 41st victory in a U.S. uniform and fifth of the year.

Keller and Howard will surely not be summoned to Columbus in November as the two goalkeepers each are battling for playing time as the second choice goalkeepers at Tottenham and Manchester United, respectively.

As the U.S. moves forward, it's imperative that one of the two keepers is playing with the first-team on a regular basis, so any time away for the national team is somewhat harmful. Yet, another reason the U.S. wants to take care of business on Wednesday night.

"We're looking forward to getting this part over with," said Donovan. "And we'll be ready."

Marc Connolly covers American soccer for ESPN Soccernet.com. He can be reached at: marc@oakwoodsoccer.com