-Panama stuns United States
TAMPA, Florida, CMC – Guadeloupe suffered their second straight defeat, when Dwayne De Rosario banged in a second-half penalty, giving Canada a 1-0 victory in their Group-C match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday.

But Panama produced the biggest upset of the competition so far, when they sunk hosts United States 2-1 in the second Group-C match of a double-header at the Raymond James Stadium.

In the opening match, Guadeloupe were short-handed for the second straight match, when they were reduced to 10 men in the fourth minute.

Jean-Luc Lambourde was red-carded for a lunging, studs-up challenge on Will Johnson just outside the Guadeloupe penalty area. However, the Gwada Boyz made the Maple Leafs work hard for their victory, with the winner coming in the 51st minute.

Stephane Zubar pulled the shirt of Canadian striker Ali Gerba, and shoved him down in the penalty area.

Zubar too, was fortunate that he was not given his marching orders, and De Rosario, one of Canada’s top marksmen, struck the penalty kick to the right as goalkeeper Franck Grandel dived to the left.

Guadeloupe captain Stephane Auvray said his side wanted to show that the  side can produce top quality play even in the face of adversity.

“Having one down man for the whole game was hard for us, but we showed that we have good players and a good team,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost, but we showed a good side of our football.”

The result revived Canada’s hopes of reaching the quarterfinals. They moved to three points in Group C, while Guadeloupe lost its second in as many games, and will need a win against the United States on Tuesday in their final group match to have any chance of advancing.

In the feature match, the Panamanians ended the Americans’ 26-game unbeaten streak in group play in the Gold Cup, booking a quarter-final spot.

Luis Tejada lined-up the first goal in the 19th minute, and Gabriel Gomez converted a penalty in the 36th to give Panama their first victory over the United States in nine matches.

Clarence Goodson cut the deficit for the Americans in the 67th minute, but Panama resisted the rest of the way to move to the top of Group-C with six points, followed by the United States and Canada.

The United States can still reach the quarter-finals with a victory over the Guadeloupeans in their final group match on Tuesday in Kansas City, where Panama will also face the Canadians in their last group match on the same day.

The competition continues on Sunday, with Group-A matches in Chicago, where Mexico will face fellow Central American rival Costa Rica in a top-of-the-table clash, and El Salvador meet Caribbean entrant Cuba, with the Gold Cup champions qualifying for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.