Landon Donovan expects the United States men's national soccer team to be on its game when it resumes Gold Cup play against Panama.
Noting there's a history of close games between the teams in the tournament that determines the champion of North and Central America and the Caribbean, Donovan stressed the favored Americans can not afford to overlook their next opponent on Saturday night.
The U.S. has beaten Panama in each of the past three Gold Cups, including 2005 when they played to a scoreless tie in the final. The Americans took the title that year after winning a penalty shootout, then eliminated the Panamanians in the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2009.
Winning the Gold Cup not only would ensure the U.S. a berth in the 2013 Confederations Cup, but also send a message to regional competitors the Americans potentially could face in qualifiers leading to the next World Cup in Brazil.
''They always give us a tough matchup. Athletically, they are challenging and they do a pretty good job tactically of making the game hard against us,'' Donovan said.
''They have a lot of experience. People forget how much experience this group of players have now. It's been basically the same team for five, six, seven, eight years,'' the American star added. ''It's going to be a difficult game. We expect a tough test.''
But one the U.S. fully expects to win, provided there's no dropoff from a solid performance in a 2-0 tournament-opening victory over Canada on Tuesday night.
The Americans can clinch a top-two finish in Group C, thus guaranteeing a quarterfinal berth if they beat Panama and Canada also gets at least one point against Guadeloupe in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Raymond James Stadium.
Securing a berth in the next round after two games could afford U.S. coach Bob Bradley an opportunity to rest some regulars while also giving some of the team's younger players a chance to get some valuable Gold Cup experience against Guadeloupe in Kansas City on June 14.
''Obviously if we win we'll be sitting pretty and in a good spot to definitely win the group,'' defender Tim Ream said.
''This tournament is always important for us. We also qualify against these teams,'' Donovan stressed. ''So there's the games, but there's also the mental aspect that's important as well. If we play Panama in a qualifier in the future we want to know that we have the advantage of beating them here, and hopefully that stays in their minds.''
Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scored in the victory over Canada in Detroit, helping the Americans rebound from a 4-0 exhibition loss to world Cup champion Spain last weekend.
Altidore, making his Gold Cup debut, scored in the 15th minute. Dempsey added his goal in the 62nd as the U.S. remained unbeaten (24-0-2) in group stage matches of Gold Cup tournaments.
''Getting the first goal is always important in these games,'' Donovan said. ''When you get a first goal and make some of these teams open themselves up, they become vulnerable and you can get the second, third and fourth.''
Panama began group play in Detroit with a 3-2 victory over Guadeloupe, hanging on after nearly blowing a 3-0 lead.
The Panamanians are 0-6-2 all-time against the U.S., 0-3-1 in Gold Cup matches. The 2007 and 2009 quarterfinals both were decided by one goal.
''We're not under any illusions that it's going to be an easy game,'' U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. ''It's going to be a tough game, but we also realize what a good result does for us.''
