U.S. soccer coach Jurgen Klinsmann has made two changes to his lineup Tuesday night against Panama, inserting Eddie Johnson and Geoff Cameron into the starting lineup.
The changes were necessitated by a concussion suffered by Jermaine Jones against Jamaica and a yellow card suspension to Graham Zusi and changed the U.S. to a 4-2-3-1 alignment.
Jones caught an elbow against Jamaica, but is expected to be available next week when the U.S. faces Honduras in Sandy, Utah.
Zusi picked up a yellow card in the 2-1 win over Jamaica and was suspended for this match.
Tim Howard started in goal with the defensive back four the same as the previous two matches: Brad Evans at right back, Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler in central defense and DaMarcus Beasley at left back.
The midfield included Cameron, Johnson, Michael Bradley, captain Clint Dempsey and Fabian Johnson.
Jozy Altidore was the lone striker for the Americans, despite leaving the match against Jamaica in the 83rd minute and appearing to hold his hamstring.
It was the 29th match with Klinsmann in charge after taking over for Bob Bradley. With two straight home matches, the Americans have a chance to take control of the qualifying group in the 10-game final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
The U.S. (2-1-1) entered Tuesday with seven points, trailing Costa Rica (2-1-1) on goal difference and is ahead of Mexico (1-0-4) on goals scored.
Mexico and Costa Rica played earlier Tuesday night in Mexico City.
Panama made three changes from the lineup that played to a 0-0 draw with Mexico last Friday. Jaime Penedo started at goalkeeper with Leonel Parris, Carlos Rodriguez, Roman Torres and captain Felipe Baloy in defense. Armando Cooper, Alberto Quintero and Anibal Godoy all started in midfield after none of the trio started against Mexico. Amilcar Henriquez and Luis Tejada started at forward.
Panama was without top scorer Blas Perez, who missed the game with gastroenteritis.
The U.S. is 8-1-2 all-time against Panama, its only loss coming two years ago to the day in the Gold Cup. The Americans rebounded to beat Panama in the Gold Cup semifinals later that summer and won 1-0 in Panama City in a friendly in January 2012.
The U.S. is 21-0-2 in home qualifiers since losing to Honduras in September 2001 at RFK Stadium and 35-1-7 since losing to Costa Rica in 1985 at Torrance Calif.
