The Americans beat Panama 2-1 today to advance to the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals despite some sloppy defense late in the game that led to a goal in the 84th minute.

Haleiwa resident and former Kamehameha Schools athlete Brian Ching saw action late in the match.

"They scored and made the last two minutes crazy," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "That's something we certainly will talk about."

Those discussions will take place before Thursday night's semifinal at Soldier Field in Chicago against Canada, which was impressive in beating Guatemala 3-0 in Saturday's first quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium.

"I thought they were very organized today," Bradley said.

In Sunday's quarterfinals at Houston, Honduras plays Guadeloupe and Mexico meets Costa Rica.

Donovan scored on a penalty kick in the 60th minute and Carlos Bocanegra connected in the 62nd. With 32 goals, Donovan moved within two of Eric Wynalda's U.S. career record. It was the 10th Gold Cup goal for Donovan, who moved ahead of Wynalda into second place in the tournament's history, two behind Mexico's Luis Roberto Alves.

"I don't want to downplay it because, obviously, it's cool," Donovan said, "but in the context of what's going on with the team, it pales in comparison."

Donovan also scored on a penalty kick in injury time in last Tuesday's 4-0 win over El Salvador in group play. That gave the United States a 2-0 lead and momentum.

But the defending champion Americans, who jumped from 29th to 16th in the latest FIFA rankings, need to improve on finishing their scoring chances. In the first half today, Taylor Twellman missed three good opportunities and Donovan said he had two "great" chances.

"It was just one of those days, but we won so who really cares?" said Twellman, a member of the New England Revolution of MLS who was playing on his home field.

Blas Perez scored for 57th-ranked Panama, which lost to the United States on penalty kicks in the 2005 final of the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean. Perez's goal was the first allowed by the United States in this year's tournament. The Americans are seeking their fourth Gold Cup title.

Donovan took an excellent pass from Clint Dempsey to set up the penalty kick. Carlos Rivera ran up Donovan's back and wrapped his arms around him in the penalty area. Donovan scored on a soft, low shot to the right as goalkeeper Jaime Penedo went in the other direction.

"I knew when Clint served me the ball and I got inside of (Rivera), he was either going to have to let me go or foul me," Donovan said.

Panama coach Alexandre Guimaraes complained about referee Neil Brizan of Trinidad and Tobago.

"He called the penalty against us 30 meters away from the play," Guimaraes said. "We had two very clear occasions, especially at the end of the game (when) there was a hand ball" by the United States, but no call was made.

Bocanegra made it 2-0 with a header off DaMarcus Beasley's free kick.