"A walk in the park for Walker Zimmerman!"
That was the call from ESPN's Adrian Healey as Walker Zimmerman rose above a Panamanian defender to head home his second international goal. And what a call it was.
But Zimmerman wasn't the only member of the Black & Gold on the scoresheet for the Red, White, and Blue on Sunday. Christian Ramirez marked his first cap for U.S. Men's National Team with a debut goal in the 89th minute.
The Gregg Berhalter era for the USMNT got off to a great start in Phoenix. Dorde Mihalović got the scoring started with a smart run from midfield in the 40th minute and the U.S. went into the break up 1-0.
The USMNT picked up where it left off in the second half, dominating possession for long stretches and rarely looking bothered by the Panama attack. But Berhalter's side struggled to turn its advantage into opportunities on the Panama goal until Nick Lima slid in to break up a Panama counter attack, winning the ball cleanly and turning up the field. The USMNT fullback picked up his head and sent an early cross towards the center of the penalty area, where Zimmerman was waiting. Outjumping his marker, the LAFC center back buried his header into the center of the net to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.
Coming into the match at the 84th minute, Ramirez wasted little time making it a memorable debut. Five minutes after entering the match, the forward ghosted behind his marker to get on the end of a Jonathan Lewis pullback for the simplest of tap-ins. The goal rounded out the scoring of a 3-0 win for the national team and was the first time two LAFC players had scored in the same match for the USMNT.
Zimmerman and Ramirez will get another chance to shine on Feb. 2, as the USMNT take on Costa Rica in San Jose, Calif.
