FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Kyle Martino and Taylor Twellman scored their first international goals and the United States beat Panama 2-0 Wednesday night in its final World Cup qualifying match.

Already qualified for the 2006 World Cup, the U.S. fielded a starting lineup that included six players with less than 10 games of international experience and two players, midfielders Justin Mapp and Brian Carroll, making their first appearances for the national team.

Martino opened the scoring in the 51st minute for the Americans, who bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Costa Rica. Defender Chris Albright corralled a throw-in from Mapp and delivered pass to Martino, who beat Panama keeper Jaime Penedo from 25 feet.

Twellma leads Major League Soccer with 16 goals in 24 games for the hometown New England Revolution.

He gave the Americans a two-goal lead in the 57th minute with a breakaway goal.

Penedo came out of the net to challenge a long pass from Danny Califf to Twellman at the penalty spot. Twellman touched the ball past Penedo and scored into an open net.

Panama captain Julio Dely Valdes missed the net on a penalty kick in the 86th minute.

Tim Howard, who allowed all three goals in the loss to Costa Rica, earned his sixth career shutout for the U.S.

The Americans finished 7-2-1 in World Cup qualifying.

Panama, which lost 0-0, 3-1 penalty kicks, to the Americans in the finals of the Gold Cup on July 24 in East Rutherford, N.J., went 0-8-2 in qualifying.

NOTES: With the win, the U.S. finished atop the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the first time since the final phase went to six teams in 1994. … The U.S. announced Wednesday that it will set up its 2006 World Cup base camp in Hamburg, Germany. … Of the 18 players on the U.S. roster, six came from the New England Revolution, which plays its home games at Gillette Stadium. … The Americans have shut out seven of the last eight opponents they’ve faced in Foxborough.

AP-ES-10-12-05 2229EDT

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