Panama's Rise? and Fall

[birdman13]

Having witnessed the Panama national side take the United States to penalty kicks in the final match of this year's Gold Cup, I was surprised to see them bow out so helplessly in the WCQs. What is the status of this squad and Panama football in general? There seemed to be a handful of quality players on the Gold cup squad (Tejeda)-is this a team anything to be mindful of in the future or was the Gold Cup performance just a result of good luck?

[Guatefc]

Man they where Skyhighhhhh like a plane, then that last second goal by guatemala really just took a big blow to their morale as a team , then it was down hill from there

they thought every other team would play like the Gold cup. and let them have the spotlight

[SABuffalo786]

I don't think there should be any talk of them falling right now. Considering their history up until now, I'd be absolutley estatic if I was a Panama fan. Gold Cup runners up and Hexagonal finalists in the same year? Completely out of left field. They've earned my respect.

[MoRado]

this thread's title summarizes everything, rise and fall of the Panas, actually i'll say

rise 1 (group stage and first 2 matchdays)
fall 1 (following matchdays of the HEX)
rise 2 (Gold Cup)
fall 2 (last matchdays of the HEX)

[Goathemala]

Panama has good players, they have speed and have a good height but they lack technical skills, I think that they can be a good team if they work on the skills part and then you would have an even better Panama.

[Reycd]

Panama has good players, they have speed and have a good height but they lack technical skills, I think that they can be a good team if they work on the skills part and then you would have an even better Panama.

I believe we will get better, the physical ability is there in are players, the technical aspects of our game is weak, our semi-pro leage started like 12-13 years ago.. almost on-par with the MLS.. more players our playing outside of Panama than ever before.. in Mexico, Brazil, colombia, Uruguay, Guatemala, Honduras, U.A.E, Iran, etc.. I just cant keep tabs on all of them.. lol, If I had more time I would dedicate a web-page to football news in Panama..

[DCFAN96]

I believe we will get better, the physical ability is there in are players, the technical aspects of our game is weak, our semi-pro leage started like 12-13 years ago.. almost on-par with the MLS.. more players our playing outside of Panama than ever before.. in Mexico, Brazil, colombia, Uruguay, Guatemala, Honduras, U.A.E, Iran, etc.. I just cant keep tabs on all of them.. lol, If I had more time I would dedicate a web-page to football news in Panama..

I'd like to see how things pan out for Panama, the biggest test is whether they'll be able to replace players like Phillips and Valdez among other who will definitely not be around for another cycle. They have a young GK and Tejada so its promising we'll just have to see how things work out.

[SwissGCZ]

There seemed to be a handful of quality players on the Gold cup squad (Tejeda)
Is this the same Tejada that plays for Al-Ain in the UAE (with fellow Panamanian Blanco)? Btw, those two are playing in the AFC Champions League tomorrow for a berth in the semis.

[Reycd]

Is this the same Tejada that plays for Al-Ain in the UAE (with fellow Panamanian Blanco)? Btw, those two are playing in the AFC Champions League tomorrow for a berth in the semis.

Yes that is the same Tejada, do you have a link where I can find news on both of them?

[SwissGCZ]

Yes that is the same Tejada, do you have a link where I can find news on both of them?
There isn't terribly much coverage of the UAE League in English, but I read www.gulfnews.com to follow the league. For coverage on the Champions League, go here (http://www.footballasia.com/acl/en/news). The verdict on them so far is that they have skill but haven't quite fit into the team yet. Foreigners in the UAE league are always under close observation as a maximum of three foreigners are allowed per team. In other words, there are high expectations and comparisons to the previous foreign players, in this case Brazilian Edilson and Cote d’Ivoire striker Boubacar Sanogo (now Kaiserslautern.) See schedule and standings of the UAE league here (http://www.goalzz.com/main.aspx?c=1374).

[Spurs74]

I believe we will get better, the physical ability is there in are players, the technical aspects of our game is weak, our semi-pro leage started like 12-13 years ago.. almost on-par with the MLS.. more players our playing outside of Panama than ever before.. in Mexico, Brazil, colombia, Uruguay, Guatemala, Honduras, U.A.E, Iran, etc.. I just cant keep tabs on all of them.. lol, If I had more time I would dedicate a web-page to football news in Panama..


After seeing how well they played in the Gold Cup Final, l wouldnt say that they lack much. What l would say is that they showed some originality on the ball. l dont know if technical aspects being weak cant sum up just how they have been doing of late. Granted, to do what they did to Colombia twice in one event has to say alot in terms of bragging rights and in any other format, we would have gotten humiliated. Nonetheless, lf the morale of the game has gotten lifted in our country, all the more for it by the performances they have shown. And no one was ever going to say it was easy either, but we're making strides regardless of the previous statements.

[denver_mugwamp]

I don't think there should be any talk of them falling right now. Considering their history up until now, I'd be absolutley estatic if I was a Panama fan. Gold Cup runners up and Hexagonal finalists in the same year? Completely out of left field. They've earned my respect.

Panama has a lot to be proud of. They've come from being a baseball-playing soccer backwater to one of the better teams in CONCACAF in the matter of a couple of years. Most Gold Cup teams were B or below in composition, but still, to lose the championship on penalties against the #7 team in world ain't bad. Here's hoping they continue to improve.

[Spurs74]

Panama has a lot to be proud of. They've come from being a baseball-playing soccer backwater to one of the better teams in CONCACAF in the matter of a couple of years. Most Gold Cup teams were B or below in composition, but still, to lose the championship on penalties against the #7 team in world ain't bad. Here's hoping they continue to improve.


Thanks Denver.

l would like to say that as someone of Panamanian origin, it was finally good to see that we're not just a baseball backwater. Football has come along, but there can be so much that can be done and lm sure that in time and at our own capabilities, we can make a name for ourselves because l just see that we've had this desire to play too.

Never have a seen a team like theirs play how they did against the world ranked #7 team in that fashion!!!!