FIFA World Cup 2018 team analysis: Panama look to prove a point in first-ever WC appearance

Indian Super League Prediction

April 28 2024, 07:30 PM

ATK Mohun Bagan

Odisha

FIFA World Cup 2018 team analysis: Panama look to prove a point in first-ever WC appearance — Panama booked their Russia 2018 berth at the expense of the United States and must be hoping to make it special. Image Courtesy: Twitter

Country: Panama

Placed in Group G also featuring England, Belgium and Tunisia

Fixtures:

Panama vs Belgium, June 18, at 8.30 pm IST (Sochi)

Panama vs England, June 24, at 5.30 pm IST (Nizhny Novgorod)

Panama vs Tunisia, June 27, at 11.30 pm IST (Saransk)

FIFA ranking: 55

World Cup fixtures | Groups and points table

Panama taking three players as 'guests' alongside 23-man squad Panama taking three players as 'guests' alongside 23-man squad

Previous World Cup: Did not qualify

Best finish: First World Cup final stage appearance

Star players: Roman Torres (defender for Seattle Sounders), Jaime Penedo (goalkeeper for Dinamo Bucharest), Jose Luis Rodriguez (midfielder for Gent).

Esa bola nunca entró ¡Árbitro vulgar! pic.twitter.com/9xyrrZIzWt
— TDMás (@tdmas_cr) October 11, 2017

Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez

Panama booked their Russia 2018 berth at the expense of the United States. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the Central American nation needed a ghost goal, awarded to Blaz Perez, and a late winner by captain Roman Torres against Costa Rica to eliminate the USA and qualify for the World Cup final stages for the first time ever.

| #SomosLaSele | EL GOOOOOOOOL QUE NOS TIENE EN EL MUNDIAL!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/A2hkCu3bhN
— SomosLaSele (@SomosLaSele) October 11, 2017

Panama take pride in playing ugly and this could sometimes be their undoing. By ugly, they try to distract the opponents by provoking them and then hit back on the counter when the opposition has lost its focus momentarily. Moreover, their squad is ageing and has the highest average age in Russia. Their system is easy to figure out and those who have done it have beaten them big (4-0 loss to the USA and 0-6 defeat to Switzerland).

Coach Hernan Dario Gomez, a Colombian who previously guided his country to the World Cup in 1998 and then Ecuador in 2002, is at the helm. He plans a defensive structure with five at the back (5-3-2 or 3-5-2) and all of them look solid. Gomez has a set of pacey forwards in Gabriel Torres and Blas Perez, who help in scoring from the counter. Alberto Quintero is a playmaker to watch out for.

Trabajo en equipo nivel: la banca de #Panamá pic.twitter.com/mb5GrV7X3r
— Juan Felipe Celia (@jfcelia) October 11, 2017

Panama play with a lot of passion but their style of play can certainly frustrate the viewer. But when they do score, even if it's a phantom goal, they lose their s***.

Prediction: It will be difficult for World Cup debutants Panama to make it out of Group G. However, anything can happen with England.