The Colombian National Team already knows who its possible rivals are in the quarterfinals of the Copa América. And one of them, 10 days ago, was not in the plans of almost anyone. Only their own: Panama performed a miracle, taking advantage of the United States’ defeat against Uruguay and making it to the next phase by beating a weak Bolivia 3-1.
According to the criteria of
Panama experienced a roller coaster of emotions throughout the match: from the euphoria of qualification that lasted half an hour, through the anguish caused by Bolivia’s draw, which eliminated them from the Cup, to having their ears in another stadium, Kansas City, where Uruguay and the United States were playing.
The Panamanians did their part from the start: in the 22nd minute, José Fajardo received a ball passed to him by Christian Martínez with his back turned, and shot with great power. Thus, with the score at 1-0, plus the 0-0 at GEHA Field, Thomas Christiansen’s team was in the quarter-finals of the Cup.
But Panama did not count on Bolivia to shake off all prejudices, even before they scored the first goal. Already knowing that they had no chance of advancing, Antonio Carlos Zago’s team showed that they could do something different from the first two games, that they had the ability to attack and that they were ready to do anything to break the streak of 14 consecutive defeats in the cup, which they had been on since 2015.
The scare in Panama, the elimination by two minutes and the euphoria
At 66 minutes, Bolivia was rewarded for its attitude: Ramiro Vaca put a through ball through the Panamanian defense and Bruno Miranda beat goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera to tie the game. At that time, the United States had qualified.
But only a couple of minutes had passed when, with drama, Maximiliano Olivera scored for Uruguay, and thus, Panama was once again the one that kept the place for the quarter-finals, even without winning. What happened with that goal and the VAR will be the subject of discussion for the next few days.
Bolivia did everything to prevent Panama from qualifying. A long ball from Vaca generated a terrible rebound from Edgardo Fariña, with goalkeeper Mosquera coming up empty. Miguel Terceros, with the goal at his disposal, shot, and Fariña saved his mistake with a rebound into the clouds.
Eduardo Guerrero’s entry in the 74th minute paid off for Christiansen. He was the one who scored the 2-1 for Panama, after five minutes on the pitch. He headed in a cross from Eric Davis.
Panama did not want any more scares and fully secured victory in the 90+1 minute, with a goal from another who came off the bench, César Yanis, with a shot from the half moon.
The Panamanians began to celebrate once Brazilian Edina Alves blew the final whistle, even though there were still six minutes left in Kansas. The only thing that kept them out was two goals from the United States. They weren’t even close. Panama made history.
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