Comments on: Panama: The Next Big Thing in CONCACAF?

By: Hands of Stone

Hands of Stone — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:34:41 +0000

Gary Stempel is a class act. His Spanish is impeccable. I hope that he leads team Panama over the us team tomorrow. I will fly to Philadelphia tonight for the game, with a sizeable contingent. We’re gonna take over the Linc, baby! Pa-na-ma! Pa-na-ma!

By: eplnfl

eplnfl — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:19:56 +0000

Thanks for the in-depth run down on Panama. Looking forward to the game to say the least. The Concacaf teams outside of Mexico are unkowns to most of us. That is due to overall media attention that soccer has in this country but also to the great attentio that the European teams draw.

One of the great things about this website and your efforts is your promoting Concacaf football to the general public and trying get and the Euro centric population understand the quality of players over here.

No informed fan should expect the game tomorrow to be a walk over.

By: Adam Edg

Adam Edg — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:10:37 +0000

Panama will be a force in the years to come. Maybe not a traditional Mexico or Costa Rica level threat, but at least on par with Homduras. It is not hard to imagine futbol catching up to baseball in Panama within the next five years or so. Given their raw talent and the cultures of the nations surrounding them, it is easy to picture them contending for a top 3 CONCACAF spot by the 2014-2018 WC qualifiers.
Given the way Mexico has been as of late, Panama has a shot to do something amazing in terms of the WC qualifiers…

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:14:49 +0000

Lawerence B, his father is Panamanian even though he grew up exclusively in England so he had a connection to get the management job at San Francisco, a club that usually does well in the Panamanian league.

He also managed in El Salvador before taking over the full national team job.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:00:16 +0000

The team we are playing with in this tournament opens the door for Panama. I understand Bradley is shorthanded but he could have planned better by using those seven extra spots to have a few central and right footed defenders available with Parkhurts and Cherundolo leaving early. Also, Goodson’s injury complicated matters.

Before the tournament Bradley should have known which guys were going back to Europe and used his extra seven player selections which were a gift from CONCACAF well. Now instead of having extra players we have fewer players than anyone left.

By: Lawerence R.

Lawerence R. — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:34:25 +0000

Panama having an English coach is fascinating. How exactly did he get the job?

By: John H

John H — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:25:12 +0000

From what I have seen of Panama the last few years, they should be more successful than they are. I know they are a huge disadvantage being in a baseball oriented country, with little in the way of resources, but they have way too much talent to under perform regularly. Recall they got to the Hex in 2005 and bombed out.

They were unlucky against us in the last two Gold Cups. I’d agree with that for sure. In this tournament they have pressured defenders alot but have shown some poor finishing and lack of killer instinct, as well as some weakness at the back. They will put pressure on our back four for sure, but it is likely we will win because they won’t be able to finish their chances.