Panama boss: England better than Belgium
Panama manager Hernan Dario Gomez made light of the drama surrounding England’s leaked training notes by naming his own starting XI on the eve of the match.
Gareth Southgate has questioned the English media’s decision to publish pictures which hinted at a possible team for today’s clash in Nizhny Novgorod, suggesting it could provide Panama with an advantage.
But Gomez has no such qualms and revealed within seconds of his pre-match press conference he would be retaining the same side which lost 3-0 to Belgium.
“The line-up will be exactly the same,” he said. “I like how my team worked. The team that starts the match is the one with the most experience, that’s one of our assets. As a starting XI, we are very organised and tactical.”
The veteran Colombian coach, who is at his third World Cup, also dismissed the notion that a tip-off about Harry Kane’s strike partner – be it Raheem Sterling or Marcus Rashford – helped his cause.
“It doesn’t give me any advantage,” he said. “Every coach needs to make sure they’re 100% prepared and ready, regardless of the opposition.
“It doesn’t matter who plays, because if one doesn’t play the other is just as good.”
Gomez has a healthy respect for Gareth Southgate’s side, ranking them as a tougher proposition than the higherranked Belgians.
“England are going to be our hardest match by far,” he added.
“They don’t have a lot of individual stars like Belgium, but they work well as a team, especially on ball recovery, and are an excellent team. This is going to be a very tough nut to crack.
“If we play in an organised way we know how we can make their individual players have a hard time – we admire them but we can’t give them any space.
“There is only one ball on the pitch and we’re going to fight for it.”
Panama’s battling performance against Belgium was warmly received back home and, although Gomez realises there are no guarantees the goodwill will remain, he is hoping for the best.
“Just as the country is pleased now, tomorrow or the day after they could hate us and we lose four years of work,” he said.