The party is just beginning for first-timer Panama

MOSCOW — Donald Trump isn’t the only president who governs by tweet. Panamanian leader Juan Carlos Varela has also embraced the idea of issuing official decrees in 280 characters or less, taking to Twitter in October to declare a national holiday moments after his country qualified for its first-ever World Cup.

“The voice of the people has been heard,” Varela wrote beneath a picture of himself, in a red national team jacket, signing the presidential order.

And although the holiday has ended, the celebration hasn’t, which could necessitate another Twitter proclamation ahead of Panama’s tournament opener against Belgium next week.

“I can’t say. The president’s in charge of that,” midfielder Anibal Godoy said with a laugh. “But I think a lot of people are going to miss work.”

You couldn’t blame Panamanians for pausing to pinch themselves in the midst of the revelry though, just to make sure they’re not dreaming. The country appeared to have a ticket punched to the World Cup four years ago, only to have it slip through their fingers when the U.S. scored twice in stoppage time of the final CONCACAF qualifier, eliminating Panama and opening the way for Mexico to go to Brazil instead.

So there may have been a bit of karma at work this time around, with Roman Torres’ goal with two minutes left in the final qualifier last fall beating Costa Rica to eliminate the U.S. from World Cup consideration, sending Panama on to Russia instead.

“Four years ago the Panamanian people were really disappointed. There were a lot of people crying, very sad,” Torres, a defender with the Seattle Sounders, said in Spanish. “Last year was something really motivating. A lot of people were crying again, but crying for joy.

“We made history. Panama is going to the World Cup for the first time.”

And it may have made it just in time since Panama’s “Golden Generation” is growing old. The average age of the starting lineup Panama used in the last qualifier was 30.36 years, led by goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, 36, and forward Blas Perez, 37, who scored the team’s first goal in that game. Penedo and Perez are two of 12 current or former MLS players on Panama’s World Cup roster.

Penedo, who won an MLS Cup with the LA Galaxy in 2014 and a Romanian firstdivision title with Dinamo Bucuresti last year, has had an oversized role in Panama’s success. He posted four shutouts in the final round of World Cup qualifying — blanking both Mexico and Costa Rica — and was named the top goalkeeper in both the 2005 and 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cups.