First-ever qualification has Panamanians dreaming
Trip to Russia sweet after disappointment of missing out in 2014
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 fewer, taking to Twitter in October to declare a national holiday moments after his country qualified for its firstever 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.
“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 (this year), 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 former Galaxy 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 Galaxy in 2014 and a Romanian first-division 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, the only two times in which Panama made the final.
But although the Central Americans will field one of the oldest teams in the World Cup, they are also bringing some youth with them in defender Fidel Escobar, 23, midfielder Edgar Barcenas, 24, and forward Abdiel Arroyo, 24, who joined the team after the last World Cup cycle.
The mix is important if Panama hopes to make World Cup qualification a regular thing.
“I hope the World Cup changes things and brings good players to the local leagues and then players from the local leagues can go and play in better foreign leagues,” said Godoy, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes.
Another addition to the team is Colombian coach Hernan Gomez, who replaced Julio Cesar Dely Valdes after the 2013 qualifying loss to the U.S. Gomez previously led Colombia and Ecuador to World Cup berths and his hiring, Godoy said, was the final piece to the puzzle for Panama.
“Now it’s different,” he said. “It’s a different coach. The players have more experience. The young players have more experience as well.”
That isn’t likely to be enough to get them through one of the most difficult groups in the tournament, one that has Panama making its World Cup debut against Belgium — the No. 3 team in the world, according to FIFA.
But Torres disagrees with many of his countrymen who argue that simply getting to Russia is victory enough for Panama.
“People say ‘they made it, winning isn’t important.’ But we have a clear objective,” said Torres, the team’s captain. “It’s something historic to qualify for a World Cup, but after you qualify what comes next is more difficult.
“Yeah it’s a really difficult group. But you can’t really say one team is better than another. In football, anything can happen.” No World Cup team knows that better than Panama, which looked to be in four years ago, only to be knocked out, then looked to be out eight months ago, only to be invited in.
So although making it this far may not be enough for Torres, it’s still worth celebrating. Maybe even with a national holiday declared on Twitter.
“Before the first game begins, when we hear the first line of the national anthem, it’s going to be something special for Panama,” Godoy said. “This World Cup, we’ve prepared for this.”