A Panama The superior gave him a heavy 0-3 loss this Thursday at Costa Ricaa result in which he caressed the pass to the ‘Final Four’ of the League of Nations Concacaf and the direct ticket to the Copa América. With goals from Michael Murillo, José Fajardo and Cecilio Waterman, coach Thomas Christiansen’s Panama secured a fourth straight victory against Costa Rica, who on Thursday looked imprecise and out of control with the debut of Argentine Gustavo Alfaro on the bench.
Panama showed the stability of the process that it has had for several years and was superior throughout the match played at the Ricardo Saprissa stadium in San José and corresponding to the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Nations League. The winner of this series between the Ticos and Panamanians, which will have a second leg next Monday in Panama, will also get a ticket to Copa América 2024.
Costa Rica, with only a few training sessions under new coach Alfaro, entered the game out of control, committing many fouls and losing many balls in midfield. It was on one of those fouls near the spot that the first goal fell. Michael Murillo took the free kick well and nailed the ball into the top corner from the right hand of Costa Rican goalkeeper Kevin Chamorro, in the 4th minute of the game.
Panama dominated the entire first half and confirmed its superiority in the 29th minute when an early error by Juan Pablo Vargas and his poor marking caused José Fajardo to escape to score 0-2 in a strong that cross shot. Winger Jimmy Marín tried to break down Costa Rica’s poor play with penetrations from the wing and came close to scoring with a shot that fell off the vertical.
In the second half it seemed that Costa Rica came with new energy with several approaches to the goal of Orlando Mosquera, but the Costa Rican momentum was diluted between the imprecision and anxiety of its players, and Panama’s control of the game. The Panama team measured their efforts and continued to attack with quick transitions when they regained the ball, led by midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla, one of their key figures.
In one of those transitions, Carrasquilla served a filtered pass for Cecilio Waterman to escape and beat Costa Rican goalkeeper Kevin Chamorro one-on-one for the final 0-3. After the third goal, the match broke down, with Costa Rica dropping its arms and Panama lowering its intensity.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
