The Panamanian football team, which wants to surprise in the Copa América, will play two friendly matches in Spain this month against the teams of Catalonia and Galicia, its coach, Spanish-Danish Thomas Christiansen, said this Tuesday.
The Central American team, runner-up in the 2023 Gold Cup, will play the first game against the Catalan team on May 29th, in Sabadell, near Barcelona, and then against the Galicia team, in Vigo, on the 31st. May, said Christiansen during a press conference.
The two friendlies will serve as rehearsals for the Copa América, which will start on June 20th in the United States. Panama is in Group C along with hosts Uruguay and Bolivia.
“What is the objective of the Copa América? Well, it is to try to surprise, to pass the group stage. We know that we have difficult teams in the group like Uruguay, the United States and Bolivia. But we want to compete, we want to try to be the surprise of this tournament”, he said Christiansen.
The two matches in Spain will also serve as preparation for the Concacaf Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup: at home against Guyana, on June 6th, and against Montserrat, in Managua, on June 9th.
Christiansen, a former player for the Spanish national team, took charge of Panama in 2020, after that team’s participation in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when it was led by Colombian Hernán “Bolillo” Gómez.
Football has been gaining momentum in recent years in Panama, a country where boxing and baseball were the dominant sports.
Christiansen justified the friendlies against Spanish regional teams even though he knows that the rivals in the Copa América will be stronger teams.
“There were two teams that were interested in playing friendlies. There are other situations that can occur, but at certain times we also have to look at the economic issue,” he said.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
