Costa Rica lost a sixth consecutive game against neighbors Panama on Thursday night thanks to a solitary goal from José Fajardo in the first leg of the CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals.
In team news, interim head coach Claudio Vivas made two changes from last month’s 3-0 victory over Guatemala, with Jefferson Brenescoming in for Alejandro Bran in the middle of the park and Julio Cascante replacing the injured Haxzel Quirós, which meant Jeyland Mitchell switched to right-back.
First-half
In front of a rain-soaked, boisterous home crowd, Los Ticos nearly got off to the perfect start in the tenth minute when Juan Pablo Vargas’s header from captain Francisco Calvo’s flick-on was well held by Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera.
In such a big contest, tempers unsurprisingly started to flare, and a 20-man melee ensued when Panama striker José Fajardo and Jeyland Mitchell pushed each other, leading to both players receiving a yellow card. As a result, Mitchell will miss the return leg next week.
Minutes later, Mosquera was forced into another smart save, pushing away Warren Madrigal’s stinging shot from a tight angle after he met Aguilera’s sublime long ball.
Eight minutes before half-time, defender Cesar Blackman had Panama’s first real chance, cutting in on his right foot and shooting just wide from the edge of the box as LosCanaleros ended the half on top.
Second-half
On the hour mark, the ever-involved Fajardo somehow put the ball over the bar from six yards out with the goal at his mercy after getting on the end of an exquisite Michael Amir Murillo cross, a real left-off for La Sele.
But Costa Rica didn’t heed the warning signs, and just four minutes later, the away side was awarded a penalty after Vargas was adjudged to have brought down Panama midfield Adalberto Carrasquilla inside the box. Fajardo made amends for his earlier miss, emphatically converting the spot kick right down the middle of Patrick Sequeira’s goal.
Things got even worse for Vargas, as he was forced to leave the field due to an injury with 15 minutes of play left.
Los Ticos huffed and puffed in pursuit of an equalizer, throwing on attackers Andy Rojas and Joel Campbell and resorting to desperate long balls into the Panama half, but in truth, they never looked close to snatching a goal, as LosCanaleros comfortably saw out the rest of the tie.
Player Ratings
1) Patrick Sequeira – 6/10
6) Julio Cascante – 6/10
3) Jeyland Mitchell – 4/10
4) Juan Pablo Vargas – 3.5/10
15) Francisco Calvo (C) -5.5/10
19) Kenneth Vargas – 5.5/10
10) Brandon Aguilera – 6.5/10
13) Jefferson Brenes – 5.5/10
17) Warren Madrigal – 6.5/10
9) Manfred Ugalde – 7/10 (MOTM)
14) Alonso Martinez – 5/10
Substitutes
2) Yostin Salinas (for Jeyland Mitchell 45th minute) – 4/10
12) Joel Campbell (for Alonso Martinez 70th minute) – 4/10
16) Alejandro Bran (for Jefferson Brenes 70th minute) – 4/10
22) Alexis Gamboa (for Juan Pablo Vargas 75th minute) – N/A
7) Andy Rojas (for Kenneth Vargas 88th minute) – N/A
Coach
Claudio Vivas – 3/10
The interim coach got the team wrong before a ball was even kicked. Starting Mitchell out of position at right-back, an unfamiliar position for the 20-year-old, was a foreseen disaster, and he was fortunate not to be sent off before being substituted at half-time. Francisco Calvo is also far less effective at left-back than in his customary central defense role.
Vivas’s rudimentary tactical plan of playing the ball down the channels or behind the Panama defense at every opportunity was predictable and easily snuffed out by the savvy Los Canaleros. This was a stark contrast to Thomas Christiansen’s attractive, possession-based side built around ball retention. Displayed in the statistic that Panama had 60% possession, an inexcusable number for La Sele, considering they were at home in a two-legged knockout match. Furthermore, the fact that the home side had just two shots on target throughout the entire contest highlights a real lack of attacking cohesion or gameplan from Vivas and his men.
Despite losing the game, the tie is far from over. But Costa Rica will have to break their daunting six-game losing streak against Los Canaleros, and achieve a victory in Panama, something they haven’t done since 2015, also spanning six games. Stranger things have happened, but considering Los Canaleros are also unbeaten in 16 consecutive competitive home matches, it would take a monumental effort from Los Ticos to overturn this!
The second leg of the quarter-final will be played at the Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City on November 18th at 20:00 CDT (20:00 UTC−6).
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Isaac Roblett
