Panamanian coach Thomas Christiansen was confident this Thursday that his team will qualify directly for the next World Cup in Qatar 2022.
“We believe in our possibilities, not only to go to the World Cup but to try to go to the World Cup directly, that is the first objective,” Christiansen said at a press conference after giving the call for the last three dates of the Concacaf World Championship.
“No one would think that today we were talking about going straight or going to a repechage, that's what we won,” added the Hispanic Danish coach after announcing a list of players with no big news.
Christiansen once again relies on a base team consisting of goalkeeper Luis Mejia; defenders Michael Murillo, Fidel Escobar and Andrade; steering wheels Aníbal Godoy and Adalberto Carrasquilla; and strikers Rolando Blackburn and Gabriel Torres.
In the final dates of the world championship, which awards three direct tickets to Catar-2022 and the possibility of a playoff for the fourth place against a national team from Oceania, the canaleros will receive Honduras, visit the United States and close at home against Canada.
With 9 points remaining in play in the regional octagonal, five teams are still in the race to Catar-2022: Canada, with 25 points, tops the standings, followed by the United States and Mexico with 21, Panama with 17 and Costa Rica with 16.
Panamanians aspire to qualify for their second World Cup, after their first participation in Russia-2018.
“I know the enthusiasm that the players, the coaching staff and the fans have to get us into another World Cup, that's why motivation has to come alone,” Christiansen said.
Call for applications:
Goal: Luis Mejia (Spanish Union, Chile), Orlando Mosquera (Carabobo, Venezuela), Cesar Samudio (CAI), Eric Hugues (Taurus)
Defenders: Fidel Escobar (Cultural Leonesa, Spain), Jorge Gutierrez (Taurus), Michael Murillo (Anderlecht, Belgium), Eric Davis (DAC, Slovakia), Andrés Andrade (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Harold Cummings (United Arab), César Blackman (DAC, Slovakia), José Cordoba (Levski Sofia, Bulgaria)
Media: Cristian Martínez (Monagas, Venezuela), Aníbal Godoy (Nashville, MLS), Abdiel Ayarza (Cusco, Peru), Adalberto Carrasquilla (Houston Dynamo, MLS), Alberto Quintero (University of Sports, Peru), Cesar Yanis (Zamora, Spain), Edgar Barcenas (Leganés, Spain), Jose Luis Rodriguez Guez (Sporting Gijón, Spain), Freddy Gondola (Sports League) Alajuelense, Costa Rica), Victor Medina (Saprissa, Costa Rica)
Forwards: Gabriel Torres (Antofagasta, Chile), Rolando Blackburn (Royal Pari, Bolivia), Cecilio Waterman (Cobresal, Chile), Ismael Díaz (Catholic University, Ecuador).
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