Thomas Christiansen, coach of the Panamanian National Team, spoke at a press conference at the Allegiant Stadium, in the city of Las Vegas, before the match against Canada in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League Finals.
Christiansen acknowledged that it will not be easy to beat the Canadians, however, he recalled the good games they played in the past qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup where they divided results.
“My opinion of Canada hasn’t changed at all. We know it’s a great team, they had a spectacular Octagon, and in my point of view, they also did well in the World Cup, they didn’t get the results, but from a football point of view they deserved more”, said the coach.
When asked about the team’s objective in this competition, he clarified that the mission is to win the title and position themselves as the best in the Final Four.
“Our goal is to reach the final and try to win the tournament,” he said.
“It is the dream of any coach, of any player, and also the fans, but we are talking about three teams that have been in the World Cup, that are powers in CONCACAF, but we have already shown in the Octagonal that we can compete against these three teams and we have to be at 100%”, he explained.
The two experiences we have had against them, first in Canada where we were involved in the match up to 2-1, and then we won in Panama in a match that was to close the Octagonal and leave a good taste in the mouth”, recalled the leader from the Panamanian bench.
The match between Panama and Canada is scheduled to start at 4:00 pm. local time (6:00 pm Panama time), in what is the first semifinal of the Final.
Then, in the second hour, starting at 9:00 pm Panama time, Mexico and the United States will face each other, also at the Allegiant Stadium, in Las Vegas, to define the second finalist.
