A penalty goal Jose Fajardo was enough for Panama will surpass this Thursday as a visitor a lackluster Costa Rica in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Nations League of Concacaf. A foul in the area committed by the Colombian Millonarios defender Juan Pablo Vargas allowed Fajardo to score from a penalty in the 66th minute the only goal of a match that Panama knew how to control in the face of the little football shown by the Costa Rica of Argentine coach Claudio Vivas.
With this result, the Panamanians are getting closer to qualifying for the semifinals of the Nations League, but they will have to ratify their ticket next Monday at home in the second leg. On a rainy night and with the field wet at the National Stadium in San José, the first half was one of a lot of friction and fighting in the midfield, of many fouls and little clarity to build the game and generate dangerous plays in both goals.
The two most favorable scoring plays in the first episode were for Costa Rica through a header from Juan Pablo Vargas and a cross shot from Warren Madrigal, to which the Panamanian goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera responded reliably.
The fog was the protagonist in San José
From then on, the attack of the Costa Rican team disappeared due to the solidity of the Panamanian defensive zone led by José Córdoba and Fidel Escobar, who did not give up space for the Costa Rican forwards Manfred Ugalde and Alonso Martínez, scorers for Spartak Moscow and in New York City, respectively.
Lacking ideas in the midfield, Costa Rica crashed again and again against the rocky defensive wall of the Panama of the Spanish-Danish coach Thomas Christiansen. Fajardo scored a penalty in the 66th after Vargas swept Carrasquilla on the edge of the area. The goal was the vindication of the forward who a couple of minutes before missed a very clear option in the six-yard box.
Costa Rica tried to push in search of an equalizer with more desperation than football, but their attacks did not create any danger in Mosquera’s goal throughout the second half.
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This is Costa Rica’s sixth consecutive defeat against Panama and the ninth in the last 11 games, a streak that contrasts with the dominance that the Ticos had exerted over their neighbors in previous history.
TECHNICAL SHEET
0 – Costa Rica: Patrick Sequeira; Jeyland Mitchell, Julio Cascante, Juan Pablo Vargas (Alexis Gamboa, m.75), Francisco Calvo; Jefferson Brenes (Alejandro Bran, m.69), Brandon Aguilera, Warren Madrigal, Kenneth Vargas (Andy Rojas, m.75); Manfred Ugalde and Alonso Martínez (Joel Campbell, d.69).
1 – Panama: Orlando Mosquera, Cesar Blackman, José Córdoba, Edgardo Fariña, Fidel Escobar, Michael Murillo; Cristian Martínez (Anibal Godoy, m.72), José Rodríguez (Kahiser Lenis, m.88), Adalberto Carrasquilla (Carlos Harvey, m.77); Edgar Bárcenas (César Yanis, m.88) and José Fajardo (Eduardo Guerrero, m.77).
Referee: the Honduran Said Martínez. He admonished the Panamanians Fajardo, Córdoba, Mosquera and Carrasquilla; and the Costa Rican Mitchell.
Goal: 0-1, Fajardo (m. 66)
Incidents: First leg of the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Nations League played at the National Stadium in San José in front of about 30,000 fans.
