Panama was not intimidated by Croatia’s excellent campaigns in the last two World Cups (runner-up in 2018 and third place in 2022) and began to set the pace of the match this Tuesday (23), at the BMO Field stadium, in Toronto. But the pressure was not enough to keep alive the dream of qualifying for the knockout stages in their second participation in the World Cup.
The Europeans improved in the second half and midfielder Budimir came off the bench to score the only goal of the match, valid for the second round of Group L.
Earlier, England and Ghana had drawn 0-0 to reach 4 points each, putting pressure on the confrontation between Panamanians and Croatians — whoever lost would be mathematically eliminated one round in advance.
With the victory, Luka Modric’s team goes to 3 points and leaves the definition of the group’s classifieds until the last round. The Panamanians will only complete the schedule in the clash against England on Saturday (27), the same date on which the Croatians face the Ghanaians.
Coached by the Danish Thomas Christiansen, the Panama team went all out in the first half, valuing the exchange of passes to build offensive plays.
The first clear chance to score came with a header from Puma Rodríguez (the same surname as Vasco’s Uruguayan full-back). The ball hit the crossbar after Livakovic’s save, but the play was no longer valid as it came before Murillo’s cross.
The Croatian trio in midfield, formed by Kovacic, Baturina and captain Modric, this one in his fifth appearance in the World Cup, tried patiently to occupy the space to be able to distribute the plays to the sides, with a large collective number of errors.
After 30 minutes, the Europeans seemed to be regaining control in the middle, forcing Panama to close down a little and rely more on counterattacks. But the confidence was with the Panamanians, who turned almost every steal into attacking chances.
When they arrived in the opponent’s area, the Croatians were intercepted by a concentrated defense. Only at 45 minutes did Baturina find space to shoot from outside the area towards Mosquera’s right corner, who took it for a corner.
The changes made by Croatian Zlatko Dalic at half-time soon had an effect. Budimir, who replaced Musa, opened the scoring in the 8th minute after a cross from Pasalic. After providing the assist, he missed what would be the Europeans’ second goal.
In his 200th game with the Croatian shirt, Modric sent Pasalic forward alone and came face to face with Mosquera. The Atalanta midfielder tried to dig, stopped at the goalkeeper and then isolated on the rebound.
With shouts of “sí, se puede” (something equivalent to “I believe” in good Portuguese from the stands), the Panamanian fans tried until the end to push the team to attack in search of a draw.
Confidence had changed sides. In the best chances to seek equality, Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic saved attempts by Bárcenas and Harvey in two consecutive shots in the middle of the final stage.
