The Panamanian team came back this Friday from a match that lost 0-2 to Honduras, and in eight minutes won the victory by 2-3, on the seventh date of the octagonal of the Concacaf qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
Bad start for Honduras’ new coach, Colombian Hernán Darío “Bolillo” Gómez, who had been excited about his players until the moment they won 2-0.
Panama claimed fourth place with eleven points in the qualifying zone.
The Honduras team started with a game lacking precision in the delivery of the ball, against a rival who was more orderly, scoring hard, but approaching the area without creating greater difficulties for the rival defense.
The catches, after the poor results they achieved in the octagonal with the Uruguayan Fabián Coito in six games, sought to weaken the Panamanians with counterattacks.
The first warning from Honduras came in the seventh minute with a run from Bryan Moya, who fired close to the left post, but the Panamanian goalkeeper, Luis Mejía, covered him without much difficulty.
Honduras went on the attack with Anthony “Choco” Lozano and Alberth Elis, who gave work to the defense of Panama, which had Alfredo Stephens and Rolando Blackburn at the top.
In the 29th minute, Honduras took the lead with a goal from Alberth Elis, who received a deep pass from defender Omar Elvir from midfield and in the race overcame two defenses and beat the Panamanian goalkeeper on low.
In the second half the delivery was greater on the part of both teams, although imprecise, but with Honduras in better order than in the first, with better control of the ball and always looking to hit the mark with long passes.
The Panamanians, who were failing a lot in the midfield, could not finish defining in their approaches to the Honduran area, with balls overlooked, but they insisted on at least looking for a tie.
The second Honduran goal came at minute 58 in the legs of Bryan Moya, who received a pass from the left-wing of Kervin Arriaga and took advantage of a distraction from a Panamanian defender who tried to stop him, and by going down he sent the ball to the bottom of the nets.
After the second goal, Honduras was diminished in attack, without creating dangerous plays, while Panama continued to pound, and at minute 76 they recovered emotionally after discounting with a goal from Cecilio Waterman, one of their chances in the second half.
With Honduras collapsing, Panama tied the game 2-2 at minute 79, with a score by Cecilio Yanis, in another serious error by the defense of those led by “Bolillo”.
With the draw, the Panamanians grew more and at 87 they brought Honduras to its knees with a free throw goal, derived from a foul outside the area of its goalkeeper Luis López, for the final 3-2.
The defeat is the fourth that Honduras suffers so far in the tie, in which it has added three draws, against Canada, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, its next rival, visiting, on the 16th.
Hondurans have lost to the United States, Mexico, Jamaica, and Panama.
Datasheet:
2. Honduras: Luis López; Omar Elvir, Maynor Figueroa, Carlos Meléndez, Kevin Álvarez (Christopher Meléndez m.46); Alex López (Kervin Arriaga m.46), Deiby Flores, Alfredo Mejía, Bryan Moya; Alberth Elis and Anthony Lozano (Bryan Róchez m, 55).
Coach: Hernán Darío “Bolillo” Gómez.
3. Panama: Luis Mejía; Michael Murillo, Fidel Escobar, Andrés Andrade, Eric Davis; Adalberto Carrasquilla, Cristian Martínez (José Fajardo m.65), Armando Cooper, Freddy Góndola (César Yanis m.65); Alfredo Stephens (Omar Browne m.46) and Rolando Blackburn (Cecilio Waterman m.65).
Coach: Thomas Christiansen.
Goals: 1-0. m.29: Alberth Elis. 2-0. m.58: Bryan Moya. 1-2. m.76: Cecilio Waterman. 2-2. m.79: César Yanes. 23. m.85: Eric Davis.
Referee: Drew Fischer, from Canada. He showed yellow cards to Alberth Elis, Anthony Lozano, and Christopher Meléndez from Honduras, and Alfredo Stephens from Panama.
Incidents: Match of the seventh date of the Concacaf octagonal of the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, played at the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium, in San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras.