FIFA World Cup
World Cup 2018: England vs Panama Preview
It took 12 years for England to start a World Cup campaign with a victory. Nevertheless, it was a very hard-earned win over a humble Tunisia. Today they will face CONCACAF World Cup first-timers Panama. They are now looking to seal a pass to the last 16 at the hands of Los Canaleros.
Gareth Southgate’s men will hope to sharpen their finishing touches in order to pass over Panama. A Canalero team that withstood Belgium for 45 great minutes of play.
Panama coach Hernan “Bolillo” Gomez was very candid towards England on Saturday. “This is going to be our hardest match by far,” Gomez said. “Against England we could get the same score,” Gomez added, “or even worse,” the Colombian strategist said after losing to Belgium 3-0.
Southgate is aware that England has been unsuccessful in the last 22 years as they have not been able to go pass the quarterfinal stage of a World Cup or European Championship. Southgate said: “Past history is not important for this team. They have an opportunity to create their own history. They should be excited about that.
“They’re a young team who will get better and better. I enjoy working with all of them and I’m intrigued to find out how far they can go and how well they can play.”
In addition, Dele Alli will miss Sunday’s match against Panama. The 22-year-old player suffered a thigh injury in Monday’s 2-1 win over Tunisia.
“He started training with the rest of the group and then did some more running on his own, so he’s progressing really well,” said Southgate.
“We’re really pleased with where he is at, but he wouldn’t be ready for the game tomorrow.”
Possible line-ups:
England: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young; Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane
Panama: Jaime Penedo; Roman Torres, Fidel Escobar, Michael Murillo, Eric Davis; Gabriel Gomez, Anibal Godoy, Armando Cooper, Edgar Barcenas, Jose Luis Rodriguez; Blas Perez
Prediction:
Unfortunately for Panama, there is very little chance to combat the Three Lions. Harry Kane will without a doubt come on top with a pair of goals against Panama.
England 3 – 1 Panama
