June 28 – Honduras stunned a shell-shocked Panama, coming back from a goal down to force a penalty shoot-out and claim the first spot in the semi-finals. Outside the covered State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the temperature had hit 108 degrees. Inside the emotional seesaw of this game reached a similar high pitch.
It was Carlos Pineda who hammered in the sixth Honduran penalty to make it 5-4 after Eduardo Guerrero had hit his over the bar. It was a shoot-out with the added drama of Honduras’ Joseph Rosales was allowed to retake after Orlando Mosquera had dived early to save the first attempt. If he hadn’t retaken and scored Panama would have gone through 4-3 after the fifth penalty.
This was a battle of will and tactics and in the end Honduras won both. Happy to sit back and absorb long periods of Panama possession, Reinaldo Rivera sent and set up his team in the second half to pressure the accomplished passing game of the Panamanians.
It worked with Honduras equalising a first half deficit on 82 minutes, having had less than 30% of possession in the first half. Panama manager Tomas Christiansen, universally praised for his tactical astuteness, had been out-thought and his team out fought.
The losing finalists of 2023 and again in the Nations League final in March were out and Honduras, desperate for a return to Concacaf’s top table, are heading to the Levi’s Stadium in San Jose for the next chapter of their story that began with a 6-0 thrashing by Canada in Vancouver.
Panama came into the quarter final with a perfect record of three group wins and the Gold Cup’s top scorer Ismael Diaz in ruthless form following a hat trick in the 4-1 dismantling of Jamaica.
Panama manager Christiansen made five changes from the starting XI, notably returning to his tried and tested old stagers, selecting a team with no-one over the age of 25 and four players in their thirties.
Honduras in contrast have been late starters in this tournament, opening with that 6-0 spanking, but recovering with wins over El Salvador and Curaçao.
Manager Rivera opted for the same starting XI that delivered against Curaçao that meant veterans Romell Quioto and Jorge Benuche starting up front.
It was the sixth Gold Cup meeting between these two nations with Honduras leading 3-1 in terms of wins. But in recent years Panama have battled their way to the top of Concacaf’s nations and few expected them to be turned over by Honduras.
Panama started fast with Fidel Escobar from distance forcing Edrick Menjivar to palm a shot over the bar in the second minute. It set the tone for the half.
Honduras defended with a deep 4-5-1 inside their half, content to let Panama come at them. Menjivar was forced to palm over from a free kick in the 11th minute. Two minutes later he saved a header from Carlos Harvey from 5m out.
It doesn’t get more one-sided than this. After 20 minutes Panama had racked up more than 80% of possession while Honduras had conceded six corners and a free kick just outside the box.
On the half hour Menjivar was again called into action to deflect a ball across his box away from danger. Three minutes later he caught an underpowered shot to his left from Jorge Gutierrez.
With the match looking like it was drifting to 0-0 at half time, Honduras’ Edgar Martinez fouled the impressively ever-present Cristian Martinez just inside the box in the 43rd minute. Mexican referee Katia Itzel had no hesitation pointing to the spot and Diaz stepped up to send Menjivar the wrong way for his seventh goal of the Gold Cup.
Panama now had to chase the game. Menjivar had kept them in it but they needed to show more ambition if they weren’t going home – and they did.
Rivera made two substitutions for the start of the second half, bringing on Dixon Ramirez and Antony Lozano up front, and moving his defensive press higher up the pitch in pursuit of the ball.
Honduras were now playing with more intent though failing to find the quality of final ball in the attacking third to split Panama open.
Just after the hour mark Quioto had a penalty appeal turned down for a foul in the box from a corner. Panama weren’t quaking but they were shaking as Honduras increased the physicality of the game.
Rivera brought two more sets of fresh legs on as Menjivar again kept Honduras in the game diving to his right to save a shot from Michael Murillo.
On 70 minutes a Honduras break down the left flank saw Joseph Rosales square the ball to Carlos Pineda who skewed his shot wide to the right. Two minutes later Pineda fired into Orlando Mosquera’s grateful arms in the Panama goal.
On 75 minutes Kervin Arriaga was through only for his shot from outside the line of the goal post to be turned of the line by a covering Andres Andrade. The tide had now turned and an animated Christiansen on the sideline looked almost Canute like as Honduran waves crashed into his defence.
In the 82nd minute the defences were broken. A corner on the right bobbled on the top of the Honduran wave before finding Lozano who fired in from 6m out. 1-1 with eight minutes left in a quarter final that would go straight to a penalty shoot-out if level at the end. It was Panama’s turn to press now and while they huffed and puffed through four minutes of added time before the excellent Itez blew her whistle for the penalty shoot-out.
The shoot-out was not without its own drama. Menjivar looked to have saved the first only for VAR to review and show it had bobbled under his body and across the line before he dragged it back. VAR was on Honduras’ side for the third penalty allowing Rosales to retake after Mosquera dived early for the first.
With the score at 4-4 at the fifth penalty Lozano had his shot saved. Guerrero missed and Honduras went crazy when Pineda hit the back of the net for the second time of the evening.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1751181220labto1751181220ofdlr1751181220owedi1751181220sni@n1751181220osloh1751181220cin.l1751181220uap1751181220
The match presents the sixth Gold Cup meeting between the nations and the first in the Knockout Stage. Honduras leads the series in Gold Cup meetings with three wins to one for Panama, while another encounter resulted in a draw
- In the last 10 meetings across all competitions, both sides have 3 wins and 4 draws.
- Last Panama win:
November 12, 2021 – FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (Qatar 2022)
Honduras 2-3 Panama
Goals: Cecilio Waterman (77’), César Yanis (80’), Eric Davis (85’) / Alberth Elis (30’), Brayan Moya (59’) - Last Honduras win:
July 17, 2021 – Group Stage, Gold Cup
Panama 2-3 Honduras
Goals: Romell Quioto (21’, 65’), Alexander López (61’) / Eric Davis (P32’), César Yanis (45’)
Last 6 Meetings
- Panama wins: 1
- Honduras wins: 3
- Draws: 2
Biggest Wins in the Series
- Honduras 5-0 Panama – December 14, 1980 (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Spain 1982)
- Honduras 5-0 Panama – April 16, 1997 (UNCAF Nations Cup)
Gold Cup History
- This will be the 6th meeting between the two sides in the tournament
- Honduras leads the Gold Cup head-to-head:
3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw
First Knockout Clash in Gold Cup
- This is the first time Panama and Honduras face off in a Gold Cup Quarterfinal, and their first knockout match in the tournament’s history.
- Their last elimination-round encounter came in the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup Semifinals, when Panama won 1-0 in Tegucigalpa with a goal from Ricardo Phillips (30’).
PANAMA IN THE QUARTERFINALS
- 10th appearance in this round
- Record:
GP-9 | W-2 | D-3 | L-4 | GF-15 | GA-10
Top scorers in Quarterfinals:
- Blas Pérez (4)
- Ismael Díaz (3)