Costa Rica enjoyed a smooth passage into the knockout stages of the 2017 Gold Cup, winning two and drawing one to top Group A. Los Ticos will next face Panama in the quarterfinals with both squads aiming to become the first Central American nation to win this tournament. Wednesday’s showdown will be the first meeting between the sides in Gold Cup play, though Costa Rica and Panama have met over 40 times in a soccer rivalry that dates back to 1938.
Key for the Costa Ricans in this showdown is their prolific attack. They have spread the goal-scoring in the group stages with each of their five goals in the competition scored by different players. Three MLS-based players got in on the act for Los Ticos namely: Rodney Wallace (NYCFC), Marco Urena (San Jose Earthquakes) and Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United). Costa Rica will need that same kind of teamwork tonight if they are to unlock a solid Panama defense. The Panamanians have conceded just twice in this tournament thus far.
One of the main surprises in this tournament has been the excellent form of Panama. They narrowly missed out on a group win, losing to mighty USA on a tiebreaker. They held the Americans to a 1-1 draw in their group opener before registering victories against Nicaragua and Martinique. The Panamanians will be licking their chops at the prospect of facing Costa Rica as they have fared extremely well against Los Ticos of late. Panama defeated Costa Rica, 1-0, in January at the Copa Centroamericana before engaging in a 0-0 stalemate in San Jose last June.
For Panama to stretch their unbeaten run against Costa Rica to three matches, they will need striker Gabriel Torres to stand tall tonight. He has been the main threat for Panama in this year’s Gold Cup, netting twice. Not to be outdone is NYCFC’s Miguel Camargo who has been influential as well for the Central American outfit. He picked up a goal in their group-opening draw against the Americans before adding an assist in each of their two group wins against Nicaragua and Martinique.
