Adalberto Carrasquilla confident as Panama approach USMNT test

Panama will be the underdogs when they take on the United States on Thursday evening, but they boast one player with an intimidate knowledge of his surroundings.

Adalberto ‘Coco’ Carrasquilla played for MLS team Houston Dynamo against Atlanta United earlier this month, helping his side to a 2-2 draw on the road at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He returns to that venue with the Panamanian national team for the second game of their Copa América campaign.

Panama fell to a 3-1 defeat against heavily-tipped Uruguay in their group stage opener but Carrasquilla believes his team showed that they can compete against the tournament’s top teams.

“This loss was a bit difficult, because of the way they scored goals by small details, carelessness of everyone. But I liked today’s attitude, what we tried to impose against a difficult opponent,” Carrasquilla explained after the game. “I’m left with the fact that we tried, we always wanted to go forward and it hurts that due to small details we lost the game.”

Can Panama beat the USMNT?

The Panamanian national team have only competed in Copa América once before, in the expanded ‘Centenario’ edition in 2016. They were eliminated in the group stage eight years ago but have grown as a force in recent years.

In 2018 Panama qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history, playing against the likes of England and Belgium in the tournament in Russia. They finished bottom of the group but have continued to build momentum, rising to 43rd in the FIFA world rankings at the most recent update. That puts them ahead of the likes of Ghana, Greece and Norway.

The likes of Carrasquilla, Michael Amir Murillo and team captain Anibal Godoy now boast top flight experience in leagues around the world and they boast a well-drilled, utilitarian style of play under head coach Thomas Christiansen. They will give most teams at Copa América a tough game, you can be sure of that.