Panama coach Thomas Christiansen reflected on the 1-1 draw against India during the international friendly at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
Panama were clear favourites to win and delivered a gritty show during the FIFA World Cup, even though they lost all games. India, meanwhile, were winless in the last four games. However, India punched above their weight and pulled off a brilliant draw, a massive confidence booster ahead of the blockbuster friendly against Brazil.
Meanwhile, Thomas took responsibility for the result, but said that the travel and logistical issues didn’t allow the team to prepare well for the contest, highlighting that the team had to travel for two hours to reach the venue for the match. He also said that the team fielded five debutants in the contest, calling it a great learning experience.
“A generational change is not easy. Five players got their first start today. The result is my fault. We didn’t have time to work, to train, because of the travel and logistics. But I’m happy to see them start with five debutants. We have to learn from this experience,” he said at the post-match press conference.
“I don’t want this to sound like an excuse, but it is not easy to be in a bus for two hours in traffic to get to the stadium. The logistics and the travel here were also complicated. We have to be smarter when we sign these agreements again. I don’t want this to sound like an excuse, but we have to be careful with how we handle things inside and outside the pitch because our players deserve better.”
The coach also praised the Indian team and said that the team has quality players and they made Panama work hard in the field.
“If you give them space and time, they can do whatever they want because they have some very good-quality players. They made it difficult for us, especially in our defensive line, with the second striker they had up front. It was difficult to manage that.”
“We were a little bit disorganised. That also gave India the possibility, when they recovered the ball, to go and attack because we were so spread out and our lines were too far apart. That was one of the main reasons why we didn’t come really well into the game.”