The Mexico vs Panama Gold Cup 2013 semifinal ended in a 2-1 victory for Panama. Chepo de la Torre has completely lost control of his team, and should resign immediately. El Tri was awful, and never showed any improvement throughout the tournament. Panama deserved the win and should prove to be a difficult opponent to the USA in the Gold Cup 2013 Final.
The Mexico vs Panama match started off with an early goal (13th minute) from Panama by Blas Perez. Panama scored the 1-0 goal off a defensive mistake. Mexico would go on to tie the game 1-1 via a goal from Luis Montes in the 26th minute. Montes was supplied an exquisite pass from Marco Fabian.
The Mexico vs Panama first half would end with a 1-1 draw. However, in the 60th minute, Panama took the 2-1 lead off a corner kick header from Roman Torres. From that moment on, Panama focused on defending, wasting time, and creating a couple of scoring opportunities off counterattacks.
Mexico never created any clear scoring opportunities, and the only chances came off long crosses into the box. Overall, Mexico’s offense was very ineffective.
Mexico suffered from the same issues that have plagued Chepo’s team this entire year. Bad passing, static offense, weak defending, essentially, El Tri was a total mess. Mexico will leave the Gold Cup in the semifinal stage, and will have to watch the USA vs Panama final on television.
In the end, the best team won. The Gold Cup final will indeed feature the two best teams in the competition. The fans at the Cowboy Stadium chanted “Fuera Chepo” after the match, a sentiment shared by Mexican fans everywhere.
I believe Chepo should be fired/resign immediately, Mexico can not risk having him coach the team in the crucial match against Honduras in September. #fuerachepo
