Panama’s soccer loss has silver lining for players

Panama’s dream of soccer gold ended on Wednesday, June 23, when the national team was defeated by the United States, but the story has a silver lining for the players.

President Ricardo Martinelli, pledged after the game that each player would receive  $10,000 for their outstanding performance, individually and as a team. 

Martinelli travled to the Reliant Stadium in  Houston Texas, to watch Panama lose 1-0 to the United States  in the semi final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, after dominating play for most of the game. Martinell met with the team and congratulated them on their performance.

Although they lost, they had already created Panamanian soccer history after beating the U.S. in the qualifying round to reach the quarter finals, and then defeating  El Salvador to reach the cup semi  finals for the first time.

In a statement from the presidency Martinelli said: “We will support each player with $10 000, because they deserve it. We must help them to play without thinking about economic problems so they can  give their full effort on the field.The national team deserves our support for the qualifying rounds for the 2014 World Cup.”
The government urged people to receive  the returning team with joy and to continue supporting it to continue to reap future success.

Although the team lost on the field, for bars in Panama it was a golden night. Streets in many part of the city saw traffic disappear as fans headed to sports bars to cheer their team on. Bars were already packed nearly two hours before the start of the game.