2019 Concacaf Gold Cup — Group Stage
Guyana vs Panama
FirstEnergy Stadium — Cleveland
June 22 — 5:30 PM ET
Guyana didn't bunker down or defend in deep blocks. The Golden Jaguars stood strong and went toe-to-toe with the United States, ultimately losing, 4-0, in both team's Group D opener Tuesday at Allianz Field. Paul Arriola broke the stalemate for the US in the 28th minute and Guyana conceded twice in four minutes when Tyler Boyd and Gyasi Zardes scored in quick succession followed by Boyd's second goal.
“[The guys] worked their socks off tonight and each of of them should be patted for not only what they’ve done before [to qualify], but for tonight," Guyana coach Michael Johnson said. "But now, moving forward, you gain the confidence from tonight and go, ‘OK, we’ve got a great chance with lesser FIFA-ranked opposition. Let’s go again. Let’s dust the cobwebs down. Let’s learn the lessons, and let’s try and apply ourselves again for the next game.”
"Four goals in the first half affected us and we saw ourselves as inferior to Mexico and it was tough to attack," he said after the match. "We had one, two chances. The players left tired. It is tough to endure the whole match playing at the pace at which it was played. Mexico had many chances. Against Martinique and Canada we will have a new way of playing
Panama
After a scoreless first half, Panama broke through for a pair of second-half goals to defeat Trinidad & Tobago in the opening match of Group D Tuesday at Allianz Field.
Former Toronto FC midfielder Armando Cooper scored what proved to be the eventual winner when he took a feed from Gabriel Torres and rounded T&T goalkeeper Marvin Phillip and midfielder Khaleem Hyland before slotting home in the 53rd minute. Edgar Barcenas followed by knocking in his own rebound to double the Los Canaleros lead in the 68th minute.
Guyana vs Panama Stats
Guyana have seen a thrashing 4-0 loss to United States on Matchday 1
Panama beat Trinidad and Tobago (2-0) to end a 14-match winless streak
Los Canaleros have struggled for consistency in the final third
Guyana vs Panama Match Preview
Panama bagged the all-important points on Matchday 1 as they beat Trinidad and Tobago (2-0) with second-half goals from Armando Cooper and Edgar Barcenas, now travelling to FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland looking to build on success against the Group D outsides Guyana.
Los Canaleros have struggled for consistency ahead of the tournament and saw a 14-match winless streak across competitions, which will surely come off as more of a worry. However, Julio Dely Valdes shouldn’t have a tough task to lift their team spirits now and we feel they should be in a great mood over the weekend too.
Guyana have struggled to keep up with the United States, on the other hand, and suffered a thrashing 4-0 loss as Arriola, Boyd (x2), and Zardes all made it on the scoresheet. They will now want more in Ohio but getting it will be no easy task for the side led by Emery Welshman up front.
Golden Jaguars maybe deserved more but now have a lot of work to do if they’re to recuperate, seeing their fourth loss in five outings despite a more lenient schedule beforehand. They have been scoring goals and will now want to do the same, trying to put the Matchday 1 behind them.
We don’t feel they can make it happen against Panama either, though, and we’ll now back Los Canaleros to win to Nil at 1/2 with Coral. They have shown off as a tough nut to break against Trinidad and Tobago and we now hope for a similar stalemate early in the clash too.
We thus don’t feel we’re in for many goals now and we’ll stick our necks out for a somewhat unconventional contest on Guyana’s end, as we go for a low-scoring clash with Under 2.5 Goals FT at 7/4 with bet365 – which feels overpriced at this point.
PREDICTION
Panama won an important match against Trinidad and Tobago in the opening round of the match and was in a strong position to secure their place in the quarter-finals for the eighth time in a row at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Tournament newcomers Guyana were comfortably defeated by the United States in their opening match and it is unlikely that they will have the quality to reject Panama's second victory of the campaign.
Panama is a short price favorite here but this can be closer than expected. I tipped Guyana to fight and covered the +2 and +3 defects.
