Former Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen was in tears after his Panama side’s hopes of World Cup qualification came to an end. They were beaten 5-1 by USA in the early hours of Monday morning which means the Central American nation can no longer qualify for the Qatar World Cup.
Prior to the defeat, their only chance of making it to the finals at the end of the year would have been through the play-offs but they cannot catch Costa Rica in fourth place in CONCACAF qualifying with just one match left. The ex-Whites boss could not hide his emotion at the end of the match as he broke down in tears.
He did, however, claim that he would not consider leaving his role as Panama manager, a job in which he has enjoyed some success in the last few years. Speaking to the media after the game, Christiansen said: "I have already shown that I want to stay. I have made it known to the federation, including my agents, not to ask anyone or receive offers because my first option is going to be Panama. Let's see how it goes. I can't say more.
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“There are positive things that we can take with us. This last disappointment has done a lot of damage, and it will be difficult to recover. Defeats are where one learns the most.”
Had Panama been able to beat USA, they would have still needed a result against qualification leaders Canada later in the week to have any chance of making it to Qatar. Even with those victories, and Costa Rica dropping points, they would have then needed to beat New Zealand in the play-off.
That would have seen Christiansen come up against his former striker Chris Wood, with whom he, of course, briefly worked with at Elland Road. Whether those in charge in the Panama national team decide to grant the Dane’s wish to stay on as manager remains to be seen but he should still have plenty of credit in the bank.
