Bafana and Panama need to upgrade the level before the World Cup, says Panama coach

Panamacoach Thomas Christiansen has called for his team and Bafana Bafana to step up a gear before the World Cup to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada this winter. Bafana and Panama played to a 1-1 draw in a friendly at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday. Oswin Appollis and Édgar Bárcenas found the back of the net for their respective teams.

The two sides meet again in another friendly as they continue to prepare for the global showpiece, at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm). “I saw what I expected from this team. They are a physical team, fast in attack, good in transition, good at runs, and they exploited the spaces we wanted to close, but a friendly game or a qualifying game is not the same as a game in the World Cup, so I think we both need to upgrade our level a bit,” Christiansen said when asked what he makes of Bafana.

The Danish coach also explained why they chose to play against Bafana. Panama are pitted against Ghana, England and Croatia in Group L in the upcoming World Cup. “The goal was to play against an African team,” said Christiansen.

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“There are constant similarities with Ghana to what we will find with South Africa, and that was the objective. “It should also provide us the opportunity to rotate the squad a bit and give minutes to those who perhaps haven’t seen any playing time with the national team.”

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