Panama certifies its qualification to the quarterfinals of the Copa America with a win over Bolivia

Panama’s national team achieved a historic qualification for the quarter-finals of the Copa América by beating Bolivia 1-3, which said goodbye to the tournament for the fourth consecutive time without scoring in the group stage.

Universidad Católica de Ecuador forward José Fajardo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, Eduardo Guerrero added to the lead in the 79th and César Yanis sealed the win in the 91st.

Striker Bruno Miranda temporarily tied the score for Bolivia in the 69th minute and scored the only goal for the Verde in the competition.

Panama advanced as second in the group with 6 points, beating the United States, the host team, which it beat 2-1 on the second matchday.

In the first few minutes it was clear that Panama was in a greater hurry to score and, in its eagerness to speed up some plays, was a bit shaky and had some doubts in its attack.

And it was thanks to the pressure that Panama exerted on Bolivia that the long-awaited opening in the scoreboard came when in the 22nd minute, with a header assist from Cristian Martínez, Fajardo scored with a powerful right-footed shot.

Despite the goal, the team led by Dane Thomas Christiansen wanted to secure a favourable result with some attacks that, however, were not very effective.

However, Panama went into the break with the comfort of having a lead, knowing that the score in the other match in the group was zero.

The Central American Red team came out on the attack in the second half and had a first attempt in the 49th minute, with a ball saved by Martínez that Viscarra managed to deflect.

The Panamanians pressed harder, but remained imprecise, losing balls easily and failing to connect to score a second goal that would give them more peace of mind.

However, at 68, Panama began to tremble thanks to the recently entered Miranda, who broke the Altiplano’s goal drought and after a VAR check celebrated the 1-1.

The good news for Panama is that at 79′ Guerrero, who had entered the field five minutes earlier, scored the second with a header after an assist from Eric Davis.

The final relief came in the first minute of extra time with a shot from Yanis, who had been on the field for a minute and left the Bolivian goalkeeper hanging, demonstrating the effectiveness of the changes made by Christiansen and securing their ticket to the quarterfinals.

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