Panama’s preparations for Saturday’s World Cup match against England were marred by an altercation between two squad members on the training ground.
The Central Americans lost their opening two games and have already been eliminated from the tournament. They finish their Group L game against Thomas Tuchel’s side at MetLife Stadium, but a public training session witnessed a clash between Cecilio Waterman and Jose Luis Rodriguez.
Mr Waterman was caught on camera stabbing Rodriguez in the chest and being stopped by colleagues as he attempted to pursue a disagreement. The incident was quickly brought under control, and public practice resumed.
Panama faced England for the second time after losing 6-0 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick. They have improved since then and are currently ranked 42nd in the world despite narrow 1-0 defeats to Ghana and Croatia.
If England finish first in their group, they will travel to Atlanta to face the third-placed qualifiers, while if they finish second they will travel to Toronto to face either Portugal or Colombia.
Thomas Tuchel’s side lack the cutting edge to beat Ghana in midweek, and their position in the group remains uncertain. The German admitted he was open to the idea of overhauling his entire starting XI if he secured the top spot, but remains open to rotating his squad.
“I didn’t even know if I would do a full rotation (if England beat Ghana). Maybe I would have. But I’m not shy about doing rotations now,” he said.
“Some players should be on the field, but it’s probably going to be more moderate. It’s not necessarily fair to just rotate players and say, ‘Okay, let’s play.'” Let’s take a look.
“For example, I like the centre-backs today. They worked well together. I like Elliott Anderson. He took a step forward and performed well. Probably a little better than against Croatia.”
