After defeating Costa Rica in the quarter finals of the Gold Cup 2015 on Sunday, Mexico will be a confident unit as they prepare to face Panama in the second semi-final of the competition at Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Mexico, which were expected to cruise through from the group stages, did not turn up with their A game in the group stages as they drew two matches and only won one. Though Mexico defeated Costa Rica, many felt that the former were lucky to emerge victorious during the game via a controversial penalty.
Panama might not have taken the Gold Cup by storm, but they can beat top teams on their day. They finished third in Group A and defeated Trinidad & Tobago in a tight quarter-final fixture, which was decided via penalties.
Despite Mexico being the favourites, mid-fielder Jonathan dos Santos is aware of the task ahead of the knock-out fixture. He feels that the team needs to maintain focus and defend well against Panama.
"Every match is difficult," Fox Sports quoted Jonathan dos Santos as saying. "They require attention on the small details. We have to stay focused, defend well, be strong and take the opportunities we have."
Mexico has not had much problems with scoring as they finished the group stages with 10 goals, but they missed a number of chances against Costa Rica, which they need to capitalise in the semi-finals.
"Against Costa Rica, we missed a lot of opportunities that could have given us the victory much earlier. We know we have to be focused from start to finish, as we have done so far," said Santos.
If their forward line clicks, Mexico should not have many problems in progressing to yet another Gold Cup final, but they cannot afford to take Panama lightly. Mexico is the most successful team in the Gold Cup winning the title six times so far.
Panama manager Hernan Dario Gomez seems to be confident as he feels he has the technical players in the team to play some fluid football.
"Panama has a new, developing style of soccer with technical players who can move the ball with skill and technical quality and who play well. We will see on Wednesday who submits: us to them or them to us. Mexico is a more technical team than Panama, but we hope to impose our style on them," said Gomez.
Where to Watch Live
The first semi-final between Mexico and Panama at Georgia Dome in Atlanta is scheduled for 9pm local time (6:30am IST, 2am BST) start.
US viewers can catch both the teams battle it out in Atlanta on Fox Sports 1 USA with live streaming on Fox Sports GO.
Viewers in Mexico can watch the game live on Sky Mexico.
Viewers in the UK and Ireland can catch the entire action on BT Sport 1.
