Reaching the 2018 World Cup was a big deal for the people of Panama.
With three minutes of normal time to play in their final qualifier against Costa Rica, they were set to miss out. They’d cancelled out Costa Rica’s opener with a highly controversial equaliser early in the second half, but, with the USA heading to a surprise defeat to Trinidad and Tobago, were set for a fifth-place finish.
Then, this happened…
Still, if you're going to take advantage of a phantom goal, get yourself some scenes. Panama! pic.twitter.com/RCGSMLU8TZ
— James Dart (@James_Dart) October 11, 2017
That goal, scored in the 88th minute, meant that if Panama could see out the final minutes, they were World Cup-bound.
As you can probably appreciate, the remaining minutes almost certainly felt like hours for the majority of those packed into Estadio Rommel Fernández.
Those on the pitch used every possible opportunity to waste away a few precious seconds to deny Costa Rica a chance of an equaliser… and those standing off the pitch also played their part, too.
As the video below shows, one indidual went to great lengths to delay a throw-in as the game went into stoppage time. With the ball ricocheting off a Panama player, a Costa Rican trots over to it to take a throw-in level with the edge of the host’s penalty area.
Seeing this, one figure – some claim it’s a ballboy; others say it’s an unused Panama sub – makes a Usain Bolt-esque sprint down the touchline. Reaching the ball first, he thumps the ball high into the sky, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Trabajo en equipo nivel: la banca de #Panamá pic.twitter.com/mb5GrV7X3r
— Juan Felipe Celia (@jfcelia) October 11, 2017
Top class shithousery.
