National Soccer
Luis Fernando Tena, coach of the Guatemala team, showed respect for Panama, his next rival in the Gold Cup 2025 and also an adversary in the Qualifiers to the World Cup in FIFA 2026.
Luis Fernando Tena Guio to Guatemala to beat Jamaica in the Gold Cup 2025, after 12 years without winning it. (Free Press Photo: Fabian Meza/ Straffon images)
Mexican coach Luis Fernando Tena assumed command of the Guatemala team three years ago. Since then, great challenges have been proposed and has achieved historical results.
In this Gold Cup 2025 He already showed that he is able to reverse adverse scenariosas happened with the triumph against Jamaica in the debut, rival against which Guatemala came from suffering a hard defeat in the World Cup qualifiers.
The next challenge will be to face Panama this Friday, June 20, in the Q2 Stadium of Austin, Texas. While the latest clashes have been favorable for the channels, Tena trusts that the bicolor can write a new story.
This match will mark the confrontation number 42 between both teams. Guatemala will seek to add his victory number 19, while Panama aspires to get his triumph 20.
A rival of respect
Luis Fernando Tena He has not hidden his admiration for Panama’s football growth and acknowledges that it will be a very demanding encounter.
“Against Panama will be very complicated. They are the best Central America team, they have many players in Europe And in just 20 minutes they had already put four goals to Guadalupe, ”said the strategist at the end of the match against Jamaica.
However, far from feeling intimidated, The coach sees in this challenge an opportunity to continue showing the growth of Guatemalan football.
“We are also growing, trusting our own strength. We can compete against anyone, without losing sight of the strength of the rival. It will be a very different match from the qualifiers, ”said Tena, making it clear that Guatemala does not give up dreaming.
The duel against Panama will define the course of Guatemala in the Gold Cup and I could open the way to a new historical classification to the quarterfinals and will give more confidence in the face of the final tie to the FIFA 2026 World Cup.