Panama players come to blows in training two days before England World Cup clash

Panama’s final World Cup preparations were thrown into disarray on Friday when two of their players came to blows during an open training session ahead of Saturday’s Group L decider against England at MetLife Stadium.

Cecilio Waterman was filmed pushing Jose Luis Rodriguez in the chest before team-mates intervened to hold him back as he looked to continue the confrontation. The incident passed quickly and the session resumed without further incident.

Panama are already eliminated from the tournament, having lost their opening two games 1-0 to Ghana and Croatia. The clash with Thomas Tuchel’s England side is their final group fixture, and the in-fighting does little to ease the pressure on a squad that has struggled throughout the competition.

It is the second time Panama have faced England at a World Cup. At Russia 2018, they were beaten 6-0 in a game in which Harry Kane scored a hat-trick. Despite that heavy defeat, Panama have since climbed to 42nd in the FIFA world rankings, a marker of the progress made under their current setup.

For England, the result still carries consequence. A win would secure top spot in Group L and send Tuchel’s side to Atlanta to face a third-placed finisher. Finishing second would instead mean a trip to Toronto to face Portugal or Colombia.

England’s inability to break down Ghana in their previous group game has left their position at the top of the group unresolved, and Tuchel acknowledged he is now likely to make only moderate changes to his starting line-up rather than the wholesale rotation he had considered.

“I was not even sure if to do the full rotation,” Tuchel said. “Maybe we would have. But I am not shy to do some rotation now. Some players should be on the pitch but maybe it will be more moderate. It’s not always fair if you just rotate your players in and say, ‘Okay, let’s perform.’”

The England manager also singled out a couple of performers from the Ghana draw for praise. “I like, for example, the centre backs today. They were good together. I like Elliot Anderson, he had a step forward and a good performance, maybe a bit better than against Croatia.”