Panama still seething over Gold Cup loss to Mexico

CONCACAF is always a circus, and it's in town.

Unless the image is somehow topped over the weekend, the enduring one of the 2015 Gold Cup will be a makeshift sign held up in Panama's lockerroom by its national team players after Wednesday's semifinal game. Certainly in the view of Panama's players - and much of the viewership all over the continent - that game in Atlanta had been snatched away from them in the final minutes with a couple of penalty kicks awarded to Mexico.

The largest words on the sign: CONCACAF Ladrones. Translation: Thieves. The sign also has the word corruptos. No translation really necessary there.

The episode was so disturbing to Panama's squad that the players issued a statement Friday confirming they would at least participate in Saturday's Gold Cup third-place game at PPL Park against the United States

"In the end, rules are rules," said Panama's coach, Hernan Dario Gomez, who had been so distraught after Wednesday's game that he had said he had considered retiring. "You have to play by the rules."

After Wednesday's game, Gomez had been more blunt: "It is a stain on football, it's horrible, a robbery."

Pedro Chaluja, the president of Panama's soccer federation, was all in with his players, reportedly saying at a separate news conference Friday that the match had been fixed, calling for a CONCACAF investigation, and asking for the entire referee committee to be removed.

Chaluja went farther out on the limb, saying "Today someone told us that this has happened because we voted against Blatter. It is up to us to demand an investigation."

Let's see, voting against Sepp Blatter would lead to referee Mark Geiger from New Jersey to call penalties against them? Let's give Chaluja this, he's all in with his theory, one that certainly will be popular in his country. (The referee's association that assigns international games in this country has issued a statement backing Geiger's integrity.)

The penalty call that ignited the whole fiasco was a handball called against a Panamanian defender in the 88th minute, as Panama held a 1-0 lead. A replay showed the defender actually had fallen after his foot had been stepped on by a Mexican player. He then fell right on the ball, and it was not clear at all that he could have avoided that ball.

Early Friday evening, CONCACAF announced that Panama's goalkeeper, Jaime Penedo would be suspended for two national team games, starting with Saturday's game, for "pushing the assistant referee following the conclusion of the match." The federation itself was fined "an undisclosed amount for team misconduct both on and off the field."

Meanwhile, Chaluja, who said any fine was worth it, also said Costa Rica's federation also wants an investigation into its quarterfinal loss with Mexico, which appeared destined for a penalty-kick shootout before a penalty was awarded to Mexico in the final minute, when the game already could have been over. Replays also showed there was no foul on the play.

Gomez stayed remarkably calm during Friday's news conference at PPL Park. The man has seen some things in his career. The Colombian was an assistant coach for his country's 1994 World Cup team when it came to the United States as a favorite, allowed an own goal to the U.S., exited in the group stage, and came home only to see the player who committed the own goal gunned down. Gomez had been the chosen successor to take over the national team after that World Cup but announced after Andres Escobar was killed that he wouldn't take the job. Any perspective he has, he's earned it.

Talking Friday about the announcement by Panama's players that they would play, Gomez said, "They are a group of players that love their country. They love the shirt. They have a lot of love for the people. This was a very difficult situation for the entire country."

Not being in the final, Gomez said, "It is killing us and killing the players."

The fact that a federation president could even attempt to tie an incident on the field all the way to the disgraced president of FIFA who has announced he is leaving office shows how closely CONCACAF was tied to the recent FIFA corruption scandal. Just this week Trinidad and Tobago's attorney general announced he had received a request from the United States Justice Department seeking the extradition of former CONCACAF head Jack Warner.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is supposed to be a celebration of the region's soccer. Instead, Sunday's final at Lincoln Financial Field between Mexico and Jamaica and especially Saturday's U.S.-Panama game in Chester are almost afterthoughts. The outrage already is ingrained into the event.

For its part, Panama, a little fed up with the game of soccer, partially prepared for the U.S. with a game of kickball. "I think we needed a little bit of happiness, a little bit of joy in our ranks," Garcia said later.

@jensenoffcampus