U-21 team loses in Panama, but hope is alive

The national under twenty-one football team continues its quest for international status despite being impeded by lukewarm support from the Belizean public. As the best loser from round one of the Central American under twenty-one championship, Belize finds itself paired with Panama for a final shot at the tournament in Cartejena, Colombia.

The odds in Panama last night were heavy against the Belizeans. The host team struck at the fifteenth, the thirty-fifth, the forty-sixth and at the fifty-fifth minute to grab a commanding four-zip lead.

However, sheer determination and the need to excel brought the Belize National Team back from the brink of oblivion. Bernard Linare’s goal at the sixty-fifth minute put Belize on the scoreboard while in the waning moments of the ballgame team Captain Ryan Simpson shook the cords to force a four-two final.

If the away goal interpretation is being adhered to–in which a goal scored on the road counts as two–then last night’s result could be translated into a veritable draw. That means a shout out at home could put the Belize team on top.

So, game two will decide who moves on to the Central American and Caribbean Football Championship in Colombia. It’s fire on the Barracks this Sunday, when Panama comes to Belize. Game time is four p.m. and all Belizeans are being called to suit up for the event.