ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Panama
A few years ago I watched Panama play in the Gold Cup, the competition for north and central American teams (Concacaf), and I was very impressed. So impressed that I rang my bookie and placed a bet on them to not only qualify for the World Cup but to also reach the last 16 and the last 8. Got odds of about 50/1, 20/1 and 12/1 as far as I can remember. That was way back in 2013, and they had a great tournament playing some scintillating free flowing football, beating Mexico along the way, not once but twice, and just losing to the USA 0-1 in the final. I figured as four teams make the Concacaf qualifying my bet was decent. Well unfortunately they missed out on making the play offs when beating an already qualified USA, they somehow managed to lose the game and ship two goals in injury time to lose the game 3-2. Ah well.
Well time changes, as for this years World Cup, they got their own slice of lady luck when they beat Costa Rica 2-1 with a goal two minutes from time to move them into automatic qualifying, and the fact that the USA somehow lost to Trinidad and Tobago a score that no one foresaw and resulted in the USA not going to Russia. I guess the long wait was worth it, two minutes from time to qualify for the biggest stage.
What do I know about the present team? Not a lot, most of their team play in the MLS in the US, and that this time the standard in the Concacaf region was pretty tame. It was nearly harder not to qualify (well done USA!). They are also ranked 56th in the Fifa rankings, which isn’t great, and were recently hammered 6-0 by Switzerland in a friendly. In a group with European powerhouses Belgium and England, and Tunisia, I fear it wont be a pretty World Cup for them at all. I think they will be doing very well to get even one point from the three games.
One face that does look familiar is the manager Hernán Darío Gómez, the wily Colombia has previous in the World Cup, having taking Colombia and Ecuador to the world stage on two separate occasions. One would hope that Gómez has a learnt a few tricks up his sleeve if he wants Panama to progress, but well done on getting them there in the first place.
Rafael Márquez is back for his fifth World Cup, yes his fifth! He is a wily old player, 39 to be exact, world class in his day, but I do wonder what the hell he is doing back with the team considering his two mistakes cost Mexico in the last World Cup and got them knocked out by the Dutch. Could he not have just let it go? Actually looking at the squad, it is quite an old squad, Héctor Moreno also a rock in defence (30), Andrés Guardado (31) and Giovani dos Santos (29) back in midfield and Javier Hernández (30) upfront. This will be the final swansong for a lot of the Mexican players on the world stage. 
Can they do it this time and finally make the last eight? I dont think so. For two good reasons. Germany and Brazil stand in their way of doing that. I think they have a good chance of getting out of their group, they probably will lose to Germany, but definitely have the ability to beat both Sweden and South Korea. This will set up a second round game with most likely Group E champs Brazil. And no further forward will they go. Sadly. 
The last World Cup, they were thoroughly shocking. Did the bare minimum to get out of an easy group that included a poor Ecuador, and an even worse Honduras, and lost 5-2 to an average French team. But the worst for me was when they had a piss poor Argentina on the ropes for a good twenty minutes. They basically were playing touch football and toying with them while the crowd were doing ole ole’s from the stands. But the obscene thing is that after getting the better of the Argentinian midfield, they gave up, totally. Was truly an awful sight to see. Compare a team like Iceland to a team like Switzerland and you can understand what I am talking about, men versus boys. Ok to be fair some of their players played well, Rodríguez, Shaqiri, Fernandes all having a decent tournament, but as for the rest of their prima donas, meh! 
Don’t get me wrong, they have some seriously good players. Xherdan Shaqiri is world class, without a doubt, but Jesus can someone have a good chat with him and tell him to get his finger out. One can see the attitude with his club choices, from Bayern to a relegation bound Stoke tells us all you need to know here, in it for the money. Johan Djourou, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Ricardo Rodríguez are all excellent players that work well together, but getting from defence to midfield is always a problem when you have such muck in the centre, Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami are simply woeful. Gelson Fernandes is a gem in the centre but he is definitely a confidence player and needs to be clicking with his teammates to hit form. Shaqiri plays as an inside forward, and he needs to because they struggle to score goals. Breel Embolo is a big lump of nothingness up front, I still laugh at how great a deal FC Basel did when they sold him off to Schalke, while Mehmedi, Derdiyok, Drmić and Seferović are all journeymen. So its a bit of hot and a lot of cold with this team. I find this disjointed team terribly frustrating to watch. And whats worse is that Vladimir Petković could have included a few of the Swiss champions Young Boys team in the squad. Kevin Mbabu for me should walk into that squad, even Christian Fassnacht or Steve von Bergen, but no not even one player makes the cut from the Swiss champs (as of going to press). 
I have to be honest, I dont think they actually played much decent football at that tournament, a lot of it was smash and grab stuff. But to be fair to the Icelanders, it wasn’t a tournament with a lot of quality on show. We did learn though, that this team can compete and can beat the top teams. And they will never give up, playing right to the 90th minute and beyond. Which goes to show you that a team which such a strong work ethic always have a chance. I guess that’s why we love watching them. 
They have a tough group though. Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia, three teams that are no pushovers. The only thing with Argentina is that they are notorious slow starters and Iceland might just catch them cold on the first day. After that I’d imagine they might be a bit too clever for Nigeria, and would be well able to match them physically. Last match against Croatia they might just need a draw, but it might be hard to keep Modric and co quiet for 90 minutes. I expect Iceland to go close but at the moment my head says that Argentina and Croatia will just shade it. The fact I didn’t mention any players shows that its the team and their cohesiveness that is the main thing for Iceland, but sometimes you need a top star to change a game and that’s where I feel in such a tight group could be where they come up short. But I could be wrong, and like so many people in the last Euros, Iceland just might prove us all wrong. Again! 
They also have some pretty average players, who can barely control the ball let along trap it and pass it on. I am talking about Tom Rogic, Mathew Leckie and Tomi Juric to name but a few. And then their captain Mile Jedinak looks like he is a kiddie fiddler, about as intimidating as a pink butterfly. It was a sight to see him cream his pants after beating Syria. It’s Syria for fucks sake, at home. They just about qualified for the World Cup, leaving it right to the end, falling over the line. Not only that but after getting rid of the useful fat lump Ange Postecoglou, they only fuck it up again by getting Bert van Marwijk, the man who set the rot into Dutch football. I can only imagine how much more cynical the team might be now!!
They have a tough enough group to deal with too. France and Denmark are not easy teams to play against, while Peru, like any South American team, will be oozing with skill. If Australia get more than one point I would be surprised to be honest. Not this time Australia, sorry. 
A new manager, Julen Lopetegui, but pretty much the same Spain we are used to seeing at International football tournaments these days. A team that plays lovely one touch football, with players that always impress. Ok it went a bit flat last time, but the current Spanish team are playing again with flair and confidence and they have notched up some good performances recently to put them in line as one of the main contenders for this years World Cup.
In a relatively easy group, you would imagine they would take care of Morocco and Iran without too much bother. It just is the small matter of can they beat Portugal in what on paper are two relatively similar teams only separated in the fact that Spain don’t have a star quality striker like Ronaldo. It will be a tight game and a bit too early for me to call at the moment. I might go with Portugal if pushed. But to be honest I can see a pathway for Spain to go far in the competition even if they finish first or second. Russia/Uruguay are waiting in round two, both manageable, France and Argentina in the last eight, again both can be beaten by Spain when they play to their full potential. If they can get that far in the competition then it is likely they would play either Brazil or Germany in the semis. This is where I think their journey would end. Good but not good enough, but to be fair I think a last four position would be considered a success for a fresh man in charge and the heralding in of a new era of Spanish football. 
Ok they haven’t done a whole lot since 1994, and are back at the world stage for the first time since 2006, but you could argue that their group is definitely manageable. Russia dont look that great and Egypt with a Salah that is carrying an injury are beatable. Uruguay would cause them too much trouble, but Saudi Arabia must definitely be targeting 4 points minimum to have any chance of getting into the next round. 
In the ancient ruins of Macchu Picchu, Peru, thousands go every year to experience the spiritual lands of the ancients in the hope they to can drink some special beer from the brewery Backus y Johnston, at the the seat of the Inca empire. Using pure mountain water sourced from the nearby Andes this beer was founded in 1911. Ok not quite way back in time, but good enough for me and for the general masses who have made it Peru’s number one beer. 
On October 1, 1908, Ernesto Günther, and a group of investors, founded the Cervecera Alemana in the ancient city of Cusco. Their bottled brew proved a hit. Over time they changed their name to reflect local traditions, increased production and grew in popularity. By 2000, Backus and Johnston, the largest brewery in Peru, came a calling and took over the company. 
On taste, oh its not great, tasteless, I am not getting anything substantial at all. A slight taste of the barely and caramel, on the initial taste, but that’s basically it, flavourless and has no bite to it with only the slightest bit of an aftertaste. Very dry in the mouth too. 
“Fosters, the Australian for lager” or so they say, but is it really? I am sure we all have heard the stories at this stage that Aussies dont actually drink Fosters. Its like a funny weird game the company play with the public, the more people cotton onto this “fact” the more they flex their “Australian credentials” via advertisements and sponsorship of all things Australian. 
With this initial success, the brothers sold the company to make a quick buck and the company eventually ended up in the hands of the Carlton & United Breweries company. These days it is owned by the international brewing giant AB InBev, and its biggest market is in the UK (second only to Carling), distributed by Heineken International who own the European rights to the brand (SABMiller for the US and Molson in Canada) 
If I was surprised about the look, then I was shocked with the smell. There was none, NONE! Completely odorless. Pretty neat trick I think.
For sure Robert Lewandowski is the one to watch, but I have never been convinced about him. Yes he bangs in the goals in the Bundesliga but in my mind he has never performed at the big stage, be that an international tourno or the latter stages of the CL. He was simply atrocious in the last Euros, bad form and an ever worse attitude. As captain that seeps into the rest of the team and what I see any time Poland plays is a cynical team and doesn’t offer much in the way of excitement or free flowing football. If a team can get Poland’s back up then they can definitely beat them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Senegal in the opening game could cause them all sorts of problems.