Canaleros and grenadiers, as the teams from Panama and Haiti are known, signed their presence in the Copa América by beating repechage duels against Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively, on Friday in Panama City.
The local team, under orders from the Colombian Hernán Darío ‘Bolillo’ Gómez, thrashed Cuba 4-0 with scores from Gabriel Gómez, Luis Tejada (penal), Armando Cooper and Blas Pérez.
Haiti, meanwhile, surprised the ‘Soca Warriors’ with a 1-0 thanks to Pascal Millien’s goal four minutes from time.
With the victories, Panama and Haiti joined Mexico, champion of the Gold Cup 2015, United States, host of the Centennial Cup, Costa Rica, champion of the Central American Cup, and Jamaica, monarch of the Caribbean Cup, as representatives of Concacaf at the Copa América 2016.
Conmebol will have its ten national associations present, with Chile being the 2015 Copa América champion, and Argentina and Brazil in their role as the main candidates for the title.
The selected Concacaf classifieds largely reflect the usual balance of forces in the North, Central, and Caribbean region of the United States, where the United States and Mexico are the hegemonic powers, followed by Costa Rica, which tends to dominate in Central America. , while Panama is emerging as an emerging force.
The absence of Honduras stands out, a weighty team in Central America that has declined with the generational change it is undergoing and that played in the World Cups in South Africa-2010 and Brazil-2014.
In the Caribbean, Jamaica is a dominant force alongside Trinidad and Tobago, subdued by an ascendant Haiti.
The special edition of the Copa América will allow Central American and Caribbean players to face some of the main figures in world football, such as the stellar attacking trio of Spanish Barcelona: the Argentine Lionel Messi, the Uruguayan Luis Suárez and the Brazilian Neymar.
Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the United States will be the group leaders for the historic Copa América Centenario 2016, which will be played from June 3 to 26 in ten American cities.
The United States will lead Group A, while Brazil will do so in B, Mexico in C and Argentina in D.
MetLife Stadium in New York / New Jersey will host the final on June 26, while the inaugural clash will be played on June 3 between the host and a selected Group A team to emerge from the draw, scheduled for February.
The debut duel will be in Santa Clara, California, and the route of the local in the first phase covers Chicago (June 7) and Philadelphia (June 11).
Argentina will travel to Santa Clara (June 6), Chicago (June 10) and Seattle (June 14). Brazil will open its participation in Pasadena (June 4), followed by Orlando (June 8) and Foxborough (June 12). Mexico will be in Phoenix (June 5), Pasadena (June 9) and Houston (June 13).
Seattle, New York / New Jersey, Foxborough and Santa Clara will host the quarterfinals, while Houston and Chicago will host the tournament semifinalists.
The Copa América Centenario was in doubt when the corruption scandal unfolded in FIFA, after the United States Justice uncovered last May a gigantic scheme of bribes, money laundering and electronic fraud that involved several Latin American and soccer leaders world.
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