The captain of the women’s team Panama, Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Quintana, dI said this Monday that the team was quickly adapting to the Australian winter and had their sights set on Brazil, their first World Cup opponents Australia-New Zealand 2023.
“The team arrived well prepared in many respects because the camp in Arab It helped us a lot, we trained at practically 2,000 meters above sea level and that helped us to have a bigger physical base, now we will try to adapt them to a (very cold) climate that is not usual for us,” said the coach.
The Panamanians had their first training session on Monday. They worked on Adelaide United Training Centre with temperatures between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius, typical of winter in the south Australia.
“It’s a climate we haven’t played in in the two years I’ve been there (as national team coach) and we’ll have to adapt to them as soon as possible,” said the coach.
On the atmosphere around the group in Adelaide ahead of their World Cup debut, Quintana he said it was “different for everyone”.
“Because we arrived at the airport and we can see the colors of the World Cup, we can see the World Cup logo, we can see the photos of the players as part of the decoration of the whole city, I think it already makes us see what we have done and what we have done,” he said.
Precisely the Government of Adelaide, the working base of the Panamanian team in Australia, threw them a welcome party on Monday morning.
Apart from fun and games, the coach said, the mind of every player is in a duel against Brazil and He recognized they know the kind of demand they will face in their World Cup debut on July 24.
“We have to work double, triple, every day harder. We know the team we will face (Brazil). We were also able to analyze it within these weeks. To raise the players’ awareness of what is at stake,” he said.
Quintana stated that Panama is a team that “knows how to suffer”, the players understand that they are playing world and will leave to compete “like any other of the 31 teams that will be at the World Cup.”
“Right now, it’s just a job to raise awareness about them, and a little bit about physicality, so that we can get to the first game well,” he said.
Source: Panama America
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