Panama call CONCACAF 'thieves' after scandal in Gold Cup semi-final defeat to Mexico

They certainly had cause for complaint after valiantly battling with 10 men for the majority of the match before falling victim to a hotly disputed late penalty which was taken after 101 minutes.

Panama lost Luis Tejada to a red card after 25 minutes but took the lead through a Roman Torres header and held out until 89 minutes in Atlanta.

But then disaster struck: Torres was very harshly penalised for an alleged handball in the box by American referee Mark Geiger.

All hell broke loose as the Panama players furiously protested, even seeming ready to walk off the pitch, and fans then threw projectiles at them. The two teams also almost came to blows as the tension rose.

When things calmed down, 11 minutes after the penalty had been first awarded, Andres Guardado slotted home from the spot.

Not that he celebrated, mind, because he said the penalty "left me with a bitter taste".

Guardado scored another penalty again in extra-time after a rather more acceptable award to send Mexico through to a final showdown with Jamaica, who defeated USA. Mexico, incidentally, also won a penalty at the end of extra-time in their quarter-final win over Costa Rica.

When Panama eventually made it back to their dressing room, they hastily put together a banner which showed their displeasure. It read: “CONCACAF corrupt thieves”.

And this headline from Panama newspaper Critica made their feelings pretty clear. ‘Arbitro’ means ‘referee’ in Spanish. And, er, well you know the rest (apologies for the bad language).