Hexy 2013, Round 10: The Night the Lights Went Out in Panama

I'm not even sure where to begin, but I'll try.

We arrived in Panama City on Sunday night; we're staying in a hotel in Albrook, near the Panama Canal. Monday brought a day of sightseeing at the Canal and around the city, including a brewpub in Casco Viejo.

That brings us to Tuesday: game day.

When we awoke, it was raining pretty heavily. We decided to stay in and watch Ghana v Egypt in the first leg of the CAF qualifying playoffs. Unfortunately, that ended badly for Bob Bradley's Pharoahs: 6-1 to Ghana. I can't imagine the Egyptians being able to turn that around in the return leg.

We then finally got ourselves ready and headed down to the city for pre-game libations. The American contingent was only thirty or so; not as small as Honduras, but certainly smaller than the rest. Getting into Estadio Rommel Fernández was easy, and we had our own section—far too big for us—in the upper deck on the west side.

It seemed that a lot of the American fans were of the same two minds as me: we never want to watch the US lose, but we liked the idea of Mexico having to stay home at the expense of Panama.

There were pockets of empty seats throughout the stadium; the "Fucking Chileno" by Mexico on Friday likely kept the attendance down. Still, those that showed were up for the task; the atmosphere was electric. The rhythms of the various drumming groups were infectious, and the cheap cervezas added to our enjoyment.

Panama opened the scoring, and the American section was... relieved. We really did want la Marea Roja to win. From there, eyes were torn between the field action and twitter updates from the game in San Jose. I definitely got caught up in the occasion: as we went down to refresh our beers, I bought a tray of twelve beers (for $15), and headed down to the section below us where there was a drumming crew. I gave them the beers, and they were very happy.

When the game entered second-half stoppage time, Panama held a 2-1 lead; at the same time, Costa Rica was leading Mexico by the same scoreline. I wanted to party deep into the night with the entire stadium. We were sure that Panama City—perhaps all of Panama—was about to become the biggest party on the planet.

...and then it was gone. Graham Zusi and Aron Johannsson scored within a minute of each other to give the US a 3-2 victory. The party was gone; in its place, the stadium was now a mausoleum. In the American section, there was very little joy; sure, our team had won, but at what cost? The US had reached into the hearts of a nation, tore out its heart, and didn't even have the decency to hold it aloft after.

The way from the stadium was filled with grief. A number of Panamanians that spoke English wished the US luck in the World Cup, but the sadness was palpable. In the midst of the emotion, I traded my scarf (see photo above).

You see, I bought that scarf at my first US game: a qualifier against Mexico in Columbus, September 2005. On one side, "UNITED STATES"; on the other, "RECUERDEN COREA", or "remember Korea"—the original dos a cero. At every game since, it was no question which scarf I would wear. That scarf served me well through eighteen games, including two trips to Azteca, a friendly in Amsterdam, and the entirety of the 2013 Hex. But I was so caught up in the situation, I punctuated my Hex adventure by trading that scarf with a Panamanian fan.

Once I'm home, I'll do some more writing to try and sum up the experience of traveling to all of the games of the Hex; in the meantime, it's one more day in Panama, then home for a rest.