Norwich City: Sour Nations League final end for Cordoba..
Jose Cordoba is ‘hurting’ but the Norwich City defender should not be a scapegoat for Panama’s Nations League final heartbreak.
The 23-year-old centre back conceded a costly stoppage time penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Sunday when he handled a free kick that appeared to be going out of play in the 90th minute.
Fulham’s Raul Jimenez scored his second goal of the game to seal the win, but Panama head coach, Thomas Christiansen, was quick to defend Cordoba from the inevitable criticism.
“He’s hurt, of course, but these are the moments when people are going to look to make a scapegoat of someone to blame for this defeat. If they have to look for someone, let it be me,” he said, speaking in his post-match media. “Jose in that situation had no intention of touching the ball with his hand, and it was just bad luck.
“That can happen to anyone. But it was such an important situation with no time to react.
Esto pasó en el México v Panamá por la Nations League de la CONCACAF. El penal que hizo Córdoba a los últimos minutos… 🫣 pic.twitter.com/sPyvQqKjbe
— Marca Zonal 📊 (@Marca_Zonal) March 24, 2025
“He doesn’t deserve any criticism that comes. He had a good tournament and you can see that progression, that he is now playing, and playing well for his club Norwich, he’s gaining confidence and he is giving that confidence to his other team mates.
“We mustn’t forget that he is a very young player who despite his youth has a lot of character.
“We’re not going to knock this player down, we’re going to lift him up. Those of us around him will support him. I understand that there are always culprits to be found.
“The penalty came from a totally unnecessary situation. I don’t want to say that in other countries they certainly wouldn’t call this a penalty, but we always have to learn and be self-critical. We said in the changing room we have some good months ahead of us.
“We have qualifying for the World Cup and the Gold Cup, and everyone is excited for this tournament, and we have proved that we can achieve some good results.”
Cordoba has made 26 Championship appearances in his debut club season in England, after he became the first signing of the Johannes Hoff Thorup era.
The left-sided defender had earned a recall to the City line up in recent games, following Callum Doyle’s suspension, but was punished for an error in possession in the 2-1 Championship defeat at Bristol City ahead of the international window.
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