Thomas Christiansen: 'Very proud to be able to lead the Panama team'
It's official now. The Panamanian Football Federation (Fepafut) announced this Thursday that coach Thomas Christiansen signed the contract to lead the eleventh national team on the road to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Very proud to be able to lead @fepafut and grateful for this exciting opportunity, wrote Christiansen on his official Twitter account @ T9Christiansen , just minutes after the federation's confirmation.
Eager to start working to return all confidence. Go Panama! Added the coach born in Denmark, but trained as a footballer in the lower categories of FC Barcelona.
The announcement comes two weeks after Fepafut had announced Christiansen as their new coach on July 22. The federation detailed in its statement that the contract with the new coach is until December 2022.
Christiansen, 47, will be accompanied on his coaching staff by Spanish Christian Beguer Baigorri, as a physical trainer.
Begger Baigorri has been a physical trainer since 2007 and worked with Christiansen on his last team, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, in Belgium's second division.
The federation reported that in the next few days it will be announcing the arrival date of the new head coach in Panama. The European strategist is expected to land on Panamanian soil before next August 15.
The Panama team is scheduled to start its path in the Concacaf World Cup qualifying rounds in October.
Let us remember that Concacaf has already announced the new qualifying format for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the Panamanian team was placed in the first round in group D.