Mexico v Panama: Herrera unhappy ahead of semi-final

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera was left unhappy after his team shared a flight to Atlanta with CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final opponents Panama.

A delay of several hours for their flight from New Jersey led to the nine-time champions sharing a flight with Panama.

They arrived later than anticipated ahead of Wednesday’s clash at the Georgia Dome, where a team will book their spot in the final against either United States or Jamaica.

There were no ill feelings between the nations on the plane, and sharing a flight was of no concern to Herrera.

However, he criticised USA for what he feels has been disorganisation throughout the continental competition.

“What surprises me is that Mexico is the one that gets them [CONCACAF money], which makes the stadiums full,” Herrera said.

“The whole process has treated us different from the other teams. We’ve paid a lot.”

Mexico head into the clash on the back of a controversial 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Sunday, when they were awarded a penalty in the dying stages of extra time.

Whether star attacker Giovani Dos Santos, who is suffering from an adductor injury, is available still remains uncertain.

Herrera is already without Yasser Corona (knee).

Andres Guardado scored the late spot-kick against Costa Rica to take his tally for the tournament to three goals, equal with team-mate Oribe Peralta but behind Clint Dempsey (six).

Panama reached the last four after a marathon penalty shoot-out win over Trinidad and Tobago in the quarter-finals.

Hernan Dario Gomez’s men are yet to win in regulation, after drawing three group games and needing spot-kicks in their last outing.

Panama, who are two-time runners-up at the tournament, have only managed to score four goals.

They have also only beaten Mexico twice in the 13 meetings between the nations.