PANAMA CITY, Panama – Unlike most clubs across the CONCACAF region that started their preseasons in the last week, Tauro of Panama has been hard at work for nearly a month as it gears up for the 2018 Panamanian Apertura and the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
The 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinalists convened back on June 11 to begin preseason under the direction of new Head Coaches Juan Carlos Garcia and Carlos Canadas.
The club has also made a pair of savvy signings, beginning with the arrival of DF Alexander Amut. The 22-year-old Colombian spent the previous season with Deportes Tolima in his native country and also formed part of the Under-20 team at Liga MX side Queretaro after having developed through the youth system at Colombia’s Deportivo Cali.
Amut will join forces at center back with Gustavo Chara, another former Deportivo Cali product that played in all four of Tauro’s 2018 SCCL matches, plus 17 appearances with the club during the 2018 Clausura.
The two Cafeteros have already demonstrated great chemistry in preseason in a 4-2 win over Sporting San Miguelito on June 23 followed by a 0-0 draw three days later against the Panama Under-20 team.
Up front Tauro will also have a Colombian flavor with the signing of FW Andres Balanta, a 21-year-old attacker that spent last season at Jaguares de Cordoba in Colombian football and is also a product of the Deportivo Cali youth system.
Tauro will depart Panama on July 12 for a brief preseason tour of Costa Rica where they will play local sides UCR, Saprissa, Santos de Guapiles and Cartagines before returning home on July 16.
Tauro open the 2018 Apertura on July 27 versus San Francisco before kicking off its SCL campaign at home on August 2 against Real Espana of Honduras. The two sides will then meet in the second leg in San Pedro Sula on August 9.