MIAMI, Florida – The history books will show that the United States won the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship and that the three teams that qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup were the U.S., Canada and Jamaica.
But arguably the lasting image of the tournament will be the play of Panama GK Yenith Bailey.
Just 17 years old at the time, Bailey put on a performance to remember for the Canaleras, beginning with a clean sheet in an opening 3-0 win versus Trinidad and Tobago.
However, it was in the next match that Bailey got the attention of everyone. Even though Panama fell 5-0 to the U.S., Bailey was the talk of the night as she delivered a slew of top-notch saves that earned the congratulations and respect of the reigning World Cup champions.
That set up a pivotal showdown with Mexico in the final group stage match with a place in the knockout round on the line, and again Bailey would shine with her second clean sheet of the tournament in a 2-0 Panama victory.
A defeat to Canada in the semifinals and a penalty shootout loss to Jamaica in the Third-Place Match sent Panama to the Intercontinental Playoff against Argentina, in which they just fell short of their 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup objective.
But Bailey was a revelation, and took home the Golden Glove award as the Best Goalkeeper during the tournament, plus cementing a place in the tournament’s Best XI.
Even more remarkable is that she accomplished the distinct feat just one year after switching positions from midfielder to goalkeeper.
Currently with Club Libertad/Limpeno in Paraguay, the former Tauro youth product actually started her career as a midfielder and had only one year of goalkeeping experience when she had her breakout performance at the 2018 CWC.
Bailey followed her 2018 CWC up with another solid display in the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, including a rare triple-save in Panama’s opening match against Costa Rica.
Now 19 years old, Bailey is poised to represent Panama at the international level again this summer in the 2020 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Panama and Costa Rica this August.
