Carrasquilla: “We want to win Nations League and Gold Cup”

MIAMI, Florida – Following Panama’s historic qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, a new generation of players have been introduced into the national team fold and one of its leaders is 24-year-old MF Adalberto Carrasquilla.

Carrasquilla made his Panama National Team debut in April 2018, but it was a little more than three years later when he really began to turn heads with a strong performance in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, starting all three matches for Panama.

Two of those contests were played in Houston, where he got the attention of local side Houston Dynamo, who then brought in Carrasquilla in August of that year. Since then, Carrasquilla has become a mainstay in the starting XI of both the Dynamo and Panama.

Now, a very exciting summer awaits Carrasquilla with a chance to win a first ever Concacaf title for Panama at either the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League Finals next week in Las Vegas or at this summer’s Gold Cup.

“It would be very important for us to win a first title, it would be wonderful to be champion since this is football and few are the times when it can be celebrated like this,” said Carrasquilla in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.

“Many people try to do it, so we are trying to win both the Nations League and the Gold Cup. We have to go in strong and work hard game-to-game and always with the objective in mind,” added Carrasquilla.

Panama secured their place in the CNLF thanks to a 1-0 win at Costa Rica on the final matchday of the 2022-23 CNL group stage, in which Carrasquilla appeared in all four matches for the Canaleros. That strong defensive effort against Costa Rica now gives the Canaleros a crack at Canada in the CNLF semifinals.

“The Canada game will be a very tough game. We already saw that in World Cup Qualifying they were number one, but I have a lot of confidence in my teammates in the national team. We hope to have everyone available and make the most of that game in our favor,” said Carrasquilla.

Following the CNLF, Carrasquilla will return to the Gold Cup for a second time and will take on a very competitive Group C, which includes fellow Central American sides Costa Rica and El Salvador. The former Tauro man says he is relishing the opportunity of another Gold Cup against those opponents.

“I think it’s the strongest group in the Gold Cup. We have to go game by game to try to show that we want to go for the Cup, so we have to do things in the best way possible in the group and try to finish first.

“The Gold Cup is so special because for all of the Central American teams, we are all together in one tournament, there are many rivalries and winning the Gold Cup for us would mean so much to us since we have never won it. It is one of things that motivates us the most,” said Carrasquilla.

On an individual level, Carrasquilla has made great strides in his game in the last year, thanks in large part to the arrival of legendary Mexico midfielder Hector Herrera to the Dynamo in the middle of the 2022 season.

“[Adalberto] had this nervous energy and almost defaulted to Hector at first. He would get the ball and pass it to Hector and stand there and wonder what does Hector want me to do,” said Dynamo General Manager Pat Onstad in a recent interview with Concacaf.com. “But Adalberto has realized that Hector can help him and he can help Hector. You could see that relationship progress and get better in preseason, which is when it started to blossom.”

Whether it is learning how to change the pace or tempo of a match, or just help maintain control of possession in midfield, Carrasquilla says he has learned invaluable skills from the 33-year-old Herrera.

“He’s a player with great experience, he offers me so much support and it’s really great,” said Carrasquilla of Herrera. “It’s a pleasure to be able to play with him. I think our styles of play are pretty similar, we both like to play with the ball, and on the field, we have a very good connection. I’ve learned from him how to influence a team with a winning mentality, that we can beat any team,” said Carrasquilla.

Serving as the centerpiece in midfield for Panama and a year’s worth of tutelage from a decorated player like Herrera, Carrasquilla is poised to lead his nation to new heights this summer in Concacaf competition and try to make even more history for Panamanian football.