Gomez hails ‘beautiful’ England

Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez said his side was beaten by “a beautiful team” after Harry Kane’s hat-trick inspired England’s 6-1 win over the Group G minnows in Nizhny Novgorod.

England scored from five of their seven shots on target in the first half to put themselves out of sight by the interval and Gomez said England’s efficiency left his players shaken.

Two of Kane’s goals came from the penalty spot and John Stones netted twice from set-pieces, while Jesse Lingard hit the top corner with a dipping shot from outside the penalty area before Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s effort deflected off Kane’s heels for England’s sixth.

The result left Gomez’s side unable to progress beyond the group stage at their debut World Cup, but he was full of praise for their opponents.

“We could have conceded more,” he said. “We tried to play against England but there’s a huge difference between the two teams.

“We tried to keep playing in a very orderly fashion because otherwise it wouldn’t have been six goals – it would have been more.”

Gomez agreed with the decisions that led to the two first-half penalties against his side, saying: “Yes, they were penalties and fouls.

“England are so practical – it’s a beautiful team. In terms of playing they actually scored from set-pieces and didn’t really penetrate our box.

“I spoke to a colleague at half-time and said, ‘I suddenly feel scared, we can’t reduce the gap so let’s try to stop England scoring more goals’.”

Having suffered two defeats and conceded nine goals in their first two games, Panama’s first appearance at a World Cup has been a steep learning curve for Gomez and his players.

The 62-year-old said he hoped the spectacle of appearing at the tournament would lead to improvements in the country’s football infrastructure.

“Panama is like a young child in football,” said Gomez. “Other teams don’t really decipher our style of play. There were three or four opportunities where we didn’t finish properly; England came to our box seven times and scored six.

“We have to make huge improvements in all aspects of our team and play and also our facilities. We lack everything.

“I told my players that everyone is going to analyse that final score but we have to think about the work we are doing. I’m happy we didn’t lose our style or our ideas.

“We didn’t look chaotic on the field, we’ve made progress, but we have to improve so much.”