Panama friendly called off

Build-up matchWednesdayDusseldorf vs Junior Wasps THE Junior Wasps have called off their friendly with Panama’s U-17 side Bonnie Mugabe reports. Like Rwanda, Panama is also fine-tuning herself for the upcoming Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico. The South Americans are drawn in Group E alongside Burkina Faso, Germany and Ecuador and Junior Wasps head coach Richard Tardy thought a trial match against them would go a long way in gauging the team’s aptitude. However, the two sides failed to agree on the venue. Panama wanted the game to be played in their backyard (Panama City) which would interfere with the Junior Wasps’ preparations. “We asked them to play the game in the USA (since that’s the venue for our final preparation stint) but they turned it down so we had no choice but to call it off,” a disappointed Tardy said. Rwanda is drawn in Group C and opens her campaign against England on June 19. They then play Uruguay on June 22 before winding up with Canada (who are currently camped in Florida, USA) on June 25. After tomorrow’s friendly against Dusseldorf’s U-18 side, the team will fly to Phoenix, USA for their final training stint. They qualified for the World Cup after reaching the final of the Africa U-17 Championship. The other African teams to qualify include Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville and Ivory Coast. Like Rwanda (CAF), Canada (CONCACAF) and Uruguay (CONMEBOL) finished runner-up in their respectively qualifying zones while England made it to the European championship semi-final only to lose to eventual champions-the Netherlands. The top two teams in each of the six groups and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16. The tournament, which runs from June 18 to July 10, will be played in seven cities; Guadalajara, Monterrey, Morelia, Torreon, Pachuca, Queretaro and Mexico City. Ends

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Panama friendly called off