ENGLAND’S World Cup opponents Panama struggled to a goalless draw at home to Northern Ireland on Tuesday night.
The Group G surprise entries failed to score against a team who will not be travelling to Russia this summer.
But the real headline of the night came in the form of a police dog, who broke free from his handler and stormed the pitch, muzzle and all.
The pooch stormed the field as police desperately scrambled to chase it down in an otherwise drab evening in Panama.
Despite not being able to beat the Central Americans on the night, Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill reckons England will be “too strong” for them.
O’Neill claimed: “There’s always a chance in tournament football [but] I’ll be honest, I would be surprised if England and Belgium don’t beat them.
“Saying that, tournament football is different. If someone gets off to a bad start or a good start, that second game can be very interesting.
“You get momentum, you get confidence.
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“They’ve had a few difficult games in Europe so they’ve tried to change how they play when they play European teams.
“We’ll see how it goes but it’s going to be a tough ask for them to do anything in terms of coming through the first phase of the tournament.
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“They have a great pride playing for their country and I think when you have that you’re capable of producing results.
“[But] I think England will be too strong, to be honest.
“The tournament’s going to be tough for Panama, there’s no doubt, they’re in a tough group but their achievement is in getting there.
“They’ve everything to gain from being there – they should be very proud that they’ve managed to get there and good luck to them.”
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