Defender Roman Torres from La Equidad of Colombia and Alberto Blanco from Maccabi Netanya of Israel joined the Panama soccer team in order to train for the upcoming games against Jamaica and Grenada that are taking place next week (June 7th and 10th, respectively).

“I am back in Panama City and I have a slight pain on my left ankle but it is nothing serious. I will fully train on Wednesday so as to be fit for the next week´s games”, said Roman Torres. On the other hand, Alberto Blanco stated he expects to adapt quickly to the time zone shifting and help the Panamanian team to beat their Caribbean rivals. He also mentioned that the purpose of these friendly games is to get ready for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009.

Panamanian players did some stretching prior to training. Then, they worked out for about 30 minutes under the supervision of physical trainer Julio Toral. Also, goalkeeper coach Donaldo Gonzalez focused on the two Panamanian goalies Luis Mejia and Kevin Melgar and encourage them to improve their reactions as goalkeeper. In overall, Panama´s coach Gary Stempel is doing a great job with his fellows.

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There were a lot of expectations for this friendly soccer game between Panama and Argentina. The Panamanian soccer team played very well in the first half of the match against the argentinian squad despite of the pressure that the argentinians were putting on the ball. At the 27th minute, striker Matias De Federico scored the first goal for the South American team. However, two minutes later the Panamanian Nelson Barahona silenced the stadium crowd by scoring a long distance goal. Maradona´s facial expression changed dramatically after seeing his goalie being beaten. Things got level and the game turned to be more interesting. Just before the end of the first half, striker Gonzalo Bergessio headed the ball into the net after a corner kick taken by Matias De Federico.
 
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It is party time in Panama!  Margarita Henriquez is the Panamanian girl in the semi finals for Latin American Idol.  Together with Maria Jose, Costa Rica, Sandra, Peru, and Pako, Mexico, is waiting for tonight’s results to know who is going to be in the final of Latin American Idol.  If you are not familiar with this show you need to know that it’s a spin-off of the popular British show POP IDOL, with the same creator Simon Fuller.  Everyone in Panama is ready to Party with Margarita!

Last night many Panamanian reunited at People to enjoy a night of live music with Ness, Nenita Style, Akin, Makano, Comando Tiburón, Master Flow, Freddy Sky and others that were raising money for our Margarita.  Also, t-shirts, and hats were sold for Margarita.  And later everyone enjoy the presentation of the eight concert live in People, where Margarita again put Panama’s colors high.  Hands down, our girl is the best all around contestant; clear pitch, great voice projection, and a charisma that puts the Panamanian girl ahead of the game. Even her parents organized a party to watch the show with family and friends supporting the wild heart girl.

Sexy Margarita comes from Los Santos, the birthplace of Panama’s folklore and well known for its Carnaval.  In her veins runs the taste from music and entertainment.  She is the front woman of Ritmos Santeños, a Panamanian folk’s music group.   During her participation in Latin Idol, Margarita has transformed from Panamanian girl to sexy Latin woman in front of millions of people watching her sing.  Not only has she learned to use her voice even better but also her presence in scene and her attitude changed.  Margarita is a wild woman inside who sings from the heart and always leaves her audience happy.  Even the judges can be seen in standing ovation with the public when she is singing.

Tonight, two contestants are going home while other two will be going to next week final.  Would Margarita be one of them?  Is she the next Latin American Idol?

Stay tune for more!

Alright, so every weekend I try to go to different places so I can suggest new places for you to hang out. Last weekend I tried People Ultra lounge! Yes, it is a night club located in the very well known Calle Uruguay (Uruguay Street) in Panama City, Panama. I said well know because it is the street for you to visit when you are in the mood for any kind of wild party.

Anyways, it was hard for my friends and me to get in. We were in an endless line until we finally get inside. But, the wait was very much worth it. Why do I say that? The night club is unbelievably well decorated. It’s a two story night club and the music is very varied. You can listen to a lot of Panamanian Reggaeton, salsa, rock, techno, r & b, hip-hop, merengue, etc. That night, it was mainly a reggae night. They had a special guest, Panamanian reggae singer: “El Rookie”. The show was a little short, but extremely enjoyable. My friends and I danced all night long to all the songs the DJ was playing and, of course, we drink. We were actually hanging in the bar area. The bar is pretty awesome, but the bartenders were spectacular. There was one specific bartender that was flipping bottles around and dancing to the music, it was really great. Anyways, we ordered some drinks to start setting the mood for the night, but ended up buying a bottle of vodka.

It was the first time I went to this night club. People is a very nice place to hang out; it’s very safe (for being a night club); the staff is pretty courteous (could be better); the drinks are really good; but, the best thing of all is their live music or just music in general. Of course, you are the one who always set the mood for your own Latin party, so make sure you go with plenty of friends to hang out with, just like I did. I felt very comfortable in that place, believe it or not, I got to meet some new people there and hopefully I’ll see them again when I go back to this night club. We left the night club around 6am the next day; the party was just too good to finish it early. We were wild girls that night; we finished the whole bottle of vodka and kept on drinking. I, actually, WE had lots of fun! I’ll come back to this place… maybe sooner than I think.

I know for a fact they’ll presenting Panamanian rock band “los rabanes” this Friday, so if you’re a fond of them, don’t miss this weekend party at PEOPLE ULTRA LOUNGE!

The Santiago Festivities is one of the most awaited events in Panama. The whole country waited anxiously to travel to Santiago of Veraguas where the Apostle Santiago festivities were held this past weekend.

As a good Panamanian tradition, the Santiago festivities are a religious event in honor of Apostle Santiago but that ends in a huge celebration. The religious activities ended on July 25, but the party didn’t start until July 27 and ended yesterday July 30. It was a long weekend full of music and people of different regions enjoying this very expected party that falls into the mid-year vacations in Panama.

In these parties you can appreciated all kinds of traditional and modern events, such as: folkloric parades, bullfighting, discotheques, mobile units, etc. The Santiago festivities have a little bit of everything for everyone’s likes and tastes, yes, tastes, because you can eat any type of foods, especially Panamanian foods that you can only find in our festivities, such as the well known “carnes en palito” (steak on a stick) and the very popular “platanitos” (fried plantains).

The committee that organized this year’s festivities thought in everything, so you can find activities for each person, from kids to adults, to people that don’t like the noise at all. You can admire folk activities on one side of the downtown area, and if you walk a little further you will arrive to where all the people with young and adventurous souls go: the discotheques and mobile units. They are ready to party and dance ‘til sun rise and until their last breathe.

Definitely, this is an event that no one wants to miss every year and that this year, like many others, ended with total success. So now you know, if you didn’t go to this years’ party in Santiago, you can´t miss next year’s party!