What a game.

Mexico defeated Panama 2-1 to advance to the 2015 Gold Cup finals. They won the game, but it wasn't without criticism. Many soccer fans are accusing CONCACAF of "favoring" Mexico to win this tournament.

Quick recap of what happened

It all began in the 25th minute. Luis Tejada of Panama received a red card and was ejected from the game after going up for a ball and colliding with Francisco Rodriguez. From that point on, Panama had to play a man down, 10 on 11. Fans sprayed the field with beer bottles and debris in dissatisfaction with the call. The game proceeded after a delay. Despite being a man down, Panama still took the lead in the 57th minute of play thanks to a goal from team captain Román Torres.

Here's where things got rowdy. In the 89th minute of play, Mexico shot the ball towards the net, and Torres was pushed on the ball and ground by a Mexican defender. Torres was called for a penalty kick foul because of a supposed hand ball. However he never touched the ball, and he was pushed to the ground. Andrés Guardado took the penalty kick and scored. After that a 20 minute delay ensued because of fans throwing things onto the field. Panama even refused to go back on the field for quite some time.

Eventually play resumed, and Mexico won in extra time from (another) Guardado penalty kick. Mexico wins 2-1. Panama's hopes of winning a Gold Cup were crippled because of two penalty kicks, one in the final minute, and another in extra time.

Reaction

The negative backlash after the event has been extremely high from fans, media outlets and former players. This obviously isn't the first time FIFA has been accused of something sketchy. Following the game, Panama players help up a banner calling CONCACAF "corrupt thieves." During halftime Panamanian great and former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera joined the team in the locker room to give some advice. Even he couldn't anticipate how this game would end.

Panama head coach Hernán Darío Gomez also had his choice words. "This is a big robbery. It was robbery at gunpoint. It's a very sad thing to say. We were robbed," Gomez said. Even Mexican coach Miguel Herrera agreed. "The referee was not good. "The first penalty, it wasn't a penalty, but sometimes it's controversial and it goes in your favor. It's not our team. It's the referee" Herrera said.

Mexico has now scored three total goals in this playoff knockout stage. Incredibly, all three goals have been penalty kick makes by Guardado. Two of those three Guardado penalty kicks have come in extra time.

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Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1