Last night Panama officially reached the first World Cup finals in their history. Accordingly, Panama President Juan Carlos Varela has declared today a national holiday.
In a series of tweets, Varela gave public and private sector workers the day off, and canceled classes for students.
Here's Varela's full quote:
“The voice of the people has been heard; celebrate this historic day for Panama. Tomorrow is a national holiday. It is a historic day for the country. Tomorrow will be free for the public and private sector workers. On a national holiday, also classes are suspended at the country’s private and public schools, celebrate family”
Here's a picture of Varela signing the decree:
Decretos firmados, ustedes se lo merecen, Viva la sele, Viva Panama!!!! pic.twitter.com/kmyW7GkWHp
— Juan Carlos Varela (@JC_Varela) October 11, 2017
Panama has attempted to qualify for the World Cup every cycle since 1978, but has not been successful until now.
It's OK to be happy for Panama and sad for the United States at the same time. Obviously they take their soccer seriously down there, and it will be fun to see how they do in Russia.
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