France and Panama produced an instant FIFA Women's World Cup Finals classic at Allianz Stadium on 2 August, the 40,498 fans present treated to a goal-fest as the French overcame the tournament debutants 6-3 in a contest which saw both teams throw caution to the wind and go on all-out attack throughout proceedings. The tone of the match was set from the kick-off, with Panama earning a free-kick some thirty-five yards from goal inside the first sixty seconds of play. Marta Cox had one idea only, and oh, how she executed it! An absolute screamer of a swerving free-kick careered into the top right-hand corner of the net some 67 seconds after referee Laura Fortunato had blown her whistle to start the match. What followed was an explosion of Panamanian delight, as the entire squad - starters and substitutes alike - engulfed their captain as they celebrated their country's first-ever goal in a World Cup Finals. And what a goal it was! Best of the tournament so far, without question! Don't be at all surprised to see it in contention for the next FIFA Puskas award, either - it fully deserves such an accolade. With so many players having entered the field of play without permission, referee Fortunato was in something of a dilemma - who to book? Wisely, she put the yellow card away, allowing joy to supersede jurisdiction, delight to prevail over discipline. This was a moment of pure happiness, and was recognised as such, no matter what the letter of the law may decree. The only ones present who didn't quite share Panama's glee were their opponents, to whom the goal was akin to a red rag to a bull. For virtually the rest of the half, France pounded away at the Panamanian goal, having reason to celebrate on four occasions, but going close on so many more. Their first attempt was struck by Kadidiatou Diani, who lashed her fifth minute drive past the post. Two minutes later, Vicki Becho raced down the right before delivering a cross which ricocheted off three Panamanian defenders before falling to Selma Bacha, who blazed a shot over the bar. French pressure continued to mount, Bacha delivering a thirteenth minute corner which invited a header from Maelle Lakrar. Deysire Salazar sliced her attempted clearance but Yenith Bailey was on hand to spare her blushes on this occasion, and did the same five minutes later to prevent Hilary Jaen from putting through her own net. An equaliser had to come, and it materialised in the twentieth minute. Lea Le Garrec retrieved a lost cause and picked out Lakrar with her cross. Salazar attempted to clear it, but succeeded only in diverting the ball into the roof of the net - an "oggie" making it 1-1. France looked to build on that quickly, Diani skying a great chance from six yards after Becho had done well to secure possession before getting to the by-line and picking out the striker with a made-to-measure cross. Panama responded to this pressure with a rare raid in the 27th minute, earning themselves another free-kick. Cox curled the ball in from the left, and Wendy Natis rose above all-comers to direct her header past the far post. France stormed downfield from the resulting goal kick and took the lead. Becho raced to the by-line once more and picked out Diani, whose backheeled effort was blocked by Bailey. Diani was quickly onto the rebound, turned and lashed it into the roof of the net, over the head of Natis who was doing her best to block the way to goal on the line. "Les Bleus" were far from satisfied with having their noses in front, however, and kept on pounding away in search of more goals. Bacha's twemty-five yard free-kick flew past the wall and narrowly past the post in the 33rd minute, while a lovely move seconds later featuring Diani, Becho and Eve Perisset resulted in a driven cross for Estelle Cascarino to capitalise upon, something she would have done but for Jaen's timely intervention. Two minutes later, a Bacha free-kick picked out

Lakrar, whose header struck the outstretched hand of Yomira Pinzon. Referee Fortunato had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot, from where Diani sent Bailey the wrong way - 3-1. The 'keeper made amends by denying Becho in the shadows of the half-time whistle after Bacha, Diani and Cascarino had combined on the left, to which Panama responded with a rare attack, with Cox winning the ball inside France's half of the pitch prompting both Riley Tanner and Emily Cedeno to race forward offering options in attack. Cox looked to pick out the latter with a chipped pass which landed just too far in front of Cedeno, but was perfectly placed as far as Pauline Peyraud-Magnin was concerned. The goalkeeper grabbed it and launched a counter-attack from which France scored their fourth goal of the game, Le Garrec letting rip from wide on the left with a thirty-five yarder arced over everyone and bounced beyond Bailey into the far corner of the net - 4-1. The Video Assistant Referee reared its ugly head six minutes after half-time, deeming that Becho's header had struck the arm of the unlucky Natis in the area. Diani completed her hat-trick from the penalty spot - 5-1. France had been peppering Panama's goal prior to this, and continued to so afterwards, Clara Mateo volleying narrowly past the post. "Las Canaleras" responded to this by adding some fresh legs to the action for the final half-hour, before Tanner was felled in the area by Elisa De Almeida's clumsy 63rd minute challenge - penalty. Pinzon was so keen to take the spot-kick that she absolutely hammered it home before referee Fortunato had blown her whistle permitting the penalty to be taken. So she had to repeat the dose - and did, making it 5-2. Soon after the penalty, Bailey produced two fine saves to maintain the scoreline, blocking at the feet of French substitute Laurina Fazer in the 68th minute before producing a superb denial to tip Cascarino's twenty yard rocket over the bar. The post came to Panama's aid soon after, much to the disappointment of Viviane Asseyi, while Bacha just failed to get on the end of Le Garrec's delightful chipped angled cross as France exuded yet more pressure in search of goals. Back came Panama, Cox lashing a twenty yarder narrowly past the post after a spirited attack featuring half the Panamanian team, whose delight was contagious in the 87th minute as they made it 5-3. Rinzon's long-range free-kick picked out Lineth Cedeno, who sent her header crashing against the bar, but reacted quickly to head home the rebound. After Amel Majri's twenty-five yard missile careered inches past the far post, Panama came desperately close to making it 5-4, with Peyraud-Magnin getting away with a poor touch as Lineth Cedeno came flying in in a desperate bid to capitalise on the error in stoppage time. There was still time for France to wrap up the scoring and quash any hopes Panama held of setting up a grandstand finish, Le Garrec and Perisset combining to deliver a cross to the near post which Becho finished off in superb fashion, darting across a defender to drill past Bailey and into the far corner of the net, wrapping up a 6-3 goal-fest in the manner this epic contest fully merited. France's victory sees them finish top of the group, while Panama exits their first Women's World Cup Finals with their heads held high, having hugely contributed to one of the all-time-great games in the storied history of this quadrennial celebration of all that is good about women's football. Panama:     Bailey; Natis (Espinosa, 62), Pinzon (booked, 66), Baltrip-Reyes, Jaen; E. Cedeno (Hernandez, 58), Montenegro (Gonzalez, 58), Salazar (L. Cedeno, 46), Quintero, Tanner (Mills, 81); Cox France:          Peyraud-Magnin; Perisset, Lakrar, De Almeida, Cascarino; Becho, Le Garrec, Geyoro (Majri, 46), Bacha (Asseyi, 46); Mateo, Diani (Fazer, 60) Referee:     Laura Fortunato (Argentina)