India held to 1-1 draw by Panama in Bengaluru; Williams and Jamil address media
India drew 1-1 with 44th-ranked Panama at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on 25 September 2026 in a FIFA international friendly, with Ryan Williams giving the hosts the lead before Omar Valencia equalised in the second half.
India controlled much of the first half and opened the scoring in the 41st minute when Ryan Williams converted after timing his run; Panama responded after the interval through a long-range strike from Omar Valencia and both defences kept the score at 1-1.
Head coach Khalid Jamil praised the squad’s work and belief after the match, saying: “Yes, everybody played very good, that is a good point. All the players and coaches worked very hard. We have that belief, we must continue like that.” He also pointed to the fans and team positivity as factors: “Yes, you can say like this, it was the best match. I think because of the support of the fans, the support of the team, the positivity, that is amazing. We are looking forward to repeating this result again.” Jamil added a call for continued backing: “Yes, we need this kind of performance every time. Because with this type of performance, if we do then everything will be smooth. I am talking about the players, I want to mention again, because of them we got this result. Because I have seen them, I don’t have to give much information or anything, they are very mature. I just want to say that they need more support and positivity, more support.”
Player of the match Ryan Williams described scoring in front of the West Block Blues as personally meaningful: “It was really special for me; this is where I started my career in Indian football. For me to score in front of all the fans, but especially the West Block Blues and the BFC fans, very special. Like the coach said, for us it’s all about togetherness, we have a really good group here. You can see that on the pitch, I don’t think there was one player there that didn’t give everything on the pitch. And that’s what we need to do.”
On his tactical role and the match’s difficulty, Williams said: “Yeah, it was difficult. I think, like I said, we are all mature players, and you have to see what the situation is. We set out for me to play more as a 10, but as the game unraveled, that’s not what it needed. I think me and Manvir were working really well, one shot, one long, until we scored the first goal. But it was difficult. Our job was to try and hold the ball up and wait for everybody to come.”
Williams outlined how the team built momentum through individual actions and transitional play: “We knew what our best attributes are. And we did that. What we tried to focus on was each individual action. Not the whole 90 minutes, but each individual action. If you can try and win that action to the best of your ability, then it just slowly adds and adds and builds and builds and builds. And as you can see from the start of the game to the end of the game, we probably could have scored more. We were really happy with how we took the ball back to front. And we held it there, like you said. And it’s just a performance that we should all be really proud of. We had belief from the start. It’s been a really good camp in terms of everyone’s been very free, very happy, very high-spirited. So, all we need to do is maintain that when the camps keep coming. And I think we’re definitely on the right path.”
Reflecting on his goal and the build-up, Williams credited team movement and training work: “I think that’s from a personal note. That’s one thing. As I said, going back to the attributes, that’s one of my attributes is timing the run. For every five rounds, you may get one. But lucky enough today, I made one run, I got one ball, and I managed to slide it past the keeper.” He added: “But I can’t score that goal without Manvir coming short and pulling that defender out. We did work on certain things in training, and that was one of them. It seemed, coming out, like I should put the ball down the side. So, credit to everybody.” On the squad atmosphere he concluded: “I think, as I said, because of the play we got this result, there is no doubt about it. And second thing, everybody there enjoying their practice, enjoying being together. There is no negativity at all. That is a plus point, I think.”