GABRIEL Torres is a striker that is an emerging danger man for Panama.

He will seek to prove today that his five goals that made him the joint top-scorer in the recent CONCACAF Gold was no fluke.

No doubt, the wily, busybody frontman will prove a handful for Jamaica’s defenders when they meet in a bottom-of-the-table clash in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaign in Panama City today at 9:00 pm.

Torres, 24, was the main partner for his elder teammate Blas Perez during the recent Gold Cup, but he outshone the latter as a more spot-on striker.

Torres, who signed with Colorado Rapids, was the main attacking thrust for Panama throughout the tournament. He notched the three goals the ‘Canaleros’ scored in the group play, including two in the 2-1 win over Mexico. He then added two more in the quarter-final 6-1 win over Cuba.

He is widely regarded as the top prospect from Panama and in 2007 he travelled twice to England to train with Manchester United and once in Spain with Valencia CF. On his second flight to Manchester he got injured on the second day of practice and had to return home.

Torres, with seven goals in 37 appearances for Panama, could be hitting the high notes at the right time, having scored five of those goals in the last six matches.

At the Gold Cup, though he didn’t score in the semi-final and the final, he proved throughout to be an elusive player that defenders found difficult to keep track of and no wonder he bears the nickname of Fantasmita (Little Ghost). And when he happened to confront them, his “quick of feet” was often too much for them.

— SW