Bulls Abroad: Murillo & Escobar start in Panama friendly; Lloyd Sam signs with AFC Wimbledon

New York Red Bulls defenders Michael Amir Murillo and Fidel Escobar continued to make their case for Panama’s World Cup squad with starts on Thursday in a friendly against Denmark.

Despite keeping Denmark scoreless through the first half, Panama’s 37-year-old striker Blas Perez received a red card in the 65th minute. And in the 69th minute, Pione Sisto got Denmark on the board against 10-man Los Canaleros.

Murillo and Escobar played the full 90 minutes and were the youngest players to see the field for the team, with more than half of the starting XI over 30.

Panama’s next match will be against Switzerland on Tuesday, March 27th.

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Former Red Bulls winger Lloyd Sam has signed with AFC Wimbledon of England’s League One.

After a lengthy trial with the English 3rd division side, AFC Wimbledon made the official announcement on Thursday. Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley stated that it would be a short-term deal for Sam, who he sees as a replacement for injured forward Cody McDonald.

Lloyd has been with us for a month or two now, training and getting fit. We wanted to have a look at him and he is a tricky right-winger, an attacking player. Obviously, with us losing Cody we just felt we needed another player. What part he can play until the end of the season, is always tight, but he is on a short-term deal. We are hopeful he will get a bit of playing time for Alan Reeves (in the Under-23s) to get that sharpness back into his game and he may well be a big help for us in the remaining games. He’s certainly shown us in training that he has ability and he just needs to get the physical side of his game up to speed.

Sam played for the Red Bulls from 2012 until 2016, making him one of the handful players in club history to be a part of both the 2013 & 2015 Supporters’ Shield titles.

In 126 appearances in all competitions, Sam recorded 24 goals and 26 assists - both marks in the top in club history.