Under his leadership, the club has accumulated 63% of possible points, with 16 victories and three draws in 27 matches. Córdoba has been a key part of that recovery. So far in 2026, he has participated in 10 league wins, playing the full 90 minutes in nine of them and showing a high defensive level. "Now it's time to work to arrive at the World Cup at 100%," he added. Córdoba is one of the 22 players who completed the second training session in Durban on Wednesday, focused on the friendlies against South Africa. A year ago, José Córdoba faced one of the toughest moments of his career. "It has been a personal process in which I have fought, I have worked very hard to be here, to prove who I am, to prove to myself that I deserve to be here, I deserve to help the country, football speaking." That growth is also reflected in his present with Norwich City, which currently occupies tenth place in the English Championship with 54 points. In the final of the Concacaf Nations League, with Panama disputing the title against Mexico in another chance for revenge after the 2023 Gold Cup, the defender committed a handball inside the area that ended up marking the destiny of the match. During that stretch, Norwich conceded only five goals, a reflection of a solidity in which the Panamanian has had a determining role. With seven matchdays left until the end of the championship, the "canaries" are nine points away from Southampton, which occupies the sixth position, the last playoff spot for promotion to the Premier League. Beyond his current football situation, Córdoba also relived one of the most emotional recent moments: Panama's qualification for the World Cup. "The next day, in training, my teammates told me: 'Panama is in the World Cup'," he recalled. "It was very exciting to see that the group fought, that the group fought for that spot and we fulfilled the dream of being there. More mature, strengthened mentally and with the intact support of his teammates, the defender returns to the national team concentration in Durban with a new perspective. "I have worked a lot mentally and physically too," he assured. From a distance, he lived with intensity that November night. "At home I watched the game, I think at one in the morning or so. The penalty derived from that action meant the goal of the victory for the Aztecs and unleashed a wave of criticism that accompanied him for months. That episode not only left a media scar, but also marked the beginning of a complicated period for the Norwich City defender. Injuries and lack of continuity distanced him from the national team, limiting his participation to one full game against Belize in June, 114 minutes in the Gold Cup, and just 12 minutes in October at the Cuscatlán stadium, before suffering a muscle injury that left him out of the rest of the qualifiers. Today, at 24, Córdoba shows a different version. He was attentive, happy, tears came out, I was shouting. The change on the bench, with the arrival of coach Philippe Clement on November 18th in place of Liam Manning, transformed the team's performance.
