ATLANTA — The U.S. men’s national team has everything to play for heading into its final group stage match of the 2024 Copa América after losing 2-1 to Panama on Thursday in front of almost 60,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia’s capital.
The U.S. got off to an energetic start, but the hosts suffered what turned out to be a fatal blow when forward Tim Weah was shown a red card for striking a Panamanian defender just 18 minutes into the contest. The Americans actually took a 1-0 lead through Folarin Balogun just after being reduced to 10 men, but gave up the equalizer soon after and, after a valiant defensive effort, couldn’t prevent the visitors’ winner off the foot of José Fajardo late in the second half. Canaleros star Adalberto Carrasquilla was also sent off for a hard foul on U.S. captain Christian Pulisic before it was over to level the playing field, but it was too late at that point for the U.S. to pull one back.
“Tim got bumped, he got checked, and he reacted,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said in his post match press conference. “He apologized to the group. And I think he understands what a difficult position he put the group in.”
“Nonetheless, it happened,” Berhalter added. “And, as a result, we lost this game and we’re gonna have to move on and figure out how to win the next game.”
That won’t be easy. The U.S. now must beat 15-time Copa América champion Uruguay on Monday in Kansas City to ensure that it advances to the knockout stage.
Here are a few quick thoughts on – and more postgame reaction to — Thursday’s match.
Play of the game
Folarin Balogun came into Thursday’s match full of confidence after scoring a beautiful goal on Sunday in the Americans’ tournament opening win over Bolivia. Balogun’s strike against Panama was even better. Just four minutes after Weah was shown the door, the 22-year-old striker scored a legit “worldie” — once again with his weaker left foot.
It came off a broken play. Initially, Balogun tried to play a slick give-and-go with left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson streaking into the box. The pass didn’t come off, and with the ball bouncing at the corner of Panama’s penalty area, he put his boot through it and blasted into the far corner of the goal past Panama keeper Orlando Mosquera.
Perhaps the best American player on Thursday, Balogun nearly scored a second just before halftime, beating Mosquera but not the crossbar.
Turning point
There were three hugely consequential plays within the first 20 minutes of the match. First, U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie had what looked like an early goal canceled out for offside after video review. The home side would’ve been sitting pretty at that point. Instead, the U.S. lost their heads after goalkeeper Matt Turner was floored by Panamanian midfielder Cesar Blackman. (Turner finished the half but was replaced by backup backstop Ethan Horvath for the final 45 minutes.
The Americans were rightly incensed that Salvadoran referee Barton Cisneros didn’t caution Blackman, and that feeling manifested itself moments later when American forward Tim Weah swung an arm toward the head of Canaleros defender Roderick Miller. He connected, Miller crumpled to the turf in a heap and, after being summoned to the monitor by the video assistant, Cisneros brandished the red card and sent Weah to the dressing room.
Even though Balogun opened the scoring for the hosts, that was the game-changing moment. With the U.S. forced to play the final 72 minutes of the contest short a man, leaving Georgia with even a point was always going to be a tall order.
“A win tonight would have put us in a great position and, unfortunately, the opposite happened,” Pulisic said. “It sucks. It hurts.”
Key stat
Need proof that the red card changed everything on Thursday? Look no further than the numbers. Panama had 74% of the possession and a 13-6 advantage on shots.
What’s next for Panama?
Los Canaleros head into their final match of the first round on July 1 in Orlando, Florida against hapless Bolivia — perhaps the weakest of the 16 teams competing at USA 2024 — knowing that a win will almost surely put them into the knockout stage.
What’s next for the USMNT?
The hotly anticipated Group C finale against favored Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. That contest, on Monday night (kickoff at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports and the FOX Sports app) was always likely to determine which squad would finish first and avoid a potential quarterfinal matchup with mighty Brazil, the five-time World Cup champions.
A tie against Uruguay would have been enough for the Americans to advance. Now the U.S. knows it must beat La Celeste just to book its spot in the last eight.
“We have a ton of respect for Uruguay,” Berhalter said. “We know we have to go out there and get a result and we’ll go to do that. We believe in this group. It’s a strong team. I think if we stay focused, stick to and execute our game plan, we’ll be okay.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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