If the USMNT’s debut at the 2024 Copa América was simple, its follow-up act was damaging, dramatic and chaotic.
It finished Panama 2, U.S. 1, on Thursday night in Atlanta. And it left the Americans likely needing to beat Uruguay, one of the tournament favorites, in their Group C finale on Monday to avoid elimination.
They played over 75 minutes of the game with 10 men after Tim Weah’s early red card changed the entire dynamic of the match.
For most of the second half, they appeared to be hanging on for a draw and a somewhat valuable point. But in the 83rd minute, Panama’s José Fajardo broke the American resistance, and propelled Panama to a famous, euphoric win.
The game was scrappy, physical and CONCACAF-y from opening whistle to final whistle. It was an “emotional roller coaster,” U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said. It almost swung five minutes in, when Weston McKennie scored to seemingly put the USMNT ahead. But, upon video review, Tim Ream had been offside in the scruffy buildup to the goal, and VAR disallowed it.
Ten minutes after that, the game did change for good. As it heated up, Weah overheated. After a bit of jostling off the ball, he lashed out at Panamanian defender Roderick Miller with his hand, and caught Miller in the head. He was initially shown a yellow card. But referee Ivan Barton needed only one look at the replay on his pitchside monitor to change the color of the card to red.
Weah didn’t argue. As he walked off the field, he pulled his jersey over his face. He knew he’d erred. He later apologized to teammates, Adams said.
“Obviously, moving forward, we need to control our emotions in certain situations,” Adams told Fox.
The red card left the U.S. disadvantaged for 70-plus minutes. Those 70-plus minutes, though, began with a bang. Folarin Balogun picked out the top corner with his left foot, and put the U.S. ahead.
But three minutes after the game restarted, Panama equalized, and the U.S. was back to square one — down a man, without a lead, and with more than half a game to endure.
For the rest of the first half, the Yanks wobbled, and scrambled to keep the score at 1-1.
In the second half, they essentially conceded that this would be a difficult game to win; so they slowed it down, and tried to shut up shop with a point in hand.
Head coach Gregg Berhalter made three halftime changes. One was for Matt Turner, who gutted through an injury after a first-half collision, but couldn’t continue after the break. (In fact, his injury might have impacted his ability to keep out Panama’s goal.)
The other two substitutions, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Johnny Cardoso for Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna, set the U.S. up to play the rest of the game in a deep, uber-defensive 5-3-1.
And for a while, it worked. The second half was more calm. It was tense, but less chaotic; for 30-plus minutes, Panama hardly threatened.
But then, as U.S. legs tired, Panama took advantage. When Fajardo’s goal hit the roof of the net, Panamanian subs streamed down the sideline in ecstasy and U.S. shoulders slumped.
A late Panama red card — to Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla, who hacked down Christian Pulisic from behind — reduced the game to 10-on-10, and gave the U.S. a glimmer of hope.
But it fizzled with a few wayward attacks, and disappeared with the final whistle.
And just like that, in a group that seemed so straightforward, the Americans are arguably underdogs. Berhalter’s job is probably on the line. And pressure, overwhelming pressure, is on the hosts of this Copa América.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER43 updates
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FINAL: USA 1-2 Panama
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93′ Freddy Gondola booked
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10 v. 10 now!
Coco Carrasquilla gets sent off for an ugly tackle on Christian Pulisic from behind.
The U.S. will have at least several minutes of stoppage time to try to find an equalizer.
It probably should be close to 10 minutes.
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88′ Red card to Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla
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83′ GOAL Panama
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72′ Substitution
Ricardo Pepi comes in for Folarin Balogun.
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Flo goes close
The U.S. is playing very defensive, but just had its first real chance of the second half.
Christian Pulisic dances, plays Balogun down the left with a reverse pass, and Balogun flashes his curling shot past the far post.
Still 1-1, 72nd minute.
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VAR giveth, VAR taketh away
Panama appeared to have won a penalty, via a reckless tackle from U.S. center back Cameron Carter-Vickers
But, upon review, there was hardly any contact, and the penalty is overturned.
VAR works well sometimes!
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66′ Penalty overturned after VAR review
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63′ Penalty awarded to Panama
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Ethan Horvath passes his first test
Five minutes into the second half, Panama’s Edgardo Fariña rips a shot from 30 yards out.
It was knuckling. Ethan Horvath, on for the injured Matt Turner at halftime, stayed behind it and batted it away.
He has experience making heroic saves off the bench for the USMNT. He might have to make one or more again tonight.
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THREE halftime changes for the U.S.
Matt Turn is off, injured. Ethan Horvath is replacing him.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Johnny Cardoso are also on for Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna.
That’s a clear sign that Berhalter plans to shut up shop and dig deep for a draw. They’ll play in a 5-3-1.
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Halftime questions for the USMNT
There are a lot of personnel questions entering the second half…
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How long can Tyler Adams last? He’s ideal for playing with 10 men, because he can cover so much ground … but he’s not 90-minutes fit
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Will Gio Reyna be sacrificed for a more defensive-minded player?
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Is Matt Turner injured? Can he last the 90, or is there a chance they’ll have to use a sub at goalkeeper?
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HALFTIME: USA 1-1 PANAMA
A draw would be fine for the USMNT. Not ideal, but fine.
Need to reset at halftime, try to calm the game down a bit.
— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) June 27, 2024
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A bonkers, CONCACAFy first half
It’s 1-1 at halftime. To recap:
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Scrappy, chippy, s***housy start
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Weston McKennie scores, but VAR disallows it
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Tim Weah lashes out at a Panama player and gets sent off
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Folarin Balogun scores a banger to put the U.S. ahead
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Panama almost immediately equalizes
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More chippiness and s***housery
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U.S. scrambling to keep it 1-1, both teams look capable of scoring
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To cap it off …
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45′ Eduardo Guerrero shown a yellow
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The Weah red card
It got a bit lost in the craziness of the 15 minutes that followed … but here’s the angle of the Tim Weah incident that referee Iván Barton looked at and immediately thought: That’s a red card.
Does the angle and the Panamanian reaction make it look worse than it actually was? Maybe. But either way, it was really stupid. And Weah, after the video review, looked like he knew it was stupid.
