The United States suffered a 2-1 defeat to Panama on Thursday in a frantically paced, intense and electrifying contest that saw both teams reduced to ten men at different points in the game.
The hosts started the game brightly and had the ball in the back of the net inside just five minutes of play, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Tim Weah received a straight red card for striking Panama defender Roderick Miller in the 18th minute.
Folarin Balogun fired the ten-man USMNT into the lead just four minutes after Weah’s sending off to spark jubilation among the already frustrated USA supporters but their joy was short-lived as Panama delivered a prompt response through César Blackman to level matters.
The USMNT stayed competitive in the game, despite being a man short but it was Panama’s Jose Fajardo who found joy in the 83rd minute when he latched onto Abdiel Ayarza’s cross and finished with a plum to turn the match on its head.
Speaking to FOX after the game, USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams was not surprised by the situation; “That’s what we signed up for in playing in Copa America, we knew it was going to be a fight. Credit to Panama, they did their job, they got the result.
“Obviously I think moving forward we need to control our emotions in certain situations. I think the team fought for everything after we got the red card.
“Can’t fault the effort, but yeah, by winning the first game we put ourselves in a position to have all to play for in the last game.
“You never mean to get a red card, under no circumstances, (Weah) is not that type of person. He apologized to the team and, again, just respect to the rest of the team because they fought for every single ball, every single duel, every single minute and they still created chances after going down to 10 men so it shows our quality.”
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter echoed Tyler Adams’ comments about his team’s effort playing down a man; “I can’t fault the effort of the group, especially after going down the man.
“The guys dug in, and we were close to coming out with a point. But you know, it’s a shame, because there was more in this game.
“A silly decision by Timmy that leaves us shorthanded, and then you have the whole thing that’s moving with the referee throughout the game. It led to some strange, strange circumstances, for sure.”
The Copa hosts are in a precarious position ahead of facing Uruguay in their final Group C match where they need to grind out a positive result to stand a chance of qualifying from the group.