Weah acquired a purple card in the 18th minute for punching an opponent in the again of the top, leaving his crew shorthanded for many of a 2-1 defeat to Panama.

Despite the state of affairs, the Americans really took the lead after Weah’s dismissal on Folarin Balogun’s sensational purpose in the twenty second minute. But Panama used its man benefit to reply shortly and place the United States underneath duress earlier than going forward on José Fajardo’s 83rd-minute purpose.

“A win tonight would have put us in a great position, and unfortunately the opposite happened,” captain Christian Pulisic mentioned. “Just really disappointed the way we did it. Timmy knows the mistake he made. That’s it. He is going to learn from it. It sucks. It hurts. It’s a lapse of judgment, It’s one simple second.”

Even a draw would have created excessive drama getting into the Group C finale Monday in opposition to Uruguay in Kansas City, Mo. But as a result of it misplaced, the United States (1-1-0) is sort of definitely going to want to beat Uruguay (2-0-0), a 15-time event champion that beat Bolivia, 5-0, later Thursday in East Rutherford, N.J.

“We have to represent our country with passion and pride,” Pulisic mentioned. “We have to go and play the best game of our lives.”

Failure to advance out of the group stage can be a serious embarrassment to the U.S. crew, which is utilizing this high-profile competitors to put together for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“Representing a national team is a tremendous honor,” mentioned Coach Gregg Berhalter, who’s in his second time period after main the crew on the 2022 World Cup. “There’s a lot of expectations that come along with it. Today was an extremely disappointing result. But the effort was there, and if we put in the same type of effort in terms of the work effort and the togetherness, we’ll have a shot.”

Panama (1-1-0) additionally completed with 10 males after Adalberto Carrasquilla was red-carded for a brutal foul on Pulisic in the 88th minute. By then, nevertheless, Fajardo, a former D.C. United striker, had scored on an eight-yard one-timer off back-up goalkeeper Ethan Horvath’s fingers earlier than 59,145 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Although the U.S. crew had misplaced simply two of the earlier 26 conferences, Panama has develop into a thorny opponent. The groups break up their 2022 World Cup qualifiers, every successful at house, and Panama prevailed in a shootout in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals.

As they did in a 2-0 victory over Bolivia on Sunday in Arlington, Tex., the Americans executed a set piece to rating early — besides this one didn’t rely. Long after the celebration had died down, referee Iván Barton used video overview to decide Tim Ream had been offside when he arrange Weston McKennie’s shot.

Eleven minutes later, Weah was expelled for punching Roderick Miller throughout an off-the-ball change in midfield. Initially a yellow card, Barton turned to video once more earlier than upgrading it to purple.

Per event guidelines, a participant who receives a purple card is forbidden from talking to reporters. Berhalter and the gamers mentioned Weah apologized to the group after the match.

“Silly decision by Timmy. He stood up and he took accountability for it right away,” Berhalter mentioned. In his membership and nationwide crew profession, Weah had acquired only one different purple card.

“We can’t overreact like that,” mentioned defender Chris Richards, who was proven a second-half yellow card. “It cost the team. I know he is hurting right now.”

Nonetheless, the United States went forward in the twenty second minute on Balogun’s breathtaking smash. Antonee Robinson intercepted a go deep in Panama’s finish and exchanged passes with Balogun. The striker’s rasping one-timer from the highest of the penalty space kissed excessive off the far publish and into the web for his second purpose of the event and fifth of his U.S. profession.

Panama answered 4 minutes later. Robinson disrupted Cesar Blackman’s preliminary bid from the highest of the field, however Blackman stayed with it and drove a slithering shot past Matt Turner’s attain and into the left nook.

Turner suffered a leg damage in the primary half after a Panama participant smashed into him. He remained in the sport till halftime however didn’t return for the second half.

That incident was one in all a number of points the U.S. crew had with Barton.

“Think about that: He knocks Matt out of the game, and nothing,” Berhalter mentioned after Barton didn’t subject a card.

“You can blame the ref, but we still lost the game,” Richards mentioned. “We have to do better and can’t let these things happen.”

Barton and video overview have been on the focal point once more in the 63rd minute, when he awarded a penalty kick to Panama. But after overview, he decided substitute Cameron Carter-Vickers had not, in reality, fouled Fajardo.

The Americans had an opportunity to go forward in the 81st minute on substitute Ricardo Pepi’s header off McKennie’s cross. But Panama made probably the most of its late alternative.

“You look at the chances we gave up [in the second half], there was really only that one moment the guy gets an open look,” Berhalter mentioned. “We didn’t deal with the first ball very well. We didn’t deal with the second ball very well, and then we have space between our center backs on the cross.”

The purpose — and the outcome — threw the group into disarray with one set of matches left.

“It’s a must-win game,” Ream mentioned. “It’s a knockout game a game early.”