ATLANTA – U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter called the costly first-half red card for striker Tim Weah in a 2-1 Copa America loss to Panama on Thursday a “stupid decision,” adding that he immediately apologized to his teammates.
Weah was shown a red card in the 18th minute after he reached out his hand and hit Panama defender Roderick Miller in the back of the head in an off-the-ball incident. Weah initially received a yellow card, but this was changed to a red card by referee Iván Barton following a video review.
“I think we had a good start to the game. We scored the goal but it was taken back. But the game-deciding event was of course the red card and it put us in a difficult position, but that’s what we expected from them.”
Folarin Balogun scored for the USMNT four minutes later, but Panama’s César Blackman equalized four minutes later. José Fajardo then scored the winning goal for Panama in the 83rd minute, dealing a major blow to the USA’s hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.
“I can’t fault the group’s performance, especially after the loss,” added Berhalter. “The boys put in the effort and we were close to coming away with a point. But it’s a shame because there was more to this game and a stupid decision by Timmy left us short-handed.”
“Then the whole referee thing went on throughout the game and we were short-staffed. That definitely led to some strange circumstances.”
US midfielder Tyler Adams defended Weah’s character after receiving only the second red card of his career for club or country – his first came against Lille in 2022.
“You never want to get a red card, under any circumstances,” Adams told Fox. “He’s not that kind of person. He apologized to the team.”
“And respect to the rest of the team, because they fought for every single ball, every single tackle, every single minute. We still created chances even when we were outnumbered, that shows our quality and in the last game everything is at stake.”
Weah’s sending off means he is suspended for the game against Uruguay, a game the USA will likely need to win to avoid elimination.
His red card was the second-fastest after the start of a game for a USMNT player in the last 40 years and the earliest in a competitive match during that time period.
Jimmy Conrad was sent off in the 17th minute of a friendly match against Honduras in 2010.
The USA suffered another setback at halftime when goalkeeper Matt Turner was substituted and replaced by Ethan Horvath after receiving treatment for several minutes in the first half following a collision with Panama’s César Blackman.
Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla was also sent off in the 88th minute for a hard foul on Christian Pulisic in the heated finale of the match.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
