The U.S. males’s nationwide crew got here into Thursday’s Copa America showdown with Panama hoping to keep away from including any pointless stress into Monday’s group stage finale vs. Uruguay, nevertheless, a 2-1 defeat to their CONCACAF rivals ended these hopes and now places the USMNT below main fear.
Gregg Berhalter’s squad watched a first-half lead slip away in an eventual loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, placing the Individuals’ knockout stage desires unsure. Tim Weah’s ejection within the nineteenth minute paired with two defensive errors led to the USMNT struggling their second head-to-head loss to Panama previously two years.
Uruguay sealed its knockout stage berth afterward Thursday evening following a 5-0 hammering of Bolivia. The USMNT in the meantime now prepares to face the Uruguayans in Kansas Metropolis on Monday, understanding something lower than a victory might finish their Copa America run after simply three matches.
“Now we have to go, and we have now to symbolize our nation with ardour, satisfaction,” USMNT captain and star attacking Christian Pulisic stated. “Now we have to go and play the very best sport of our lives, and that’s it. We need to go, we need to win, and we need to proceed on this competitors.”
“Clearly, Uruguay is an excellent crew,” midfielder Tyler Adams stated. “We all know we’re going to should be at our greatest, however on the finish of the day we are able to compete when we have now 11 gamers on the sector. It’s going to be a very completely different sport.”
Folarin Balogun’s fourth-career USMNT purpose boosted the Individuals in entrance after 22 minutes, nevertheless Panama would tie the match 4 minutes later by means of Cesar Blackman’s equalizer that deflected in off of Chris Richards’ leg.
Panama owned majority of the possession in opposition to the 10-men Individuals however didn’t actually bother Matt Turner (who left the match at halftime with an obvious damage) or Ethan Horvath outdoors of the 2 objectives scored. Halftime substitute Cameron Carter-Vickers was gradual in reacting to Abdiel Ayarza’s cross within the 83rd minute, watching fellow substitute Jose Fajardo volley house the eventual successful purpose.
Weah’s poor judgement actually put the USMNT in a significant gap for the rest of the match, however in addition they seemed uncomfortable coping with Panama’s general technique.
“It’s down to 1 second,” Berhalter stated. “If you have a look at the stats, you have a look at the possibilities that we gave up, it was actually solely that one second. The man will get an open look, and we didn’t cope with the primary ball very effectively, we didn’t cope with the second ball very effectively, after which [there’s] an excessive amount of area between our center-backs on the cross.
“However moreover that, we’re speaking about very, little or no manufacturing from Panama and actually an incredible effort by the blokes that did get in there, work for one another, maintain our form, and maintain transferring,” he added.
The USMNT now is aware of that an improved efficiency is required to remain alive within the competitors. Panama will face Bolivia on Monday, kicking off within the early match at 6 p.m. ET, offering the Individuals with a glimpse of the kind of outcome they should stave off elimination.
Regardless, the USMNT must be prepared for something, particularly since a bunch stage exit might result in main adjustments heading into the autumn schedule.