ATLANTA — There hasn't been a shortage of chippy play through the energetic Copa America soccer tournament in group play so far, but the United States and Panama took it to a different level on Thursday.
With a packed crowd with mostly fans of the U.S.A. inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the home crowd was deflated early when Tim Weah inexplicably seemed to hit a Panama player in the face. Weah was given a red card in the 18th minute and the U.S. was playing a man down for most of the match.
The play went under review to VAR, where Weah was given a red card and removed from the game.
Folarin Balogun put the short-handed U.S. ahead in the 22nd minute but César Blackman tied the score in the 26th.
Horvath, who replaced injured Matt Turner at halftime, couldn’t prevent Fajardo's close-range shot from going through his arms, and Panama beat the U.S. for just the third time in 27 meetings.
The U.S., which opened with a win against Bolivia, likely will need to beat 15-time champion Uruguay on Monday at Kansas City, Missouri, in order to finish among the top two teams in Group C and earn a quarterfinal berth.
Panama lost to Uruguay 3-1 and closes against Bolivia, a team with 13 straight Copa America losses going into Thursday night’s game against the Uruguayans.
Failure to advance from the biggest test for the Americans ahead of the 2026 World Cup will raise questions about whether coach Gregg Berhalter should remain in charge.
Weston McKennie appeared to put the U.S. ahead in the fifth minute but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Panama also finished a man short after Adalberto Carrasquilla was given a red card in the 88th for chopping down Christian Pulisic from behind. The U.S. threw everyone forward in a desperate attempt to tie the game -- including Horvath -- but Panama held.
Pulisic got up after the apparent cheap shot and shouldered his Panamanian opponent.
