The coach of the United States men’s national team (USMNT), Gregg Berhalter, criticized Tim Weah’s first-half red card in a 2-1 Copa América loss to Panama on Thursday with the tag “silly decision.” Berhalter included that Tim Weah apologized to his colleagues for the red card.
Weah received a straight red card in the 18th minute for hitting Panama defender Roderick Miller in the back of the head during an off-ball incident. He had first received a yellow card; the decision later became a red by center official Iván Barton after a video review.
Folarin Balogun scored for the American senior team four minutes after Weah received the red card, but Panama’s César Blackman scored shortly after. José Fajardo later scored an 83rd-minute winner for Panama, causing a heavy blow to the USMNT’s hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals.
Weah will be suspended for the match against Uruguay due to the red card that he received. This is a must-win for the U.S. team so they can avoid elimination. The Juventus star, Weah, went to Instagram to apologize, expressing that he had “let my team and my country down.”
Weah’s teammate Tyler Adams defended the Juventus player, noting that this was only the second red card of his career for both his country and club, the first occurring with Lille in 2022.
USMNT also faced further setbacks at halftime, with goalkeeper Matt Turner being removed and replaced by Ethan Horvath after a hit with Panama’s César Blackman required several minutes of treatment.
The match ended on a heated note, with Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla being removed in the 88th minute for a hard foul on Christian Pulisic.
