🇵🇦🇺🇸 Panama puts the USMNT into crisis mode in the most Concacaf of Copa América games
The path was straightforward. The U.S. couldn't take it.
There were two Concacaf teams on the field in Atlanta with a referee and a VAR from the Concacaf region overseeing proceedings. Despite the Copa América branding and the stakes of the tournament, Panama’s 2-1 win over the United States was a very Concacaf
Yet, no one “Got CONCACAFed”, at least not in the traditional sense. Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton’s only blemish was needing to go to the VAR too often, but this was not an instance of a referee gifting the game to one team or another.
This U.S. team, of any U.S. team, should be forged in the fire of this region. But after a collision with goalkeeper Matt Turner stoked tensions, Tim Weah allowed the feelings of frustration to boil over and was sent off.
If there was a Concacafing, it was in the secondary definition, a team from the region putting a somewhat ugly game plan on the field and pulling it off, a successfully placed stone onto the forehead of the region’s Goliath and one that may prove to be the critical blow to not only the United States’ chances of moving to the Copa América quarterfinals, but to Gregg Berhalter’s tenure as manager.
He may find that unfair. Maybe it is, sending a coach packing after he lost a flukey game that hinged on a couple of poor individual decisions. But while the Americans’ initial response to Weah’s red card seemed super-charged, it quickly shifted and allowed Panama to find an equalizer.
It was then Berhalter who elected to put Cameron Carter-Vickers in and give the U.S. another center back, plus look to fortify the midfield with Johnny. They seemed designed to accept a draw, which would’ve let the U.S. control its own destiny on the final matchday. But it also allowed Panama to find belief that it could make its man advantage felt.
“The good thing was scoring the goal quickly. After, in the second half the United States changed its structure, somewhat surprisingly, to put five at the back in a 5-3-1,” Panama manager Thomas Christiansen said after.
