.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=3840&quality=60)
If the U.S. men's national team fails to make it out of this Copa America group stage, they'll look back at one Tim Weah swing of the arm as the reason why. In tournaments such as this, margins are so fine and, sometimes, legacies live and die by one moment of madness.
That's what Thursday's match in Atlanta boiled down to: chaos personified. Fans of CONCACAF will know it well, as well the USMNT, but, on this night, the U.S. could do nothing to stop their own self-inflicted spiral.
It ended 2-1 to Panama, who took advantage of Weah's recklessness. The USMNT winger's punch, which saw him sent off just 18 minutes in, could prove the moment that defines this particular USMNT group. They wanted a challenge this summer and now they'll get it. Their fate will now depend on their final group stage game against Uruguay next Monday.
It didn't have to be this way. Prior to Weah's dismissal, the U.S. was cruising. They had an early goal ruled out by an offside call, but it felt like a matter of time. Then Weah's punch happened, and the game spun into chaos.
Folarin Balogun temporarily eased any doubts with a golazo moments after the red, but Panama answered back almost immediately with a goal from Cesar Blackman. From there, the game devolved into a dogfight and, for a while, it looked like the U.S. would be able to squeak out a draw.
Ultimately, they couldn't. An 83rd-minute goal from Jose Fajardo sealed Panama's victory. And the U.S. was unable to fight back.
They'll get another chance against Uruguay. Coach Gregg Berhalter will likely be coaching for his job in that match. This particular group will, at least partly, be playing for their legacy. Few saw it coming, but the Uruguay match is now poised to be one of the biggest in this program's history. It didn't have to be, but that's the situation that the USMNT have created, largely thanks to their own costly mistakes.
GOAL rates the USMNT's players from Mercedes-Benz Stadium...