Hear
In the match that Panama defeated the United States 2-1, in another of the surprises that the group stage of the America Cup, There was no shortage of goals, kicks, punches and controversy. In this context, two players were sent off, one of them for a very rough action near the end of the game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
With the locals launching an attack in search of equality, Christian Pulisic He won a ball in the opponent’s half and headed towards the Panamanian area, but when he accelerated with his head raised he felt a huge blow. Two minutes from the end, the way he found to stop him Adalberto Carrasquilla went with a tremendous kick on one of the ankles.
With Salvadoran referee Ivan Arcides Barton Cisneros very close to the play, he took only a moment to pull out the red card and show it to the number 8, who moved his right index finger denying the foul, while the United States star jumped up to face him and give him a push. The Panamanian fell to the ground and a tumult immediately broke out, with several local players surrounding the wild offender. In the stands, people were holding their heads.
Already in the first stage there had been one expulsion, that of Timothy Weah in the United States, for another type of aggression, a punch to Roderick Miller when they were struggling in the middle of the field, without the ball. They were just 18 minutes old and the situation was reported to the main judge from the VAR.
It was, strictly speaking, the decision by that fastest route in the tournament. When the Salvadoran leaned on the monitor to watch the action, he barely needed an image to regret the yellow card and return to the playing field convinced that he deserved the red card. He immediately announced it to the public and when he was taking the card, Weah was already leaving the court, crestfallen. Unusual.
Already in stoppage time, in another advance by the United States, the Panamanian Edgardo Fariña was saved from a red card in an action similar to Carrasquilla’s expulsion. Near the halfway line, Antonee Robinson accelerated towards the opponent’s half and got away from him. The defender’s idea was to bring him down with a kick from behind that, if it had been evaluated by the VAR, deserved the same sanction. Everything was resolved with a yellow card, in the midst of the locals’ rush to change the fate of a defeat that leaves them in a difficult position, with one match remaining, when they will face the leader of that group C, Uruguay, next Monday.
Regarding Weah’s sanction, which affected the home team at the start of the match, Tyler Adams commented that the expelled player “apologised to the team” and backed them up: “You never intend to get a red card, under any circumstances.” The tension worsened in the final minutes, the most violent of the afternoon.
“Obviously, the job of the referees is to manage the match. I don’t think the way the game was finished was professional. “We knew it was going to be a big game, we were never going to take it lightly, but there’s nothing to hide… we have to prepare and make sure we go into the next game well and get the result we need,” said Folarin Balogun, who tied the game for the United States.
The coach of the North Americans, Gregg Berhalter, described the result as “extremely disappointing.” And he added: “I can’t criticize the boys’ effort, especially after being down one man, but it’s a shame. A stupid decision by Timmy left us at a disadvantage,” he lamented. “The red card marked the course of the match and put us in a difficult situation. Tim received a push and reacted. He apologized to the group and I think he understands the difficult situation he left us in,” he concluded.
THE NATION
