United States coach Gregg Berhalter acknowledged that Tim Weah made a “foolish decision” that cost him his expulsion and contributed to their defeat against Panama.
ATLANTA — The coach of the men’s national team USA, Gregg Berhalterhe described costly expulsion of Timothy Weah in the first half of the 2-1 defeat in view of Panama in the America Cup Thursday as a “stupid decision“, adding that the forward apologized to his teammates.
Weah He received a direct red card in the 18th minute after reaching out his hand and hitting Panama defender Roderick Miller in the back of the head in an off-the-ball incident. Weah He was initially shown a yellow card, but central referee Ivan Barton changed it to a Red card after video review.
“We talked beforehand about this referee’s tendencies, we knew what he is capable of and, to be honest, I think we played into his hands,” Berhalter told reporters at a news conference. “And I think we made that decision pretty easy. Tim was hit, he got checked out and he reacted. He apologized to the group and I think he understands the difficult position that he put the group in.
“However, it happened and as a result we lost this game and we’re going to have to move on and figure out how to win the next game.”
Folarin Balogun scored for the United States four minutes after Weah was sent off, but Panama’s Cesar Blackman tied it four minutes later. José Fajardo then scored the winning goal for Panama in the 83rd minute, dealing a blow to the United States’ hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals.
“I think we had a good start to the game,” Berhalter added. “We got the goal, they disallowed it. But the game-changing event is obviously the red card, and it puts us in a difficult situation, but we expected that from them.
“I can’t fault the group’s effort, especially after losing a man,” Berhalter added. “The lads dug in and we came close to coming away with a point. But it’s a shame, because there was more to this game, and a dumb decision by Timmy leaves us short.
“Then there’s everything that happens with the referee throughout the game, and that leaves us short-handed. So it certainly led to some strange circumstances.”
Weah’s expulsion means he will be suspended for the match against Uruguay, when the United States will likely have to win to avoid elimination. And the Juventus player posted his own apology on Instagram after the match, saying he had “let my team and my country down”.
“A moment of frustration had an irreversible consequence and for that I am deeply sorry to my teammates, coaches, family and our fans,” he wrote.
“From now on, I commit to learning from this experience, not allowing an opponent to provoke me, and working to regain the trust and respect of my team and fans.
“No matter what I will always fight for my team and my country until the day I am no longer needed or able to do so. I sincerely apologize to everyone. My love for this team goes beyond football and I am very sad and angry at myself for putting my brothers through what they went through tonight.”
American midfielder Tyler Adams defended Weah’s character after what was only his second career dismissal for club or country. The first came with Lille in 2022.
“You never want to get a red card, under any circumstances,” Adams told Fox. “He’s not that kind of guy. He apologized to the team.
“And I respect the rest of the team because they fought for every ball, every duel, every minute. We still created chances after being reduced to 10 men, which shows our quality, and it was all to play for in the last game.”
His ejection was the second-fastest by a U.S. player since the start of play in the past 40 years and the earliest in a competitive match in that span.
Jimmy Conrad was sent off after 17 minutes of a friendly match against Honduras in 2010.
The United States were dealt a further blow at halftime, with goalkeeper Matt Turner substituted and replaced by Ethan Horvath after receiving treatment for several minutes in the first half following a collision with Panama’s Cesar Blackman.
Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla was also sent off in the 88th minute for a hard foul on Christian Pulisic in a heated end to the match.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
