Gregg Berhalter explains USA loss to Panama at Copa America: Defeat "a shame" after "silly" Tim Weah red card

Gregg Berhalter explains USA loss to Panama at Copa America: Defeat "a shame" after "silly" Tim Weah red card

A shocking 2-1 defeat to Panama in the second group match of the Copa America left the United States men on the precipice of elimination from the CONMEBOL competition on home soil.

Just two years before they are set to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2024 summer tournament represented the final chance to play competitive matches against top teams from outside their own confederation. Thus, the Copa America has the feeling of a significant litmus test regarding their readiness for the World Cup.

The damaging defeat has the potential to cut their journey at the Copa America well short, as they now must beat Uruguay to have a chance at advancing through to the knockout round.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter did his best to explain the mess the U.S. now found itself in after a wonky and confusing 90 minutes in Atlanta that left them searching for answers at a time when they were supposed to be building towards the future.

MORE: What USA has to do vs. Uruguay to advance to Copa America knockout stage

Berhalter calls defeat to Panama "a shame" but praises "battle"

The shocking defeat to Panama was hard for Gregg Berhalter to sum up in his post-match press conference, but he made it clear he believed the U.S. did well considering the circumstances, calling the defeat "a shame" given the course of the match.

"It's a shame, because there was more in this game," Berhalter said. "I can't fault the effort of the group, especially going down a man. The guys dug in and we were close to coming out with a point.

"It's one moment. When you look at the stats, when you look at the chances we gave up, it's really only that moment that their guy gets an open look," Berhalter said of the winning goal for Panama. "Besides that, we're talking about very very little production from Panama, and really a tremendous job by the guys that dug in to work for each other, keep our shape, and keep moving."

The U.S. boss believed that while the result didn't work in their favor, the work rate on the pitch was immense and if they put in that kind of shift 11 vs. 11 against Uruguay, they'll have a big chance to win in the group finale.

"Representing the national team is a tremendous honor and there's a lot of expectations that come along with it," he added. "Today was an extremely disappointing result, but the effort was there and if we put in the same type of effort in this game [against Uruguay] then we'll have a shot."

Berhalter was buoyed by the lack of opportunities that Panama put together despite having a man-up advantage. They put up 13 shots against the United States, but worth just 0.76 expected goals, with 0.23 of that xG total coming on the goal. In fact, the United States ended with a higher xG total — 1.11 — despite finishing with just six total shots.

"Look at it, they didn't get any chances, very few chances," he said. "They had a shot from distance when Ethan came in, but I can't remember any other clear-cut chances they had. So for us, it was really about picking and choosing the moments to counter-attack while being difficult to break down, and for the most part aside from the goal we did that."

Berhalter brands Weah red card "silly" but praises how team "battled"

The USMNT head coach didn't mince his words about Tim Weah's early dismissal that left his side down a man for 70 minutes of the match, and said it came from Panama's overt physicality.

"Tim got bumped off the ball and he reacted," Berhalter said in his postgame press conference. "He apologized to the group, and I think he understands what position he put the group in. Nonetheless, it happened and as a result we lost this game, and everyone has to move on and figure out how to win the [next] game.

"The match changing event is obviously the red card and it puts us in a tough spot, but we expected that from them.

"He spoke to the group, I'll speak to the group, but he knows the implications of that. He's the ultimate team player, he stood up and took accountability for it right away, and we'll move on."

MORE: How many games Tim Weah will miss at 2024 Copa America due to red card suspension

Berhalter again reiterated that he was proud of the team's effort given the circumstances of playing at such a disadvantage for so long.

He added: "We probably had 14 minutes of game time until the red card, and it changes the complexity of the game. Who knows [what] it would have looked like [without the red card] but what I would say is that down a man we battled. It was a good effort but we came up short."

Berhalter hints at displeasure with referee Ivan Barton

There was a ton of talk about official Ivan Barton, who seemed to lose control of the match as the game went on. Berhalter did not speak directly about the official, first saying he wanted to "defer" any questions about the referee, but he did manage to hint at his severe displeasure.

"You have the whole thing that's moving with the referee throughout the game, and it led to some strange circumstances for sure," Berhalter said at first.

When asked shortly after about the physicality of Panama and how it played out on the field, he decided to expand a bit further.

"We talked beforehand about the tendencies of this referee, we knew what he was capable of, and we played right into his hands," he said.

By hinting at prior knowledge of the official's disposition, Berhalter was referring to a 2023 match against Mexico also refereed by Barton in which the United States won 3-0 amidst a torrent of cards, resulting in three reds and eight yellows shown. The common theme from both games is that Barton let a few contentious early decisions go which increased the temperature of the match. He then seemed to panic late as things got out of hand, trying to put the lid back on the boiling pot with an overcorrection.

The same happened tonight, beginning with the thumping early collision between Matt Turner and Cesar Blackman which injured the U.S. goalkeeper but did not result in a booking for Blackman. Panama were repeatedly allowed to foul U.S. players to stop counter-attacks, and the tension in the match built from there. Ultimately, Adalberto Carrasquillo was sent off in the latter stages for a vicious late kick on Christian Pulisic which could have potentially been avoided had things not boiled over.