Panama stun USA with Copa America upset

ATLANTA: Panama left the USA´s hopes of qualifying for the Copa America knockout rounds hanging by a thread on Thursday after scoring a shock 2-1 victory over the host nation.

A stormy Group C battle in Atlanta saw both sides finish with 10 men as Panama came from behind to snatch a victory which reignites their Copa campaign after an opening loss to Uruguay.

The game turned on a moment of madness in the 18th minute, when US winger Timothy Weah was sent off for striking Panama defender Roderick Miller in the face in an off-the-ball incident spotted by VAR.

Although Folarin Balogun fired the US into the lead with a screamer from the edge of the area after 22 minutes, Panama got back on level terms only minutes later after Cesar Blackman´s strike.

As the game wore on, however, Panama´s one-man advantage began to take its toll on the weary US side. The US might have snatched the lead in the 81st minute after Weston McKennie´s fine run and cross found substitute Ricardo Pepi at the far post. Pepi´s tame header fell into the arms of Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, however, to leave it at 1-1.

That miss proved costly, as with seven minutes remaining, Jose Fajardo swept in an emphatic finish from Abdiel Ayarza´s low cross to put Panama 2-1 ahead. A fractious finale saw Adalberto Carrasquilla sent off after a cynical hack on US captain Christian Pulisic in the dying minutes as Panama hung on for the win.

“That´s soccer at the end of the day. We know what we signed up for and playing in a Copa America, we knew it was going to be a fight,” US midfielder Tyler Adams said afterwards. “Credit to Panama, they did their job and they got the result. Obviously, I think moving forward, we need to control our emotions in certain situations.

“The team fought for everything after we got the red card. Definitely can´t fault the effort. But by winning the first game we´ve put ourselves still in a position that we have all to fight for in the next game.”

Adams said Weah had apologized for his rash dismissal following the game. “You never mean to get a red card, under any circumstances,” Adams said of Weah. “He´s not that type of person.