Hosts USA weaken themselves against Panama and threaten to crash out of the Copa America early – while Uruguay reach the quarter-finals with an offensive firework display
Instead of booking their quarter-final ticket early, the USA are in danger of an early exit from the Copa America at home. In Atlanta on Friday night (CEST), Christian Pulisic & Co. surprisingly lost 2:1 to Panama, which must have caused Timothy Weah in particular a sleepless night.
The 24-year-old Juventus striker, son of former world footballer George Weah, made an off-the-ball tackle on the head of his opponent Roderick Miller in the 18th minute and was punished with a straight red instead of a yellow card after VAR intervention. His team-mates, who had already failed to score against the aluminum in the person of former Munich player Chris Richards, nevertheless took the lead when Folarin Balogun flicked a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top right-hand corner (22′). However, Cesar Blackman equalized just four minutes later (26).
Although the USA, with Gladbach’s Joe Scally outnumbered, held out until the final phase – without becoming dangerous themselves – Panama forced the victory with increasing pressure: substitute José Fajardo overcame substitute keeper Ethan Horvath, who had come on at the break for the injured Matt Turner (83′).
The final matchday in Group C will therefore see Panama and the USA go head-to-head in the battle for a place in the quarter-finals, but neither of them will be going into the match with the best of intentions: Panama lost one of their most important players, Adalberto Carrasquilla, in the closing stages because he knocked Pulisic over from behind in a fit of madness and was shown red (88′); the USA, on the other hand, who are only second ahead of Panama thanks to their better goal difference (3:2 vs. 3:4), have a much tougher opponent in Uruguay.
Driver Araujo: Uruguay take Bolivia apart
After beating Panama 3:1 to open the Copa, the record Copa champions also won their second game without much trouble and advanced to the knockout round ahead of schedule – most likely as group winners. Coach Marcelo Bielsa’s side were superior in every respect in their 5-0 win over Bolivia. After Facunda Pellistri took the lead (8′), Maximiliano Araujo, who had scored a dream goal against Panama, set up Darwin for the 2-0 (21′) and scored the 3-0 himself (77′).
However, the MetLife Stadium got particularly loud between the 4-0 (Fede Valverde, 81′) and 5-0 (Rodrigo Bentancur, 89′) when Uruguay’s record goalscorer Luis Suarez was substituted for Darwin. The 37-year-old, who has already collected 12 goals and five assists in 16 competitive games for Inter Miami this season, had been questionable before the tournament due to knee problems and now made his first appearance.
