USMNT Suffers Shock Upset: 3 Copa America 2024 Thoughts

Not great Gregg!

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

The United States Men’s National Team suffered a shock upset to Panama on Thursday evening that saw the Stars and Stripes’ chances of getting out of the group stage of Copa America 2024 take a massive hit.

The night got off to a poor start when Tim Weah was sent off after hitting a Panamanian opponent in the head. Still, Folarin Balogun was able to open the scoring and give the USMNT a lead.

But moments later Panama found the back of the net and added another goal in the 83rd minute before Adalberto Carrasquilla was sent off for a horrible chop down of Christian Pulisic.

On top of the 2-1 defeat, Matt Turner was replaced at half due to injury.

After a shock loss, here are three thoughts.

1 - Tim Weah Has To Be Smarter

The early red card to Tim Weah was well deserved. It was a clear hit to the head which is inexcusable.

Weah is an underrated but key contributor to the USMNT. He can not be making dumb decisions like he made against Panama.

After the disaster red card from Sergino Dest, you would have hoped that the U.S. would have smartened up but clearly Weah let the emotions of the game get the best of him.

2 - Matt Turner Could Be On The Hot Seat

After being clattered into, Turner was forced to leave the match at half.

The former New England Revolution goalkeeper has been on a rollercoaster of form as of late. While against Brazil, Turner stood on his head; against Panama, he struggled. The lone goal Turner allowed was poor from him. The “best case-scenario” is that he was hampered by his leg injury.

If Ethan Horvath is forced to replace Turner moving forward and stands on his head for the remainder of the tournament — which could be one game — he could make a claim for the starting job.

3 - Gregg Is On The Hot Seat

Losing to Panam should have U.S. Soccer seriously questioning if Gregg Berhalter is the right man to lead the nation in the 2026 World Cup.

Even after Weah’s red card, the U.S. was able to jump out to a lead. The red card didn’t ruin the game and even at a man disadvantage, the U.S. should have beat Panama.

The Panamanians are no push over but this is simply a match you have to win if you are going to be a serious footballing nation. The effort in the second half was lacking and the U.S. couldn’t find another goal.

Looking ahead to the match against Uruguay, if the USMNT fails to make it out of the group stage, Berhalter should be fired. If this team was about to enter into the World Cup, I would have zero faith that it would advance out of the group stage.

The 2026 World Cup is arguably the most important in the history of U.S. Soccer. Fans deserve a coach that they can be confident in to deliver wins and progress in the coming years.