The U.S. men’s national team endured a major setback last week against Panama and know another one will spell the end of their Copa America involvement.
Following a 2-1 loss to Panama last Thursday, the Americans are level with the Panamanians heading into Monday’s showdown with Group C leaders Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium. Both the USMNT and Panama will be in action at the same time during Monday’s two-match schedule, putting the pressure on both teams to lay it all on the line.
The USMNT faced similar pressure during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when a 1-0 group stage finale victory over Iran sealed the Americans advancement into the Round of 16.
USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams revealed that him and his teammates have reflected back to those past moments as a good experience to bring into Monday’s matchup.
“It’s a good experience to have in our back pocket,” said Adams during Friday’s press conference. “I think going into the Iran game we knew what we needed to do and we accomplished that goal.
“It’s a similar situation now, obviously, a win in the best circumstances to go into the next round,” he added. “But we’re all confident again, when we have 11 players on the field that can go toe to toe with anybody.”
The USMNT played majority of their 2-1 loss to Panama down to 10-men following Tim Weah’s ejection in the 19th minute. Weah, who was handed a two-match suspension from CONMEBOL on Saturday, will not be available for the Americans until the semifinal round, should they advance that far.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner left the defeat due to an apparent leg injury and did not return in between the posts. The 30-year-old Turner suffered the injury after colliding with Panama’s Cesar Blackman in the first half, forcing Ethan Horvath to play the final 45 minutes from Arizona.
Berhalter did not confirm Turner’s starting spot for Monday’s USMNT-Uruguay showdown, but didn’t rule him out of contention either.
“Matt did limited training yesterday and then limited training again today,” said Berhalter on Sunday. “We will continue to monitor him to see his status.”
Folarin Balogun leads the team with two goals while captain Christian Pulisic delivered a sensational solo effort in a 2-0 opening night victory over Bolivia last Sunday. Left back Antonee Robinson has been one of the more impressive defenders so far, but Tim Ream and Chris Richards have struggled at times against the dynamic attacking units of both Bolivia and Panama.
Robinson knows that there are a lot of scenarios in which the USMNT can advance to the quarterfinals but admitted that getting back to winning ways is the easiest to get the squad confident again.
“In terms of it being an oddity, there’s also a lot of different circumstances that can happen in the game that can still pull us through to the next stage,” Robinson said Friday. “So in terms of our head, we just have to think that a win definitely gives us the best chance of going through.
“And if we take care of business on the day and we don’t go through then that’s unfortunately what will be will be, then we have to look back to the fact that we let ourselves down in the previous game,” he added. “But I’d like to think that if we win that we will be going through so give ourselves the best chance and go from there.”
