Tim Weah apologized to his teammates and USMNT fans after his red card in the shock Copa America defeat to Panama.
Weah, 24, was initially shown a yellow card for the incident in the 18th minute of the USMNT’s 2-1 loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after appearing to lash out at Panama defender Roderick Miller off the ball.
After seeing the contact referee Ivan Barton booked Weah before going to the screen and upgrading his decision to a red.
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Posting to Instagram, the Juventus forward said: “Today, I let my team and my country down. A moment of frustration led to an irreversible consequence, and for that, I am deeply sorry to my teammates, coaches, family and our fans.
“Moving forward, I am committed to learning from this experience, not allowing an opponent to provoke me, and working to regain the trust and respect of my team and supporters.
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“No matter what I will always fight for my team and my country till the day I’m no longer needed or capable to! I sincerely apologize to everyone.
“My love for this team goes beyond just football and I’m so sad and angry at myself for putting my brothers through what they went through tonight.”
The dismissal was the fastest USMNT sending off since Jimmy Conrad after 17 minutes of a 2010 friendly against Honduras.
It is Weah’s second career red card and a first with the USMNT. His other came in 2022 against Nantes while playing for Lille.
“You never mean to get a red card, under no circumstances, he’s not that type of person,” midfielder Tyler Adams said after the game.
“He apologized to the team and just respect to the rest of the team because they fought for every single ball, every single dual, every single minute and they still created chances after going down to 10 men so it shows our quality.”
“Timmy knows the mistake he made,” captain Christian Pulisic said. “That’s it. He’s gonna learn from it. Yeah, it sucks. It’s not the way you want to put your team in that position.
“It sucks. It hurts and it’s just the minimum: it’s a lapse of judgment. It’s just one simple second, you respond to something, so yeah, it’s disappointing.”
Head coach Gregg Berhalter called Weah’s actions a “silly decision” that didn’t help as his side ultimately fell to defeat in Atlanta.
“I can’t fault the effort of the group, especially after going down the man,” he said. “The guys dug in, and we were close to coming out with a point. But you know, it’s a shame, because there was more in this game.
“A silly decision by Timmy that leaves us shorthanded, So it is, you know, and then you have the whole thing that’s moving with the referee throughout the game. It led to some strange, strange circumstances, for sure.”
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Tournament regulations mean any red card also brings with it a one-game suspension regardless of the phase of the competition.
CONMEBOL’s disciplinary unit can also impose a greater sanction than the automatic one-game ban.
Given the nature of the offence, Weah — who has 40 caps and six goals for the USMNT — is now likely to be suspended for any potential quarterfinal tie.
“We have options,” Berhalter said of how he could replace him against Uruguay on Monday night.
“We have a number of players that can play in the winger position and we’ll figure out whether it’s Haji (Wright), Brendan (Aaronson), or other players that have played there before, so we’ll figure it out.”
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How Copa America Group C ended for the USMNT
(Eduardo Munoz/AFP via Getty Images)