2024 Copa America: Panama Opens Asa After Beating The United States 2-1

Panama vs Amerika Serikat di laga kedua Grup C Copa America 2024 (Instagram/@usmnt).

JAKARTA - The second match of Group C between Panama vs. United States took place hot at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday, June 28, 2024. Two red cards and three goals colored this match.

The hosts were originally predicted to win easily and secure the second three points for tickets to the knockout phase faster.

In fact, beyond the expectations Panama was able to appear very dominating. Just look at the possession of the ball with striking differences.

Panama packed 74 percent possession with four shots on target from 13 attempts, while The Yanks was only able to threaten three times in six attempts.

The dominance was clear because the United States had to play with 10 people in the 18th minute. Timothy Weah was given a straight red card.

The United States actually scored a quick goal in the eighth minute, but the referee ruled it out after a VAR review.

Despite losing the number of players, the hosts were still able to put up a fight. They even scored first in the 22nd minute, aka four minutes after playing with 10 people.

Folarin Balogun opened the scoring after using assistant Antonee Robinson.

However, that advantage did not last long. Panama, which began to dominate, equalized through Cesar Blackman.

The 1-1 score lasted until the break even though Panama hit the United States defense in the remaining time.

In the second half, Panama took control of the game again. The United States tries to dampen it by doing a refresher.

There was an incident in the 64th minute in the penalty box, but the referee ruled out a white spot for Panama.

Despite bombarding The Yanks' area, in fact Panama struggled to find the lead of up to 10 minutes remaining.

The goal that was awaited only arrived in the 83rd minute through Jose Fajardo's flick which took advantage of Abdiel Ayarza's cross.

After that goal, the United States actually responded quickly. They can get out of the pressure by launching a lightning strike.

Panama was troubled by containing the counter-attack. In fact, they also had to play with 10 people after Adailberto Carrasquilla was rewarded with a straight red card after deliberately violating Christian Pulisic when he was in a favorable position for a counterattack.

However, until the game was over, no more goals were created. Panama managed to steal three points from the United States with a 2-1 win.

An additional three points made Panama open its hopes to the knockout stages. Now, they are in third place, behind Uruguay and the United States.

Before fighting Bolivia, Uruguay was caught packing three points, the same as that of the United States and Panama. This means that the final match will determine who will advance to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Copa America.