United States' Copa America hopes dealt blow after upset loss to Panama

Tim Weah threw an inexcusable punch, and the United States took a huge blow to its hopes of advancing at the Copa America.

Jose Fajardo beat backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath in the 83rd minute to give Panama a 2-1 victory on Thursday night over the shorthanded Americans, putting the host country in danger of elimination if it doesn't beat Uruguay in its first-round finale.

The U.S. played most of the game a man down after Weah was sent off in the 18th minute.

"You never mean to get a red card. Under no type of circumstances," teammate Tyler Adams said. "He apologized to the team."

Weah issued a public apology on social media.

"I let my team and my country down," he said. "A moment of frustration let to an irreversible consequence, and for that I am deeply sorry to my teammates, coaches, family and our fans."

Weah was sent off by Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton with a straight red card for punching Roderick Miller in the back of the head.

"A silly, silly decision by Timmy that leaves us shorthanded," coach Gregg Berhalter said.

Folarin Balogun put the U.S. ahead in the 22nd minute but Cesar Blackman tied the score in the 26th.

Horvath, who replaced injured Matt Turner at halftime, couldn't prevent Fajardo's close-range shot from going through his arms, and Panama beat the U.S. for just the third time in 27 meetings.

"A win tonight would have put us in a great position, and unfortunately the opposite happened," American star Christian Pulisic said. "I'm proud of the effort that we responded with after obviously what happened [with Weah], but just really disappointed that's the way we did it."

The U.S., which opened with a win against Bolivia, likely will need to beat 15-time Copa champion Uruguay on Monday at Kansas City,