The USMNT vs Panama clash during the match week 2 of Copa America was filled with drama. The game saw 2 red cards, a lengthy injury break, and some heated clashes between both sets of players. The match had to be stopped on multiple occasions with referee Ivan Barton not shying from flexing his authority. With all the interruptions, you’d have imagined that the game would have stretched for longer. However, with Ivan Barton just signaling for 4 minutes of added time, the USMNT did not have enough time to capitalize on the game being brought down to the level field. Former USMNT star Taylor Twellman spoke on the decision as he criticized CONMEBOL for ignoring the issue.

Twellman to his X account as he wrote, “4 minutes of extra time makes 0.0 sense with VAR, subs, goal, red card, etc. @CONMEBOL you up?!”

The former player was not the only one to voice his frustration with many fans also calling out the authorities for letting the referee’s decisions dominate the game.

Fans call out CONMEBOL for poor decision-making

USMNT fans were left frustrated on the back of their team’s result against Panama. Many felt the hosts deserved to pick up the win and would have done it if match official Ivan Barton did not dictate the pace of the game. Barton played a huge role in deciding the outcome with the referee sending off Tim Weah in the 17th minute putting the hosts at a man disadvantage for almost 80 minutes.

Fans took to social media to voice their frustrations with the officiating with some even blaming CONMEBOL for rigging the tournament. One fan used the World Cup as a reference claiming the amount of stoppages the game had the referee should have signalled for 11 minutes of added time.

Another fan outright claimed that the tournament was corrupted. While this mind sound like a harsh opinion, the frustration is understandable as the loss against Panama could end up costing the USMNT a place in the knockouts.

One fan commented on the standards of officiating claiming the referees often lose control of the game. This could be a big talking point as there has been a considerable debate between the qualify of soccer overall in North & South America compared to their European counterparts.

Fans also called out Panama for their playstyle as the visitors did their best to rile up the USMNT stars. This worked out in their favor following Matt Turner’s injury as Tim Weah lost his calm and ended up receiving a straight red.

There has been a lot of debate over Ivan Barton’s officiating during the contest. Do you think the match official cost the USMNT earlier tonight? Sound off in the comments below.