To say things went from bad to enough for the USMNT tonight won’t be enough. Mere hours ago, Gregg Berhalter’s side endured a shocking 2-1 loss against Copa America Group C rivals Panama. But what worsened the outcome of Matchday 2 was the Star and Stripes’ star players, Folarin Balogun and Chris Richards, facing racist abuses from infuriated netizens. Coming in to handle the matter for them is US Soccer Federation, who are ‘deeply disturbed’ by the incident.

They were quickly made aware of the online abuse and racism that both of their stars became subject to, and released a statement on X saying, “There is absolutely no place in the game for such hateful and discriminatory behavior. These actions are not only unacceptable but also contrary to the values of respect and inclusivity that we uphold as an organization. U.S. Soccer stands firmly against racism in all forms and will continue to support our players.”

Following the loss, an Instagram user named @jda222villa went to a post that was shared by Chris Richards following Bolivia’s victory, tagged him, and wrote, “Disgrace to the country…should go be a fairy blackie.” In response, the Crystal Palace defender posted the screenshot on his story and wrote, “👍🏻👍🏻noted.”

Meanwhile, Folarin Balogun had posted a story before the match about the kick-off times as per both the UK and the US timings. However, following the match, a user named @gastonchavez replied to his story by sending a bunch of monkey and banana emojis. That’s not all, as another netizen @youyoujiji13 messaged a couple of pictures of chimpanzees and wrote messages abusing his parents. The Monaco star again posted the screenshot of this message on his story.

Sadly, the criticism towards Balogun comes even after the striker scored a left-footed screamer from just outside a box to give his side a lead in the 22nd minute. The goal came just moments after Tim Weah was sent off but four minutes later, Panama equalized, later doubling their lead in the 83rd minute, just before they also went 10 men. Unfortunately, the result of the game has built a pressure of qualification into the knockout stages

USMNT on the edge of Copa America elimination after Panama loss

Certainly, it has not been a great day at work for Gregg Berhalter’s side. They share the same points as Panama in the group and but lucky are ahead of them with an additional goal difference. Therefore, a win is a must for USMNT in the final group-stage match against Uruguay. But it certainly won’t be an easy one for them as Marcelo Bielsa’s side are in solid form, who are the toppers and simultaneously thrashed Bolivia 5-0 today. 

To top it off, Panama will now get a chance to face the most vulnerable side of Group C. There’s no doubt they will look to clinch a victory in their final group stage game until Bolivia shows their magic. Either way, the next matchday is quite risky for USMNT as they may find themselves out of Copa America even before they anticipated it to be. For now, they shall cool down the online abuse matters and prepare for the crucial match.