Early on in the Group C match in Atlanta, US striker Timothy Weah threw all the plans of the home team, who had beaten Bolivia 2-0 in their opening match, overboard with his red card (18th minute). The son of George Weah, World Footballer of the Year 1995 and President of Liberia until January of this year, had unnecessarily knocked his opponent to the ground while away from the ball at the halfway line.
The Americans, with Mönchengladbach’s Joe Scally again defending on the right, took the lead through Folarin Balogun’s second goal of the tournament (22′). But the “Reds”, coached by former Bochum Bundesliga top scorer Thomas Christiansen, struck back through Cesar Blackman (26′) and Jose Fajardo (83′), before Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla also made the game exciting again with a red card (88′).
In East Rutherford, Uruguay quickly set the course for victory thanks to Facundo Pellistri (8th) and followed up the 3-1 opening victory against Panama with a goal fest with further goals from Darwin Nunez (21st), Maximiliano Araujo (77th), Federico Valverde (81st) and Rodrigo Bentancur (89th). In the end, veteran Luis Suarez, aged 37, was allowed to play in the Copa for the first time.
