Tim Weah ‘moved on’ from red card in Copa América elimination

ST. LOUIS – US midfielder Tim Weah said he has “moved on” from the red card he received at the Copa América against Panama, although he admitted it “played a pretty negative role in how the rest of the tournament went .”

The United States will play Jamaica in the second leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals on Monday, with the USMNT holding a 1-0 aggregate lead.

Weah is in line to see his first minutes with the USMNT since that night in Atlanta, when a 10-man USMNT fell to Panama 2-1 following the Juventus winger’s red card.

The incident played a significant role in the United States failing to navigate past the group stage, as well as the subsequent firing of manager Gregg Berhalter.

“It was tough,” Weah said of the red card during Sunday’s media availability. “It played a pretty negative role in how the rest of the tournament went and obviously no player wants that to happen. No player wants to be the reason his team gets knocked out. Or not exactly the reason, but it played a huge factor in why we didn’t go ahead.

“So I mean it was a moment and I think I’ve kind of accepted it and kind of matured so it just never happened again and we just have to move on.”

With no club football to return to, Weah was left to ponder what happened and how to move forward. He said the support of his teammates and family helped him get past what happened.

“Having the summer break kind of just (put) a lot of things into perspective and kind of just focused on all the positives, just being there for the rest of the guys and soaking up all the love I can from the family,” he said.

“Obviously the negative comments on the internet didn’t really look at it so that kind of helped. But leading up to the Copa we had this big dream of doing something amazing and it didn’t happen and it was just And now we can focus on something second, focus on something bigger and now it’s just time to work on it and be positive and go in the positive direction.”

USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino said Weah will definitely play against Jamaica and wrote off the young winger’s red card to the kind of mistakes that can happen to up-and-coming players.

“I think for sure he will have minutes tomorrow and he will be on the pitch,” Pochettino said. “I think he’s a very good player, very aggressive with the ball, quick, good legs and I think he’s young, but that’s normal. He can make a mistake.

“We have to help him to develop and learn, but I think he is a very smart player who is always smiling. He brought very good energy to the group, but the most important thing is the performance and how he will perform tomorrow and hope he can add his quality and help the team achieve a very good result.”

While an ankle injury hampered Weah’s season with Juventus for a period, he has scored four goals in eight Serie A appearances this term and is becoming more of a regular presence in Thiago Motta’s lineup.

Weah’s play has been noticed by international and club mates Weston McKenniewho described Weah’s form as “flying”. “I’m happy for him as well because last year he was more in a defensive role and I think that takes a bit away from his attributes,” McKennie said of Weah.

“As you know, wingers aren’t usually the ones who are used to running that much, but he kept his role last year and so I think this year I think we can see a bit more of a real Tim in an attacking position, take players on to get crosses, score goals, get into the box, so I think it’s great for him.