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We’ll get to the Panama game in a bit, but first, think back to December 2022.

The United States men’s national team had just been eliminated from the World Cup by the Netherlands, losing in the round of 16 by a 3-1 margin. A nation was looking for answers: why couldn’t Gregg Berhalter’s side get the job done?

“When you look at the difference between the two teams; to me, there was some offensive finishing quality that we are lacking a bit,” Berhalter said of the second-youngest squad among the 32 in that tournament. “It is normal. We have a very young group and they are going to catch up to that.”

Ah, youth. There’s nothing more exciting in soccer than the concept of potential; the promise that for as good as a player or team may be now, just wait until they find their sea legs. With experience is supposed to come the intangibles that round out an athletic skill set. These are often the traits that turn a good player into a great one: an ​​erudite reading of the game or an otherworldly ability to anticipate the opponent’s next move, to cite a pair.

Still, it can be an underwhelming silver lining to fixate upon after a team is eliminated in a World Cup. Those only come around every four years and besides, there’s no guarantee that a player, much less a collective of them, will have squatter’s rights over national team spots as younger alternatives rise through the ranks.

At a certain point, a person or a team has to show that the proverbial “teachable moments” from past hardships have resonated and will inform better decisions thereafter.

Which brings us to Thursday night in Atlanta.

For a quarter of an hour, the USMNT was up for the challenge. Panama represents the type of foe that Berhalter’s side would welcome in these circumstances. In this all-Americas edition of the Copa America, ostensibly the CONMEBOL (South American) championship, one would think it’s better to face a CONCACAF rival you play regularly than one from a different confederation altogether.

After the final whistle, with his team having suffered a 2-1 defeat, Berhalter and his players repeatedly cited their familiarity with Panama. They knew Panama was a team that would play with chippiness in every action. They knew what Panama was all about and knew the approach they would take in hopes of shocking the tournament hosts.

It begs the question: if you knew where the opponent would lay its traps, why did you end up ensnared by one entirely of your own creation?

Since taking over in 2018, one of the hallmarks of Berhalter’s USMNT tenure has been his ability to stymy, overcome, and eventually run laps around Mexico. For decades, those two teams have fought for supremacy in CONCACAF’s balance of power. As nations such as Costa Rica or Canada enjoyed strong stretches this century, their success was contextualized vis-a-vis the region’s twin powers.

The framing does a disservice to the rest of CONCACAF, a sort of soccer classism built on past pedigree and fame surrounding a nation’s top players. The nature of a group draw, offering every team its next three opponents, inevitably fixates on the perceived “toughest” opponent in the three matches, regardless of their spot in the queue. So when you’re focused on a game against Marcelo Bielsa’s high-flying Uruguay at the end of the group, you risk overlooking the teams you fear less.

Teams like Panama.

Even after watching the highlight of Tim Weah’s 18th-minute red card offense a dozen times (or, perhaps, especially after watching it so often), it’s tough to fathom his decision-making. Before and after the match, the United States emphasized they knew Panama would tap into the dark arts to wrestle control over the game.

Tim Weah receives a red card after review for this contact 🟥 pic.twitter.com/phw8bSzdKR

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 27, 2024

Tim Weah is sent off! 😱

The United States player is shown a straight red for violent conduct 🟥

Big moment in this game… pic.twitter.com/WEmV5B9DKt

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) June 27, 2024

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The thing is, this wasn’t one of those cases. It wasn’t a response to a scything tackle or an incisive elbow behind the referee’s back. It was retaliation for an otherwise nondescript off-ball bump between a defender primed for a challenge and an eager attacker. For that to be the series of events that allowed Panama to play over 70 minutes with a man advantage? It undermines claims of “knowing” what to expect.

Well, maybe that’s unfair. There’s knowing what’s coming and then there’s planning accordingly. The latter part is of greater importance.

(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

To be fair, the gamesmanship the United States claimed to have expected did present itself.

Chief among the examples was the 12th-minute challenge by Cesar Blackman that saw the Panama player clatter into a defenseless Matt Turner in mid-air without making a serious nod toward the ball. Goalkeeper Turner suffered a knee injury in the process, which may have limited his mobility when Blackman placed an equalizer into the net just 14 minutes later.

Of course, Blackman escaped the collision without seeing a yellow card, but that’s another story.

In a cruel twist, the player who seemed poised to bring the “offensive finishing quality” that Berhalter longed for in 2022 did his part. Even after Weah’s red card and before Blackman’s goal, Folarin Balogun opened the scoring with the kind of attempt that only a special striker could confidently convert.

(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

The USMNT fought valiantly in the second half after Berhalter made a trio of adjustments to replace Turner with a fresh goalkeeper, withdraw one midfielder to add another defender, and swap out defensive midfielders to ensure stability. In theory, a 1-1 draw would have done wonders for the hosts, putting them on four points and Panama on one with one game each remaining.

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Eventually, Panama’s extensive ownership of possession (74%, or 72% when only considering touches in each attacking third) gave them enough time to turn one point into three. As Christian Pulisic succinctly put it after the game, “it’s not so easy to keep the ball” when you’re playing with one man less. Panama created its best chance of the game in the 80th minute and didn’t waste it.

Weah’s teammates and coach were quick to mention that the Juventus man was contrite after the match, relaying that he’d apologized for his action and the disadvantage it caused. Seemingly, he’ll soon have another chance (whether in the knockouts or after this tournament) to make things right — as others of this generation, including Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest have done following their own incidents on and off the pitch.

For now, however, the damage is done. Weah’s ill-advised shove gave Panama an advantage it may not have needed but certainly relished. Tyler Adams referred to Weah’s infraction as a “lesson” to reflect upon for the future. Pulisic assured us that Weah is “gonna learn from it”.

Haven’t we heard this before? Given how infrequently the USMNT can schedule friendlies against teams outside of CONCACAF, is there any excuse left for not having some level of mastery over the finer points of playing rivals within your confederation?

How can a team expect to outfox Uruguay, or one of Brazil or Colombia in a potential quarterfinal — to say nothing of the broader field at a World Cup — if it frequently falls victim to the opponents it knows best?

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The USMNT are in danger of blowing their big moment

(Top photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

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As Cenk Tosun finished off a seven-on-four counter-attack in injury time, the Turkey bench were off their seats to celebrate a 2-1 victory that sealed their qualification for the knockout stages.

It was chaotic stuff, and yet that was only the start of it. In the madcap aftermath, Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs handed out five bookings, extending the record set 20 minutes earlier for the most cards awarded in a single game at a European Championship.

Of the 18 cards shown, 16 were yellows and two were reds. Most curiously, five of the 18 were given to players who were not even on the field of play. 

It was, by a distance, the dirtiest game in Euros history. So what happened?

The game started well for the Czech Republic, who were disturbing Turkey’s superior midfield technicians with a man-to-man pressing system.

Then came a setback: an 11th-minute yellow card for Antonin Barak. Kovacs correctly punished the Fiorentina midfielder for dragging down left-back Ferdi Kadioglu.

That should have been the cue for Barak to play it safe for the rest of the game by avoiding risky tackles, but the 29-year-old was having none of it.

In the 20th minute, after taking a smart touch away from the challenge of Ismail Yuksek, Barak was quickly converged upon by two Turkey midfielders near the halfway line.

With the ball getting away from him and Hakan Calhanoglu closing fast, Barak stuck out his left foot in a desperate attempt to take it before Salih Ozcan.

Ozcan won the race and Barak stood on his foot, leaving him in a heap. After initially handing advantage to Turkey, Kovacs pulled play back for a foul and gave Barak his second yellow — the earliest sending-off in Euro’s history, beating the record held by former France defender Eric Abidal (24 minutes against Italy at Euro 2008).

The decision split pundits and commentators, with Andros Townsend on UK broadcaster ITV believing he had been harshly treated.

“This one was even more baffling. He’s in possession of the ball; he taps it away,” said Townsend. “It’s his follow-through that catches the Turkish player. You can always slow it down and freeze-frame it, but ultimately, he’s in possession of the ball.”

Either way, a player of Barak’s experience should know not to take risks in midfield in a must-win game having already been booked.

After Ozcan was booked in the 31st minute, the next card went to Czech striker Patrik Schick, who was not even on the pitch. The Bayer Leverkusen player was awarded a yellow for dissent and would have missed the Czech Republic’s last-16 game if they had qualified given he had picked up a yellow earlier in the tournament.

Schick, who is the Czech Republic’s all-time leading scorer at the Euros, was cautioned after he was seen forcefully pleading the case that Ismail Yuksek should have been booked for a forceful challenge on Lukas Provod, who was left writhing on the floor.

Yuksek won the ball fairly cleanly, but given the contentious nature of Barak’s second yellow, he might have had a point.

A few minutes later, Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz received Turkey’s second yellow card of the night. After beating West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal, Yildiz lost the ball to centre-back Robin Hranac. Yildiz left a tasty challenge on Hranac, who rolled around rather dramatically.

Had the referee not awarded Yildiz a yellow, there might have been a mutiny in the Czech dugout.

In between that decision and the real drama which took place after the final whistle, there were yellow cards handed out to Calhanoglu, who scored Turkey’s brilliant opener in the 51st minute, Mert Muldur, Vitezslav Jaros, Lukas Cerv and backup goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, who will miss Turkey’s round-of-16 tie against Austria next Tuesday.

By the time stoppage time began at the end of the game, the Euros record for cards in a game had already been comfortably eclipsed (14 yellows and one red, beating the previous high of 10). But after Tosun grabbed the winner, the drama really began.

With the Czech Republic on their way home, Turkey’s exuberant celebrations at the final whistle proved too much for many of their players. West Ham’s Tomas Soucek was the first to take exception to Orkun Kokcu fist-pumping in the middle of the pitch.

Shortly after, players and coaches from the sidelines ran onto the field to join a scuffle that was breaking out near the halfway line.

A red card — the Czech Republic’s second of the night — was then shown to Viktoria Plzen striker Tomas Chory, who had become involved in a physical tussle with Mert Gunok, Turkey’s No 1 goalkeeper.

As the referee struggled to keep control, he handed out yellow cards to Soucek and Arda Guler, Turkey’s wonderkid attacker who scored six goals in 10 league appearances for Real Madrid last season.

From a football perspective, this game was probably of little consequence. But thanks to its glorious lawlessness, especially in the dying moments, it now occupies a special place in Euro history.

(Top photo: Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images)

A relaxing afternoon for Reese Nelson can include perfecting a new version of a nose grab 720 in San Diego wearing her favorite Eminem shirt. Perhaps figuring out new ways to perform a kickflip nose slide to fakie. Maybe doing NBDs — “never been done” tricks — that can help her win X Games Ventura 2024 this weekend.

All with Tony Hawk watching in the background. Yes, that Tony Hawk. It’s the scenario when an 11-year-old skateboarding prodigy gets to train with the sport’s long-time GOAT.

Flip the script, and picture a stressful afternoon for Nelson. Playing dress-up with her cat, Bloody Mary, can be hectic, particularly when Mary isn’t as cooperative as Nelson’s other cat, Freddy Krueger. Then there are those occasions when Nelson and her younger sister quarrel while playing with their dolls. And let’s not forget when that game of Minecraft has a lousy ending.

Some might wonder why the aforementioned examples aren’t flipped. Playing with dolls and pets should be a joy. Doing insane tricks that require a skate lingo guide for non-fans on a vert ramp standing nearly 15 feet — tricks the world’s best skateboarders attempt (successfully and unsuccessfully) daily — should be the avoidable obstacles. For Nelson, the youngest-ever X Games medalist after last year’s effort in California, the harder the trick, the more determined she is to master it.

She knows her current lifestyle is challenging, but she puts on a protective helmet and pads every day to make personal battles with a vert ramp look like lightweight work. Her greatness is supported by a generational talent in Hawk, who has dominated the skateboarding scene since turning pro at 14 years old. It’s her tenacity, fearlessness and relentlessness that reminds him of a younger version of himself.

“She chooses the highest-level tricks to learn, and she follows through with them. At some point, she started making up some of her own,” Hawk said. “I’m talking about tricks that had never been considered in our realm, and she was doing them for the first time at the age of 10, 11.

“She is way ahead of anyone her age — or at any age, for the most part. It’s like she skipped all of the foundational steps in skateboarding to get to some of the most elite tricks.”

Add that incredible ability with tons of humility and a charming personality, and you get Nelson, a happy-go-lucky skateboarder who won over fans globally at X Games 2023, earning a silver medal in the Pacifico Women’s Skateboard Vert at 10 years and 8 months old. X Games 2024 runs Friday through Sunday in Ventura, Calif., and Sunday afternoon, Nelson once again will compete in the event and be tested on her execution of control, originality and overall use of the vert ramp.

Winning a gold medal Sunday would be an honor. Competing for the love of the sport, however, is what organically puts a smile on the face of the incoming seventh-grader who turns 12 in November. Some X Games competitors are viewing this weekend as win or bust. To Nelson, this is still just fun and games — and that’s OK.

Even if many skateboarding fans already consider her a wunderkind.

“Very quickly, I could tell that she had something extraordinary,” Hawk said.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Nelson and her family moved to San Diego roughly three years ago as a result of her dad’s occupation. Nelson’s household isn’t full of skateboarders. Nobody encouraged her to attempt ramp tricks. But as a 4-year-old, she learned to snowboard during the Canadian winters, and when her family moved to California, she was introduced to skateboarding and skate parks at 8.

With practice, she learned to control a skateboard, then she tried maneuvering on a vert ramp. That turned into a hobby. Now, this hobby has developed into something that’s given Nelson a spotlight she never imagined.

“It sort of just happened,” Nelson said. “I was just skating for fun, and then I started competing. I don’t know, everything just really happened at once.”

“She’d already caught the skating bug in Canada but didn’t have a lot of facilities there that suited what she was interested in, which was more vertical, half-pipe skating,” Hawk added. “When they moved, they realized they were in the epicenter of vert skating.”

Nelson first would learn to perform tricks on small ramps. She then began working with one of Hawk’s friends, pro skater Lincoln Ueda, who also works with members of the Chinese national team. Hawk took a phone call from Ueda that concluded with an emphatic message.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to see this little girl,’” Hawk said.

After viewing some of Nelson’s performance videos, Hawk received contact information for Nelson’s mother, Lindsey Bedier, and sent her a direct message through social media. He invited the family to his warehouse, where Nelson showcased her skills in person.

“It was crazy. I said to my husband, ‘Tony Hawk just DMed me,’” Bedier said. “Everyone thinks we moved to California for skateboarding, but we’re just not that hardcore. It was so crazy when he DMed.”

Nelson put on a show during their first encounter, and Hawk ultimately extended Nelson membership to his Birdhouse Skateboards team. Since then, the two have become quite close. It’s a businesslike mentor-mentee relationship some days, two friends acting goofy on others.

There are also those days when Nelson forgets Tony Hawk is the Tony Hawk. He has a lengthy list of accomplishments, which includes being the first to successfully complete a recorded 900 (2 1/2 full revolutions) in 1999. Nelson’s initial thoughts of the skateboarding legend are slightly different from those older than her, expected considering she wasn’t born when Hawk, now 56, was the face of the sport in the 1990s and 2000s.

Nelson often is reminded of how famous her mentor is. Whether it’s a food run to P.F. Chang’s (chicken fried rice is her favorite) or an event at a skate park, if she is with Hawk, she sees how excited his fan base gets. It doesn’t mean she understands the hype. Blame timing, as Nelson was born in 2012.

“I always think it’s weird how people just come up and want pictures,” Nelson said of Hawk.

“When we first went (to the warehouse), she was just like, ‘Oh, cool … like, let’s skate,’” Bedier added, laughing. “She had no idea.”

Hawk has a funnier interpretation of their relationship. As arguably the most well-known skateboarding mentor, Hawk can only shake his head when Nelson chooses against taking his advice. It’s as if his decades of experience are upstaged by the strong will of a preteen.

But in many forms, Hawk appreciates Nelson’s mental approach to the sport. She knows what she wants, and while she’s focused on daily improvement, she isn’t afraid to say no — not even to him.

“She is fiercely determined and dedicated, almost to a fault in terms of she will not give up,” Hawk said. “There are times when I try to tell her things, basic trick suggestions: Hey, maybe you should try to learn … ‘I don’t like them.’ This could be something you go to as a backup. If you lose speed, you … ‘Yeah, I don’t want to do that.’

“But I have helped her learn a couple of tricks. I will take credit for that.”

@reese__nelson 🌪️ #padup #187killerpads pic.twitter.com/oUEcYRL45X

— 187KILLERPADS (@187KILLERPADS) May 28, 2024

The middle child of three, Nelson brings a varied personality to the table. She loves Eminem and will vibe to his tracks when she tries to get into a zone. When she’s watching television, she loves the Netflix reality series “Nailed It!” as well as other baking shows.

Nelson has been homeschooled in previous years but is excited about in-person seventh grade in the fall. It’ll be the first time in years that she returns to schooling with other students.

When asked what’s more nerve-racking between starting middle school or landing 540s and 720s, she didn’t hesitate to respond.

“Going to middle school,” she said. “I mean, like, I’m nervous.”

When she arrives at her new school, she’ll have tons of stories to tell. Nelson lives a cool-yet-unorthodox life that some may think is as complicated as one of her gravity-defying attempts at a skate park. Even her mother calls her life “strange,” but that’s far from a diss. If anything, it’s the ultimate compliment.

How many people can say they know Hawk? How many can call or text the skateboarding icon at any hour? And how many, regardless of age, can say they’ve skated with Hawk and Beastie Boys member Ad-Rock on the same day — and treat it as “just another day?”

“Tony was like, ‘Hey, you want to come skate with Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys?’” said Bedier, a fan of the Beasties. “Reese was like, ‘OK.’ And I’m like … ‘What?!’

When Nelson isn’t skateboarding, she’s studying her personal favorites: Tom Schaar, the first to land a recorded 1080 (three revolutions), and Colin McKay, a fellow Canadian.

Nothing personal against Hawk, right?

“Tony is good, but I really like Tom Schaar’s skating. He’s strong and aggressive,” Nelson said. “Colin’s like that, too. Tony does good tricks, though.”

Nelson also keeps an eye on another youth skateboarder making news as of late. Arisa Trew, a 14-year-old from Australia, last month became the first-ever female skateboarder to successfully land a recorded 900. Trew is ranked the No. 2 female park skateboarder in the world, according to World Skate, and her 900 came 25 years after Hawk landed the trick at X Games V in San Francisco.

“She works hard. She’s good,” Nelson said of Trew. “I haven’t really thought about trying (the 900).”

ICYMI … The legacy of the 900 continues!

History has been made again and the similarities are uncanny.

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First @tonyhawk landed the World’s First 900 at X Games 1999, now Arisa Trew has become the first woman to land a 900 on a skateboard.

The torch has been passed. pic.twitter.com/0NqYlB9kAH

— X Games (@XGames) May 31, 2024

Nelson is still about having fun with skateboarding rather than building the legacy her fans might push for. Hawk constantly reminds Nelson that at this stage in her life, winning isn’t everything. Though winning a gold medal would be a monumental X Games achievement, simply competing in the prestigious event should be valued.

Keeping her expectations tempered arguably is Hawk’s toughest job as mentor. Particularly when it pertains to a competitor who enjoys showing off her aggressive style and attempting moves that come with the highest degrees of difficulty. Many times, those moves are successful. Sometimes, they miss — and Nelson is her worst critic.

“She’s very hard on herself, (but) I want her to still have fun with it,” he said. “Her determination and her fierceness is almost an impenetrable wall.”

“I feel pressure, but not because other people put it on me,” Nelson added. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect and to learn everything every time. And sometimes, it doesn’t work, which is annoying.”

Having Hawk as a mentor helps to keep Nelson’s life balanced, Bedier said. Hawk has four children, so he understands the pressures Nelson goes through as a young competitor, as well as the roller coaster of emotions Bedier deals with.

Hawk’s wisest words may consistently go to Bedier more often than Nelson, primarily because of the evolution of her daughter and what’s to come if she continues excelling in the sport.

“It’s been over three years. … He’s really become somebody I can rely on for advice and support, not just for Reese’s skating, but in terms of my role as a parent, like, what I can do to support her,” Bedier said. “His advice has been invaluable. It’s not just about tricks; it’s helping us navigate the world of skateboarding.”

Sunday will be Nelson’s time to shine, and she’s ready for the spotlight. But transforming into her own version of a superhero still is more for the memories and less for the fame and fortune.

X Games will get another chance to see the innocence of a rising star. And at the same time, Nelson will have another shot at showing why people should pay attention.

“I’m one of the older guys, but we’re talking about 20-, 30-year-old veterans of vert skating watching her, and they’re completely blown away,” Hawk said. “It’s not a novelty. It’s not, ‘Oh, she’s good for her age.’ She’s just that good.”

“It’s been a wild ride the last three years, and we didn’t seek any of this out,” Bedier added. “Reese has a really good group of people around her. We definitely hit the jackpot.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Ric Tapia / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images and Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)