The U.S. men's national soccer team suffered a tough 2-1 defeat at the hands of Panama on Thursday ... and some fans crossed the line when voicing their frustrations with the result -- forcing the organization to address racist remarks thrown at its players.
Following the loss in the Copa America tournament -- which now makes Monday's game against Uruguay a must-win for the Red, White and Blue -- some backers used social media to hurl disgusting reactions at the players.
The men's national team wasted no time defending its roster ... releasing a statement shortly after the contest to call out the hateful behavior.
The statement did not specify which players received the hate ... but 22-year-old forward Folarin Balogun and 24-year-old defender Chris Richards shared messages they got on their respective Instagram accounts.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time racism had to be addressed in Copa America -- following Canada's 2-0 loss to Argentina, one of its players had a similar experience. Just like Team USA, the team did not specify the player ... but many observed racist remarks being made in the comment section of 24-year-old center-back Moise Bombito's posts.
The governing body of Copa America -- CONMEBOL -- responded as well, saying, "We condemn attitudes of intolerance in every place and on every occasion, especially those hiding behind social media accounts in any form."