The U.S. men’s national team admitted that their poor performance vs. Uruguay led to Copa America elimination on Monday night, but referee Kevin Ortega was also at the forefront of criticism.
Ortega received ample complaints after the USMNT’s 1-0 group stage finale loss to Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium. Mathias Olivera’s 66th minute rebound finish proved to be the lone goal of the night which eventually passed a VAR check after the Napoli defender originally looked to be in an offsides position.
However, Ortega and his staff confirmed the goal, which led to Uruguay ousting the Americans from the tournament after only three matches on home soil.
USMNT captain Christian Pulisic was visibly frustrated with Ortega’s refereeing decisions throughout the match, which led to Ortega not shaking Pulisic’s hand at the final whistle. Pulisic and head coach Gregg Berhalter reassured media that the USMNT’s elimination was down to their poor play in each of the last two losses but didn’t hide when asked about Ortega’s performance.
“Honestly, I mean I saw things that I’ve never seen before right in front of my eyes today that I just I truly I can’t believe,” Pulisic told reporters. “It’s not why we lost; we’re not out of this tournament because of officiating. But really, I’ve just seen things that I just really, I mean I think everyone can just give admit I don’t know what I’m looking at. I don’t know what they’re calling. I don’t know what he’s calling, he gives no explanation. He’s doing things that I just can’t accept.”
“It’s pretty crazy, really,” Berhalter said. “I don’t understand it. You know, I feel like I know the rule pretty well. I feel like we had the pictures that are showing how the rule could be interpreted and it’s an offside goal. It’s disappointing, it really is, but you know, that happens in football and we have to live with it, obviously.”
The USMNT now enters an uncertain two-month break before hosting Canada and New Zealand this September in a pair of home friendlies.
