The U.S. males’s nationwide crew’s rocky exit from the Copa America group phases took a contentious flip after the hosts’ 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Monday, when one of many referees refused to shake U.S. captain Christian Pulisic’s hand on the sector.
The incident occurred whereas each groups had been nonetheless on the pitch, with Uruguay celebrating whereas the U.S. gamers processed their earlier-than-anticipated exit. Whereas Pulisic shortly shook fingers with head coach Gregg Berhalter, he noticed a number of members of the refereeing crew and proceeded to name their consideration and level in the direction of the middle circle.
He then made his solution to the officers he noticed, once more making a remark and pointing towards the middle of the pitch earlier than shaking one of many referees’ fingers. The subsequent official, although, opted out of the handshake, holding his fingers behind his again as Pulisic put his hand out. The U.S. captain made one other remark earlier than transferring on.
It’s unclear what Pulisic mentioned at any level of the change.
The USMNT had been on a do-or-die match to avoid wasting their Copa America marketing campaign on Monday, however fell brief towards an Uruguay crew thought of to be a darkish horse contender to win the entire thing. The high-pressure scenario was made extra acrimonious by the refereeing crew, which was led by Peru’s Kevin Ortega. A number of arduous tackles went unpunished by Ortega and firm, whereas gamers on each groups exited the sport with harm issues — Uruguay’s Maximiliano Araujo got here off within the first half on a stretcher and in a neck brace, whereas the U.S.’ Folarin Balogun additionally left the sport earlier than halftime with a hip harm following a collision with Sergio Rochet. The USMNT’s Joe Scally additionally doubtlessly picked up a leg harm earlier than the break after a problem from Darwin Nunez, who was proven a yellow card after the very fact.
Members of the U.S. crew principally selected not to discuss the refereeing post-match, however Berhalter did reply a query in regards to the sport’s lone purpose. Mathias Olivera scored off a header within the 66th minute, however the purpose required a prolonged video assessment earlier than Uruguay got the inexperienced gentle. The refereeing crew checked for offside and deemed that the U.S.’ Chris Richards stored Olivera onside, however Berhalter mentioned he was shocked by the decision.
“It is fairly loopy, actually,” he mentioned. “I do not perceive it. I really feel like I do know the rule fairly properly. I really feel like we had the images, they had been displaying how the rule may very well be interpreted and it is an offside purpose. It is disappointing, it truly is however that occurs in soccer and we’ve got to stay with it, clearly.”
The USMNT completed third in Group C, behind first place Uruguay and second place Panama. Although the U.S. had been anticipated to advance to the quarterfinals, they in the end fell brief, first with a shock 2-1 loss to Panama final Thursday. The Copa America marks the USMNT’s final aggressive matches, outdoors of the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup, till the 2026 World Cup on dwelling soil.