USMNT Exits Copa America Early, Ref Snubs Christian Pulisic of Handshake After Sad Loss To Uruguay

PublishedJuly 2, 2024 1:00 AM EDT|UpdatedJuly 2, 2024 9:24 AM EDT

Americans were left shocked Monday evening by the United States men's national soccer fumbling away another year of potential and, most importantly, getting us all to buy into soccer as a legitimate sport in the States. Alas, it was another disappointing ending for Gregg Berhalter and the ‘golden’ team.

The stakes of Monday's Copa America match between Christian Pulisic's USMNT and Uruguay were sickening to anyone bullish on American soccer.

To stay alive in the tourney, this year's iteration of the United States men's team (expected to finally break the seal on the sport's lack of relevance) faced a ‘do-or-die’ Group C face-off that still depended on the outcome of the Bolivia-Panama match.

Panama went on to defeat Bolivia, 3-1.

Then, Uruguay defeated the U.S., 1-0.

The USMNT won't make it out of the group stage for the first time — marking an all-time low, by most fans' estimations.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JULY 01: Yunus Musah and Tyler Adams of United States battles for possession with Manuel Ugarte of Uruguay during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 Group C match between United States and Uruguay at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on July 01, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

It was a night of heartbreak for the Yanks. Playing the match at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City felt special, as did the extra pair of eyes brought to the US men's team as the 2026 World Cup heads for the States.

Uruguay's victory was contentious as an apparent missed offsides call on Mathias Olivera led to the go-ahead and only goal of the match.

Nonetheless, the Americans played unfocused in another underwhelming campaign by a Gregg Berhalter-led U.S. team.

From Alexi Lalas' fiery postgame commentary to the discourse from American soccer fans on X, calls for Berhalter's job Monday night hit a fever pitch. Berhalter may finally be out of chances.

Fans leaving Arrowhead chanted, "Fire Gregg!"

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JULY 01: United States head coach Gregg Berhalter shakes hands with referee Kevin Ortega after playing Uruguay at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on July 01, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Lalas didn't buy the U.S. men's tepid reactions to losing and sounded off on the disappointing cycle of USMNT play:

"You talk about learning from losing, okay? I think what we have learned from these cycles is that this team is not able to do anything better than it has done in the past ... If this is as good as it gets, it's not good enough."

USMNT goalie Matt Turner reacted to the loss: "All the coaches can do is put you in the best position to have success and a lot of times we were in really good position to have success in every single game that we played this summer."

Officiating A Major Problem on Monday

The awful officiating also buried the Americans' chances all evening. Peruvian official Kevin Ortega received the second-most calls to be fired after several gaffes on a big-stage CONMEBOL match.

At one point, the sold-out Arrowhead crowd rightly chanted, "REFS YOU SUCK."

Pulisic and the U.S. were furious early in the match after Ortega pulled a yellow card but allowed Uruguay's play to continue.

Then, Ortega cut a Pulisic breakaway short, declaring the ball had ricocheted off a Uruguayan player's hand despite it landing with Pulisic.

After the match, Ortega snubbed Pulisic of a handshake after the American captain reached a hand out, bringing their on-pitch quarrel to a boiling point.

WATCH:

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JULY 01: Christian Pulisic of United States argues with Referee Kevin Ortega during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 Group C match between United States and Uruguay at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on July 01, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)

It was an all-around headache for USMNT, with seemingly no plan in place for success.

American soccer fans (on Fourth of July week!) were ticked off by the Yanks' early exit.

REACTIONS TO USA's DISAPPOINTING LOSS, GREGG BERHALTER, MORE:

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