Yahoo Sports ‘Emotions are running high’ – Pulisic at centre of controversy after USA’s Copa America exit
Christian Pulisic and the United States were dumped out of the Copa America last night and they lost 1-0 against Uruguay to mean they exited at the group stage.
Having won their opening game 2-0 against Bolivia – a game in which Pulisic got a goal, an assist and Man of the Match – the USA were in a good position to qualify for the knockout stages.
However, disaster struck against Panama as they let a 1-0 lead slip after Tim Weah’s red card, and the captain admitted after the game how much it hurt. The reason for that is partly because the final group game was against Uruguay, and it became virtually a must-win.
The host nation were indeed eliminated in the group stage after a defeat during the night at the hands of Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, but as Radio Rossonera write there was some anger on Pulisic’s part about the way the game was officiated.
It was The Athletic that reported the reasons for the US national team’s anger towards referee Kevin Ortega as he ‘seemed to lack the ability and experience to manage a match at a high pace’.
The most controversial episode occurred towards the end of the first half, when a misjudgment on an advantage given to the US thwarted an obvious counter-attack by Pulisic and his teammates.
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After the final whistle, the winger seemed to invite the three officials to celebrate together with Uruguay, and the referee Kevin Ortega refused to shake hands with the Milan player, sparking controversy in the States.
After the match that sealed the elimination from the Copa America, Pulisic himself commented on the USA’s performance in an interview with FOX.
“It’s difficult to say right now, obviously the emotions are running high. I mean we had a good start and brought a lot of energy but at the end of the day, just not enough quality. I felt like we gave it everything but just couldn’t find solutions to score,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk too much about the ref. It does get frustrating but yeah, that’s what this tournament is about, so we just have to do our best to cope with it.”
