The day of reckoning for Gregg Berhalter and his U.S. team began with torrential rain and flash flood warnings in Kansas City. Then, as kickoff approached, a sea of grey clouds slowly parted to give way to glorious sunshine.
In the end, though, any hopes of that dramatic turnaround in the heavens that heralded an improvement in fortunes for Berhalter and his woeful team proved fallacious as a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay in their final group game at the Copa America sent them packing at the first hurdle.
What should have been the springboard to catapult the U.S. into a World Cup on home soil in two years’ time, filled with confidence and faith in the country’s national soccer team, has ended in disaster. The United States will no longer participate in this sporting festival on home turf, with Panama’s 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the other crucial Group C match confirming that it will advance to the knockout stage at the expense of the hosts.
Here, in front of 55,460 American and Uruguayan fans, Mathias Olivera’s 66th-minute goal completed a clean sweep for Marcelo Bielsa’s impressive visitors in the group stage, three wins in three, although the iconic coach was unable to see it firsthand due to a touchline ban.
The United States is out of the Copa America after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Monday in Kansas City.
The first 10 minutes in Kansas City proved to be a slow, cautious affair as both teams got acquainted with a slightly uneven playing surface, but as the first half progressed, it was the United States that slowly got into gear and began to feed off a boisterous crowd inside Arrowhead.
They created their first chance of the half in the 13th minute when Giovani Reyna received a pass on the left side of the box from Weston McKennie, but Sergio Rochet got down and saved his ball on goal.
With victory almost certain to advance tonight, Berhalter’s men came out firing with the urgency of a team fighting for its life. Against a Uruguay side that was so far in fine form and threatening to go all the way and end their 13-year wait for another title, they were the ones in control.
Yet for all the energy and all the desire to do something, the United States had failed to test Rochet despite their encouraging start. Then, to inject the first dose of anxiety of the night, came the dreaded news from Orlando. Panama had taken the lead against Bolivia and, as things stood, the host country was packing its bags.
Almost as if they were aware of the other crucial result of the night, the United States suddenly deflated. Jose Fajardo’s opening goal in Florida seemed to kill the mood both on the field and in the stands. Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde began to dictate play, along with Flamengo’s dangerous Nicolas De La Cruz. Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez was brilliant, but, as always, lacked a great end product.
Controversial refereeing decisions were the main topic of conversation in last week’s shock loss to Panama. And tonight, Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega did nothing to calm the angry crowd in Kansas City, making a series of questionable decisions against the hosts.
The pressure is on Gregg Berhalter after his team crashed at the first hurdle.
None was more peculiar than when, in the 32nd minute, he inexplicably allowed Nunez to take a short free kick and catch the U.S. napping while also showing Chris Richards a yellow card for a foul on De La Cruz. To spare the U.S. embarrassment and outrage, Tim Ream mercifully ran back and made a crucial block to deny Nahitan Nandez.
Ten minutes later, the atmosphere boiled over, again as a result of a baffling decision by the referee. As Uruguay continued to press for an opening goal, a clearance by Richards appeared to graze Manuel Ugarte’s hand. The ball dropped into the U.S. half of the field and fell to Pulisic, who spun sharply to beat his man and seemingly spark a counterattack. It was at that point that Ortega decided to blow the whistle for a handball on Ugarte, refusing to take advantage of what seemed like a clear advantage.
Shortly before, Berhalter had suffered a blow when first-choice striker Folarin Balogun was forced off the pitch through injury and replaced by Ricardo Pepi. Balogun had earlier been fouled heavily by Ronald Araujo which was not called and which took its toll on the 22-year-old before the break.
After the break, it was clear that Uruguay were the team that dominated the game. Bielsa may not have been there to cheer them on at the break, but in the first ten minutes of the second half the visitors came close to scoring with a series of shots that were not up to par. Valverde, who was by now in his prime, fired a long-range missile wide.
Just when hope seemed to fade, just when the United States was beginning to look like a team running out of ideas and stamina, more news filtered in from Orlando. This time, the American contingent inside Arrowhead came back alive.
Bolivia, which had not scored a goal in the tournament so far, had secured a victory for Berhalter and company by drawing against Panama and drastically changing the story in Group C. Or so it seemed.
Mathias Olivera scored the goal that turned out to be the winner for Uruguay in the final.
Because a second later, as hopeful chants of “USA, USA” echoed throughout the four walls of this famous stadium, Uruguay burst their bubble to turn the script around once again.
De La Cruz took a free kick from the right and Ronald Araujo headed the ball, forcing Turner to save. The ball fell to substitute Olivera, who slotted it in from point-blank range to break the tie and discourage the Americans.
There was a lengthy VAR review but the conclusion was that Olivera was narrowly offside and the goal was allowed.
And to finally put the final nail in the coffin, moments later Panama regained the lead in Florida to bring the U.S. tournament to an abrupt and grim end.