After its failure to defeat Panama, the United States Men’s National Team needed a victory Monday against Uruguay to move on to the quarterfinals of Copa America.
Aswell, it had to surpass Panama on goal difference from its failure to defeat them last Thursday.
The opening whistle blew and after a chaotic 90 minutes, the United States failed to do so. The U.S. has hosted 20 continental and global tournaments, totaling 17 Gold Cups, two Copa Americas and one World Cup. For the first time, it has been eliminated in the group stage of those tournaments.
With 45 minutes gone, the U.S. matched Uruguay’s energy, pace, tenacity and effort. But sometimes in Copa America and all of CONMEBOL, the officials can be on cruise control and let players get very physical. This results in inconsistent showings of cards, and whistles for fouls and penalties.
There were many instances Monday, but the United States had done its job and kept Uruguay off the board. But in the 66th minute off a free kick about 40 yards away from the net, Uruguay’s Mathias Olivera found the net after a rebound off U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Uruguay had taken the lead, but as soon as the ball went through, almost the entire U.S. squad raised their hands indicating that the Uruguayans were offside.
VAR, or video assistant referee, which is rather new to soccer as it was introduced in 2016, looked at the goal. Seemingly, offsides would be ruled and the goal would be disallowed. The U.S. was off the hook. But no, even after an extensive look, referee Kevin Ortega gave the goal.
The VAR image of the offside check on Uruguay's goal vs. the USMNT ? pic.twitter.com/bKAQkSEoHT
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 2, 2024
But again, the U.S. put itself in these situations and it needs to find a way to get out of them. It had chances, but it wasn’t enough.
So, who is to blame? The ref, the players, the disappointment from the previous match, or the coach?
Well, all are subject to criticism, but you play to win the game. Regardless of the official and the tendencies of the South American federation, the officiating is and must be the least bit of concern. Even if the goal had been disallowed and the result was a 0-0 draw, it still would not have been enough due to Panama’s 3-1 victory over Bolivia.
The players? Again, you cannot fire the players. No matter how good they are for AC Milan, Juventus, Fulham, PSV — the list of top-flight domestic teams goes on and on — but the fact of the matter is, this group can’t get it done.
To piggy-back on the players, and their conduct as well: Tim Weah’s actions causing the U.S. to be shorthanded against Panama is absolutely up for criticism in regard to why this team isn’t moving on. But that is in the past. You win, you move on — it's that simple.
These results affect the whole program. Look no further than the Fox Sports 1 postgame coverage.
“With 2026 coming barreling down the pike, it’s going to come real quick,” Alexi Lalas sad, who appeared in two World Cups and 96 international games for the U.S. “We can’t afford to waste it, we can’t afford to be embarrassed, we can’t afford to arrive in the summer of ‘26 with a team that has not progressed, not evolved and not improved.’”
Lalas’s criticism was supported by USMNT great Clint Dempsey, who was the first American to score in three World Cups and accrued 141 appearances for the red, white and blue.
“Where have we progressed since 2022? You qualify for the World Cup, you get out of the group, and then where have we progressed? We haven’t,” Dempsey said. “If this is our golden generation, it looks like we are wasting it.”
Fox’s lead studio host Rob Stone mentioned how he had to monitor the result of the match between Bolivia and Panama show how big of a failure this is.
Throughout my coverage of the USMNT during the group stage, Berhalter’s inability to win big games has been well-documented. But after this loss, Berhalter is now 0-5-5 against teams in the FIFA top 15, not named Mexico, who the U.S. is unbeaten against in competitive matches this decade.
Whether it was a failure to beat England and win its group or the Netherlands to be the second U.S. team to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup. Or whether it was beating Colombia and Brazil in Washington D.C. and Orlando, respectively, in the pre-Copa America tune-up friendlies last month. Or, finally, Uruguay when its back was against the wall — Berhalter’s group hasn’t delivered
Fox’s Jenny Taft spoke with Turner after the loss, and Turner still believes that Berhalter leads the Stars and Stripes into 2026.
“I see no issues with the direction we are heading,” Turner said. “It speaks volumes to how the manager prepares us.”
A very uninspiring response to say the least.
Post Panama, Lalas harped on how the players must show their affection for Berhalter with a win Monday. He is not buying it anymore after downplaying the idea from the players that everything is fine and dandy in the locker room and in training.
“I’m sure if Gregg Berhalter was here, he would say, ‘But you don’t see what is happening inside,’ — I don’t give a crap what is happening inside,” Lalas said. “I don’t care about the dynamic, I don’t care how much your players love you, I don’t care how kumbaya it is. All I care about is I see a USMNT that is better than before and we haven’t seen that, and that's a problem going forward.”
So, it’s back to the drawing board. The United States Soccer Federation will review the tournament and do the same thing it always does as the summer comes to an end.
The next international window will come, the U.S. will play its September friendlies and continue to dominate in CONCACAF — but that will never be enough.
