Christian Pulisic Gets ‘Heated’ With Referee Before Blaming USMNT’s Lack of Quality vs Uruguay for Copa America Elimination

It’s all over for the US Men’s National Team! The host nation has been thrashed out of the 2024 Copa America group stages following a narrow defeat against Uruguay. While the blame goes on the head of Gregg Berhalter and Co., many would argue it’s the poor refereeing that prohibited the Star and Stripes from showcasing their magic. In fact, the aftermath saw infuriated Christian Pulisic confront the officials.

While other US stars went to shake hands with the whole crew of officials, the AC Milan star was rather seen arguing with them, as per journalist Jon Arnold on X. In fact, the referee Kevin Ortega, even refused to shake hands with the USMNT skipper. Yet, there was nothing that Pulisic could do about it as there was merely a conversation that took place with the ref. Rather, it must have been a way for the former Chelsea star to vent out his anger over the exit of his nation.

Notably, there were a lot of controversial moments that made the Peruvian-based referee a villain in the eyes of the Americans. In the opening minute, Gio Reyna gained possession after Uruguay lost the ball, but he was brought down by a rough challenge from behind, with Ortega allowing play to continue. Another moment saw Chris Richards clear the ball, which deflected off Manuel Ugarte’s hand. Despite the deflection setting up Pulisic for a potential counter-attack and goal, Ortega halted the game for a handball.

Furthermore, the referee’s contentious decisions sparked criticism online from notable figures such as JJ Watt, Carli Lloyd, Alexi Lalas, and Taylor Twellman. While Ortega is said to have a hand in USMNT’s loss, Pulisic thinks otherwise.

Christian Pulisic highlights USMNT’s lack of attack and acknowledges ‘frustration’ over referee’s decisions

As the final whistle blew, Christian Pulisic was taken aside by Fox Sports presenter Jenny Taft to address the USMNT’s exit from Copa America. The AC Milan forward said, “It’s difficult to say right now. Obviously, the emotions are running high. We had a good start and brought a lot of energy but at the end of the day, there just wasn’t enough quality. I felt like we gave everything but we just couldn’t find the solutions to score.”

Aside from taking the blame on his own and the team’s shoulders, Pulisic also tried his best to express his discontent with the referee’s decisions in the match. “There’s a lot [of frustration]. I don’t wanna talk to much about the ref. It does get frustrating but that’s what this tournament is about so we just have to do our best to cope with it through,” he added. Clearly, the skipper is sad over his nation failing to secure a place in the knockout stages.