USMNT knocked out of Copa America as VAR controversy overshadows Uruguay clash

The United States Men's National Team (USMNT) is out of this summer's Copa America after losing 1-0 to Uruguay on Monday .

The United States is hosing the soccer tournament and its team was expected to reach the knockout stages after being drawn in a relatively easy group with Uruguay, Bolivia, and Panama. But after Gregg Berhalter's players lost 2-1 to the latter nation in their second group game, reaching the quarterfinals was always going to be a big challenge.

With Bolivia beating Panama 3-1 in Monday's other Group C game, the USMNT needed to beat Uruguay and boast a better goal difference than its rivals to progress. Yet American hearts were broken in the 66th minute of the game when Mathias Olivera scored.

The goal was controversial, as Olivera appeared to be in an offside position in FOX's television replay. Yet the video assistant referee (VAR) confirmed Olivera was level with the USMNT's back line as the ball was delivered into the box.

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There were several questionable refereeing decisions during Monday's game, leaving FOX analyst and former soccer player Alexi Lalas furious with referee Kevin Ortega. "Well let's use his full name: It's Kevin Paulo Ortega Pimentel," said Lalas at halftime.

"Alright? You know when your parents get angry and they use your full name? Because this guy, this guy is completely out of his depth in this game and what he is doing.

"Now, this is not a reason for the US not being up, this is not a reason for the US not doing whatever it is, but this is a bad performance from the referee that is going to be part of the narrative. The other good side is, the US played a really, really good half."

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Speaking at fulltime, USMNT captain Christian Pulisic admitted: "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."

When pressed about the referee, Pulisic said: "There’s a lot (to discuss). 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."

Pulisic was then asked where the USMNT goes from here. He replied: "Now it’s just about getting a little bit of rest and regrouping and finding an identity again - and we have some big things ahead. So looking forward to that."