The United States went down in Copa America history. For the worse: It is the first local team to be eliminated in the first phase of the tournament since the tournament began to be played in a single venue and with groups in 1987.
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After a first victory against Bolivia in their debut (2-0), Gregg Berhalter’s team fell against Panama (2-1) and this Monday sealed their elimination with a 1-0 defeat against Uruguay, in an eventful match at GEHA Field in Dallas.
The defeat came with a goal that caused controversy and left the refereeing team, led by the centre-back, the Peruvian Kevin Ortega, and the person in charge of the VAR, the Ecuadorian Carlos Orbe Ruiz, in a very bad position.
Uruguay’s winning goal came in the 66th minute, when defender Mathías Olivera took a rebound from goalkeeper Matt Turner and scored the 1-0 that ultimately proved decisive.
Was Uruguay’s goal validated correctly?
The goal took nearly four minutes to be recorded on the scoreboard, while the VAR drew the lines: Olivera seemed to be ahead when the initial shot came out. And the decision of the video referees, validated by Ortega, immediately sparked controversy.
The shot in which the lines were drawn was taken with a camera that was very far from the playing field and, instead of clarifying things, ended up complicating the decision even more.
Former Argentine referee Javier Castrilli was highly critical of the performance of Ortega and the VAR judges, who he also pointed out for other actions that occurred throughout the match.
However, other voices defended Ortega’s work, despite the goal that continues to cause debate:
This is not the first refereeing scandal in the Copa America. Colombian Wílmar Roldán was already in a very bad position, having contributed to Chile’s elimination by not sending off Canadian Moise Bombito for elbowing an opponent and for a controversial red card to Gabriel Suazo, when only 27 minutes had passed.
The incident sparked a protest from the Chilean federation, which requested the Colombian’s permanent retirement.
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