A day of reckoning for Gregg Berhalter and his United States team began with torrential rainfall and warnings of flash floods in Kansas City. Then, as kickoff drew closer and closer, a sea of grey clouds slowly parted to make way for glorious sunshine.
Though in the end, any hopes of that dramatic shift of the skies foreshadowing an upturn in fortunes for Berhalter and his sorry side proved fallacious as a 1-0 defeat against Uruguay in their final group outing at the Copa America sent them packing at the very first hurdle.
What should have been the springboard to catapult into a World Cup on home soil in two years’ time full of confidence, full of belief in the country’s soccer team has ended in a disaster. USA will play no more part in this sporting festival on their own turf.
On Monday night they succumbed to a late 1-0 defeat to Uruguay which proved the final nail in the coffin, with Mathias Olivera’s strike completing a clean sweep for Marcelo Bielsa’s impressive outfit in the group stage. And crucially, a 2-1 win for Panama over Bolivia means they head into the knockout stages at the expense of the host nation.
USA is out of the Copa America after a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay on Monday in Kansas City
The first 10 minutes in Kansas City proved a slow and cagey affair as both teams got to grips with a slightly patchy playing surface, yet as the first half progressed it was the hosts who slowly kicked into gear and began feeding off a boisterous crowd inside Arrowhead.
In the 13th minute they carved out their first half chance when Giovani Reyna was released through on the left side of the box by Weston McKennie, only for Sergio Rochet to get down and stop his ball across goal.
With a win almost certainly required to advance here tonight, Berhalter’s men fired out of the blocks with the urgency of a team scrapping for their lives. Against a so-far rampant Uruguay side threatening to go all the way and end their 13-year wait for another title they were the ones in control.
However for all the energy, for all the desire to make something happen, USA had still failed to truly test Rochet despite their encouraging start. Then, to inject the first dose of anxiety of the evening, the dreaded news trickled over from Orlando. Panama had taken the lead against Bolivia, and as things stood the host nation was packing its bags.
Almost as if they were privy to the crucial other score on the night, USA suddenly went flat. Jose Fajardo’s opener in Florida appeared to kill the mood both on the field and in the stands. Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde began to dictate the game, along with the dangerous Nicolas De La Cruz of Flamengo. Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez looked bright but, as ever, lacked end product.
Controversial officiating decisions proved the major talking point in last week’s shock defeat to Panama. And this evening Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega hardly helped cool a fervent rabble in Kansas City, making a series of questionable calls against the hosts.
The pressure is on Gregg Berhalter after his team crashed out at the very first hurdle
None were more peculiar than when, in the 32nd minute, he inexplicably allowed Nunez to take a short free-kick and catch USA napping at the same time he was dishing out a yellow card to Chris Richards for a foul on De La Cruz. To spare his blushes and further American outrage, Tim Ream fortunately raced back and made a crucial block to deny Nahitan Nandez.
A bubbling atmosphere then reached boiling point 10 minutes later, again the result of a puzzling call from the referee. As Uruguay continued to press for an opener, a clearance from Richards appeared to brush the hand of Manuel Ugarte. The ball fell midway through the USA half to Pulisic, who produced a sharp turn to beat his man and seemingly spark a counter-attack. It was at that point when Ortega chose to blow his whistle for a handball on Ugarte, refusing to play what looked a clear advantage.
Moments before that, Berhalter was dealt a seismic blow when first-choice striker Folarin Balogun was forced off injured, with Ricardo Pepi coming on in his place. Earlier in the night Balogun had shipped a heavy challenge from Ronald Araujo which went unpunished, and it took its toll on the 22-year-old before the halftime whistle came.
After the interval it quickly became apparent that Uruguay were the team very much in the ascendency. Bielsa may not have been there to fire them up at the interval, but in the first 10 minutes of the second half the visitors came close with a series of near misses. Valverde, well in his groove by this point, fired a rocket from distance which crept wide.
Just as hope appeared to be fading, just as USA began to resemble a team running out of both ideas and stamina, more news filtered through from Orlando. this time it brought the US contingent inside Arrowhead back alive.
Bolivia, without a goal so far in this tournament, had come up trumps for Berhalter and Co by drawing level against Panama and shifting the story in Group C dramatically. Or so it seemed.
Mathias Olivera bundled home what proved the winner for Uruguay late on
Because second later, as hopeful chants of ‘USA, USA’ reverberated around the four walls of this famous stadium, Uruguay burst their bubble to flip the script on its head once more.
De La Cruz first whipped in a free-kick from the right-hand side and Ronald Araujo got his head to it, forcing a save from Turner. The ball fell to substitute Olivera, who bumbled it home from close range to break the deadlock and American hearts.
A lengthy VAR check ensued, yet the conclusion was that Olivera was onside by the very tightest of margins and the goal stood.
And to well and truly put the final nail in the coffin, moments later Panama restored the lead over in Florida to bring USA’s tournament to a bleakly abrupt end.