Host America lost 0-1 to Uruguay in the final series of Group C matches and officially bid farewell to Copa America 2024.

❌ During the 90 minutes of arrest, it was as if I forgot the rules

❌ Draw a yellow card but still let the player take a quick free kick
❌ The American player broke the ball into the hands of the Uruguayan player in their own half, counterattacked quickly, the ball reached half the field and the referee blew the whistle.
❌ Recognition of Uruguay’s controversial 50/50 goal when checking VAR
❌ After the match, he even ignored and refused to shake hands with captain Pulisic

How much money do you spend organizing the tournament to get back the memories!

Referee Mathías Olivera was heavily criticized after the US team was eliminated in Copa America 2024 – Photo: Reuters

This is a worthy outcome for the US team because they had disappointing performances when losing 1-2 to Panama with Timothy Weah’s stupid red card. And the latest is the pale performance against Uruguay.

But instead of blaming themselves, the press and American players massively attacked Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega. They called referee Ortega’s way of controlling the match embarrassing with many questionable decisions in the US’ 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

Prominent among them is the situation that led to midfielder Mathías Olivera’s goal for Uruguay in the 66th minute. The American press said that this was an invalid goal because Mathías Olivera was offside when he shot the ball into the net.

After this match, US captain Christian Pulisic “suggested” that the referee join the Uruguay team in celebrating the victory. This is because he “assisted” them in winning. Pulisic said: “It’s difficult to say right now when emotions are running high. But there is really a lot of disappointment even though I don’t want to say much about the referee.”

Former US player Taylor Twellman also criticized referee Olivera: “Guys… this referee is completely abnormal. Like child’s play. So pathetic!”.

Former US player Alexi Lalas was even more harsh when commenting to Fox Sports: “The referee had a shameful way of controlling the match. Let’s use his full name, which is Kevin Paulo Ortega Pimentel. You know, when your parents are angry, they use your full name because this guy has absolutely no understanding of football and what he’s doing.”

But no matter how angry they were, the US team was eliminated when they ranked 3rd in Group C with 3 points. They will still have a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2026 World Cup. Then they will also participate in the tournament as the host.

The two teams that won tickets to advance to the quarterfinals in this group are Uruguay (9 points) and Panama (6 points). Bolivia ended the tournament with 3 losses.