During Sunday night’s Copa America showdown between the United States Men’s National Team and Uruguay, referee Kevin Ortega made several high-profile mistakes that earned him a lot of criticism during and after the game.
Ortega, who was reffing just the seventh game of his entire officiating career and first Copa America match, awarded a yellow card to USMNT’s Tyler Adams when he was the one stepped on by an opponent, failed to play advantage in a counter-attacking opportunity for the USMNT, and did not to stop the match while awarding a yellow card which nearly resulted in a Uruguay goal.
Additionally, Ortega missed several fouls and overlooked player injuries numerous times as it took him an inordinately long time to respond when players went down with injuries.
Compilation of some of the most controversial refereeing moments from USA's match vs Uruguay ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XHwv9B5YfL
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024
“This guy is completely out of his depth in this game,” Lalas said at the halftime break of Ortega’s performance. “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’s going to be part of the narrative.”
To make matters worse, Ortega refused to shake the hand of USMNT captain Christian Pulisic after the match. As Pulisic approached him and extended his hand for a handshake, Ortega simply put his hands behind his back and stared forward blankly.
An official refused to shake Pulisic's hand after the match pic.twitter.com/lurToJchMC
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024
On top of it all, Ortega and the video assistant referee missed what appeared to be a blatant offsides call on the go-ahead goal from Uruguay.
This was somehow not ruled offside after review 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Oh2Xn9Z7bK
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024
It’s worth noting that the USMNT would likely have been eliminated even without the poor officiating as Panama defeated Bolivia by a score of 3-1, meaning the USMNT would have had to win the match – not just draw – to advance. But the officiating was still undeniably frustrating for Americans.
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