Robinson calls the refereeing “amateur hour” but says they can’t blame him for the result.
Scott Bassett on Berhalter: “Berhalter out. It’s not about one game. It’s about the pattern of his overall cluelessness about how to mold this most talented group of players we’ve produced into anything like a coherent team over the multiple years he’s been in charge. Berhalter out.”
I’ll wrap with this thought, from the perspective of someone who was following soccer in this country when that was a sure way of getting oneself labeled as a trouble-making geek.
The USA is much better at soccer now that it was in the past. Players can command top dollar (or Euro, or pound) with Europe’s top clubs, or at least their top leagues.
But so is everyone else.
In the 1990s, the typical English club was still … English. Now the players come from all over.
So we can’t just look at a bunch of players getting their chances in the EPL and Serie A and say that’s enough to make the national team better. It’s going to take something else to turn the US team into a side that consistently beats weaker sides and can create chances against stronger ones.
And it helps if your players don’t pick up a silly red card early in a game they simply have to win.
That’s all for tonight. See you for Canada’s next game?
Espen Bommen: “The camera at a random angle. The offside line drawn with a crayon. The VAR decision taking 5 minutes. Makes me realize how much I miss the premier league….”
Ouch. The Premier League has had a rough go of VAR. MLS, oddly enough, does it relatively well.
Pulisic is asked about the refereeing but says he doesn’t really want to talk about that. Probably best to take the high road, such as it is.
Benjamin Clark raises an interesting point: “If it’s any consolation, I thought the USA looked really good against Bolivia so hopefully in 2026 they’ll just play teams from countries that each have a military coup attempting to overthrow their respective national government during the tournament. I find it strange no commentator has offered that explanation for why, ‘the U.S. couldn’t play like they did against Bolivia’? Maybe, just maybe, it was because the Bolivian players had other things on their minds? Just a theory though.”
I think a lot of us are trying to escape political unrest, so we may not have noticed.
Forget for a moment the farcical elements of this game. A young, inexperienced referee who was overwhelmed by the occasion. A goal scored by someone in an offside position – unless you freeze-frame it and look at it from a particular angle drawing lines that don’t match up to players’ body parts. (Lines are never as precise as we’re led to believe, anyway. What is the instant that a ball is kicked?)
Forget all that.
The USA weren’t good enough. They played 90 minutes with a lot of positives.
They never really looked like they were going to score. Never.
Losing Balogun certainly hurt. But the USA still had plenty of high-level creative pros in the attack, and they never combined to create anything truly dangerous.
And that will likely cost Gregg Berhalter his job.
90 min +2: Pulisic is doing everything he can at this point. He shoots from the top of the area, but Uruguay have switched to a 9-0-1 formation at this point, and they have players back to block.
87 min: A slick buildup with Pulisic shaking off contact to play it to Reyna, and Haji Wright puts in a shot that’s deflected, forcing Rochet to re-gather himself to smother the ball.
84 min: We get another look at the line on the non-offside call on the Uruguay goal.
I’m biased here – in favor of referees, because I am one. I’ve never liked the notion of making an offside called by lines drawn at an instant in time that may or may not coincide with the exact microsecond the ball was played.
And in this case – it still looks like the player was offside, unless you draw the line at the middle of Olivera’s torso instead of the farthest part of it.
75 min: CHANCE for the USA, with Rochet spilling the ball at the side of the penalty area. The ball is cycled to Pulisic at the top of the area, but the shot is deflected up in the air, and Ugarte does well to head it away.
Then Pulisic is down in the corner … and he’s called for a foul.
74 min: Josh Sargent is in, replacing Musah, as the USA go all-out on the attack. They’ll need two goals now, because Panama just scored.
Now we get a replay showing an alleged line showing a defender’s foot being closer to the goal than Olivera’s entire body. The line is of a rather arbitrary nature.
71 min: I’m checking my referee forum to see if they have any idea why that goal counted. One person thinks maybe a defender’s foot was farther back than we realized.
Conmebol, the South American federation, have been doing some engaging videos on the VAR calls in this tournament. Well worth a look.
Here’s an idea: Maybe have the USA and Uruguay just kick it around for 30 minutes. The Bolivia-Panama game will be over by then, and then they can decide whether to turn up the intensity for five minutes and change here.
Yes, that would be a farce. But a lot of things going on right now are farcical.
59 min: The camera lingers on Gregg Berhalter. We may be seeing the last 35 minutes or so of his tenure as US coach – and if you were to base it on this game, it would be harsh. More generally, he just hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence.
58 min: Robinson gets much the better of Pellistri in a duel too close to the US goal. Fulham are obviously better than Manchester United, we can conclude from this anecdotal evidence.
56 min: Looks like we’re going to see Shaq. No, not the NBA legend. Shaq Moore, who did a few years in Spain before coming to MLS. Scally is pleading his case to stay in, though.
Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers would be another option, but he had a rough go of it against Bolivia.
54 min: An extraordinarily patient buildup from Uruguay. They’re not really incentivized in this game, given their massive lead on goal difference. Surprising that they’ve been as committed as they are.
51 min: Viña tries to convince our referee that Pulisic whacked him in the face. No.
Good US pressure forces Rochet into an awkward clearance.
Peter Oh, referring to my story on reffing below, points out that we have four non-blondes reffing this game and asks, “What’s up?” That’s a song that lives forever among cover bands. Proud to say mine doesn’t play it.
49 min: Pepi tries a 1-2 combo with Pulisic, but Uruguay alertly cuts out the danger. They race the other way and get past McKennie, but Adams gets back to play it out for a corner.
Long shot for the upper corner! But it’s a little wide.
Interesting … I just discovered that referee Kevin Ortega did a couple of games in the last Olympics.
Justin Kavanaugh: “Never mind the USA vacancy just yet, why have Fox not shown an image of the empty tub that Bielsa should be sitting atop? We are in the presence of a great absence tonight.”
Someone should have Bielsa doing commentary. If you’re reading, Mr. Bielsa, please see my email address above.
In my first season, I found myself as an AR in a matchup of two Under-13 teams from two of the best-reputed clubs in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The referee was a young blonde woman, and the parents behind me figured they’d feed stereotypes of young blonde women, not realizing she had just finished a terrific college soccer career.
Finally, one of the parents exclaimed, “And it’s such an important game, too!”
I was sorely tempted to turn around and say, “It can’t be that important if I’m here.”
Speaking of US Soccer politics, Sam Lopez writes: “As I am MBMing (excuse the verbing), it strikes me Berhalter has Gareth Southgate syndrome; talented team, very little ability to get the best from them. He has needed to be gone for a while... has his brother’s position helped keep him in?”
That would Jay Berhalter, a longtime US Soccer executive. But he’s no longer there.
I’d argue Southgate’s team is a bit more talented than this US team. They just played the game against Slovakia like the teams in the Monty Python philosopher football sketch – 89 minutes of meandering, and then, “Eureka!”
Also in the mailbag, I’ve been told I’m a gem for providing commentary while someone is chasing toddlers. That was me … how many years ago? Too many to count. (As a parent, not a toddler.)
Scott Bassett: “Well, he’s out of work, I think…speaks good English, is in his 60s now, likes a project. Seems kinda like the time club managers make that transition?”
Joe Pearson: “To quote former NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer, the answer to all your questions is money.”
Yeah, and US Soccer ain’t got it. Well, maybe they will after they count the money from hosting this tournament. They got a nice bottom-line boost last time. But they also spend a ton of money on their national teams already and not much on development.
45 min +3: Scally is fouled again. And the referee rightly has seen enough of that. Yellow card – whether it’s for this foul alone or persistent infringement is anyone’s guess.
45 min +1: Uruguay have asserted control of the game. Adams makes a vital block 20 yards out dead-center.
And give the referee credit for one thing here – Núñez hits the ground between two US defenders but was clearly NOT fouled, and the referee wasn’t fooled.
45 min: Replay of the prior Uruguayan chance – direct play over Scally’s head, played back to the top corner of the area, floated across, and Pellistri simply made a mess of it.
We should have about 6-7 minutes of stoppage time. We’ll probably get two.
40 min: Balogun is down, and it appears he will not continue. Hard to tell what the specific injury might be. He’s been targeted like an Olympic archery … well, target.
Ricardo Pepi, who has been industrious while misfiring like an Olympic archer missing the … well, target … is the sub.
38 min: I’ll get to the Rafa Benitez-related emails at halftime.
Free kick Uruguay after a rather pointless foul by Adams. The kick sails over everything, but it stays in play, and it’s crossed to the one guy the US really don’t want to see with the ball – Nuñez, who whips a shot wide of the near post.
Checking the inbox – Paul Pooley: “I like the overhead tactical cam. Easier to see movement off the ball. Much better than the star cam approach to so many broadcasts, e.g., one player in the Portugal game earlier instead of 22.”
At times, sure, but it’s very difficult to identify players from this.
34 min: So the referee was calling a foul on Chris Richards and was going to pull out a card. Uruguay decided to take the kick quickly, which you can’t really do under those circumstances, but they take off anyway. Ream ends up clearing the ball alertly and even a little acrobatically.
