Copa America Release VAR Audio of Uruguay’s Goal vs USA
The United States were left furious after they were eliminated from the Copa America in the group stages. Gregg Berhalter’s lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their final match, but CONMEBOL have now released the VAR audio due to the controversy surrounding Mathias Olivera’s goal in the 66th minute.
Replays of the effort showed that the goalscorer might have been in an offside position as he was very much on the line of the last defender when Ronald Araujo sent a header goalwards. But after examining the incident for a long amount of time, the goal was allowed to stand.
That, among other things, led to angry scenes after the final whistle, with USA’s Christian Pulisic confronting Kevin Ortega and telling him that he should have gone to celebrate with the Uruguay squad, meaning that the official elected not to shake his hand. And in an effort to clear up the controversy around the goal in particular, the discussions that took place among those on VAR duty have been uploaded to YouTube.
Why Uruguay’s Goal Stood
Extensive examination led to tight onside call
After Araujo’s header was saved by Matt Turner, Olivera was on hand to capitalise on the rebound and tap the ball in. Using crosshair technology, VAR officials then set about determining if his foot was beyond the last defender.
From certain angles, it certainly looked like Olivera was offside at the point of contact. As the crosshairs are lined up, the referee can be heard saying that they are checking for a potential offside, but there are frantic chats between those analysing the goal.
After checking from multiple angles, the VAR informs the referee that there is overlap, meaning that the lines drawn from the last defender and the attacker are touching. With the technology, a red line is displayed for the attacker and a blue line for the defender to determine if a player is offside or not.
However, a player is ruled to be onside if the lines touch as the attacker is given the benefit of the doubt in tight calls, and that is shown by there only being a single blue line on the screen. When the line is moved onto Olivera’s knee, the red line disappears, with the sole blue line meaning that the goal can stand.
Gregg Berhalter Disappointed by Early Elimination
US Sporting Director says review will be conducted
Although many might have been reluctant to put USA among the favourites for the Copa America, such as Argentina and Brazil, many would have expected them to get out of their group. However, their loss to Uruguay, couple with a 2-1 loss to Panama, meant that they failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
Despite the controversy from the game, Berhalter has faced a huge amount of backlash for their early exit. US Sporting Director Matt Crocker has said that a review will be conducted following their early elimination, but the ‘Stars and Stripes’ manager has underlined his determination to bounce back.
