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Berhalter and the US were clearly infuriated by that decision and the general performance of Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega, who looked tentative and occasionally even overwhelmed by the occasion, and declined to shake Pulisic’s hand after the final whistle. But all of the players who spoke to media left no doubt: That wasn’t the main reason for their tourney being cut short.
“I think just a lack of quality in the final third. I mean, it felt like quite an even game, they had their chances, we had ours, and then when it came to it, they put theirs away, and we didn’t. It’s just really disappointing for us,” said fullback Antonee “Jedi” Robinson, who called Ortega’s outing “amateur hour” but added, “you can’t really blame the ref on the result. He definitely inhibited the flow of our game at times, but at the end of the day, that result’s on us, and we weren’t good enough to get the win today.”
Most of Berhalter’s tenure has been characterized by steady progress with a core group of players who arrived at senior international level quite young, amid optimism about the program’s potential to reach new heights by 2026. Turner sought to connect to that upward trajectory when asked by Taft about the direction of the program.
“I see no issue with the direction that we’re heading. I mean, when you have a fight like that on the pitch, in every single game that we were in this tournament, it speaks volumes to how the manager prepares us,” said the New England Revolution alum. “And to be honest, we’ve been in positions to win in every single game that we played.
“Everything’s still fresh and raw, obviously, right now. We’ll let the dust settle from it, but yeah, I mean, we can’t fault — we can’t look anywhere to blame except for ourselves, us players.”
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