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The U.S. men's national team's rocky exit from the Copa America group stages took a contentious turn after the hosts' 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Monday, when one of the referees refused to shake U.S. captain Christian Pulisic's hand on the field.

The incident occurred while both teams were still on the pitch, with Uruguay celebrating while the U.S. players processed their earlier-than-anticipated exit. While Pulisic quickly shook hands with head coach Gregg Berhalter, he spotted a few members of the refereeing crew and proceeded to call their attention and point towards the center circle.

He then made his way to the officials he spotted, again making a comment and pointing toward the center of the pitch before shaking one of the referees' hands. The next official, though, opted out of the handshake, holding his hands behind his back as Pulisic put his hand out. The U.S. captain made another comment before moving on.

It is unclear what Pulisic said at any point of the exchange.

The USMNT were on a do-or-die match to save their Copa America campaign on Monday, but fell short against an Uruguay team considered to be a dark horse contender to win the whole thing. The high-pressure situation was made more acrimonious by the refereeing team, which was led by Peru's Kevin Ortega. Several hard tackles went unpunished by Ortega and company, while players on both teams exited the game with injury concerns -- Uruguay's Maximiliano Araujo came off in the first half on a stretcher and in a neck brace, while the U.S.' Folarin Balogun also left the game before halftime with a hip injury following a collision with Sergio Rochet. The USMNT's Joe Scally also potentially picked up a leg injury before the break after a challenge from Darwin Nunez, who was shown a yellow card after the fact.

Members of the U.S. team mostly chose not to speak about the refereeing post-match, but Berhalter did answer a question about the game's lone goal. Mathias Olivera scored off a header in the 66th minute, but the goal required a lengthy video review before Uruguay were given the green light. The refereeing team checked for offside and deemed that the U.S.' Chris Richards kept Olivera onside, but Berhalter said he was surprised by the call.

"It's pretty crazy, really," he said. "I don't understand it. I feel like I know the rule pretty well. I feel like we had the pictures, they were showing how the rule could be interpreted and it's an offside goal. It's disappointing, it really is but that happens in football and we have to live with it, obviously."

The USMNT finished third in Group C, behind first place Uruguay and second place Panama. Though the U.S. were expected to advance to the quarterfinals, they ultimately fell short, first with a surprise 2-1 loss to Panama last Thursday. The Copa America marks the USMNT's last competitive matches, outside of the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup, until the 2026 World Cup on home soil.

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