United States manager Mauricio Pochettino has fumed over a a refereeing call that went against his team in their Gold Cup final defeat to Mexico.
It looked a routine penalty call when Mexico defender Jorge Sanchez handled the ball inside his own penalty area with less than half an hour to go but the referee, Mario Escobar, thought otherwise.
The United States went on to lose 2-1 to their closest rivals and Pochettino blasted the decision.
"For me, it was embarrassing to see that situation,” the former Chelsea and Tottenham manager said. “I understand that maybe with 70,000 people [in attendance], giving this penalty is not easy.
“[But if it was given] maybe it’s 2-1 for us, and maybe we now are celebrating with the trophy.”
The United States had gone ahead early in Houston when defender Chris Richards’ fourth minute header went past Mexican goalkeeper Luis Malagon and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Mexico striker Raul Jimenez restored parity before the end of the first half. Then came the controversial non-penalty decision, after which the Mexico captain, Edson Alvarez, scored the winner.
"I want to tell the truth," said Pochettino during his post-match press conference. "And the truth was that if that happened in the other box, for sure it’s a penalty. The player [had] a knee on the floor. He pushed the hand over the ball. It’s not that the hand was on the floor and the ball touched [Sanchez].
"If we lose, we lose. No problem. I am the first to say we need to improve. I am not crying. I'm not saying nothing against Mexico, nothing. I respect Mexico, full respect. And I congratulate them."
United States skipper Tyler Adams agreed with his manager: "To me it looked like a handball. I mean, when you land on the ball and move the ball towards you, it's going to be a handball normally."
