USA received a lifeline ahead of crucial match against Uruguay as Marcelo Bielsa was suspended for a WEIRD reason

With Copa America a long way to go, Gregg Berhalter and the United States were rescued ahead of Monday afternoon’s match against Uruguay.

Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa has been suspended for one match by CONMEBOL, meaning he will not be on the sideline for the final match of the group stage.

This happened because Bielsa was late in getting his team out on the pitch at the start of the second half.

His first assistant, Pablo Quiroga, will take over the head coaching duties, including a press conference to be held on Sunday afternoon.

Bielsa is not the only manager at this tournament to receive such a suspension for delaying the return for the second half.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has been suspended for the Copa America match, as have Chile’s Ricardo Gareca and Venezuela’s Fernando Batista.

The Americans face a do-or-die scenario after dropping points in Thursday’s loss to CONCACAF rival Panama.

Panama and the USA are now tied on points, but the Americans are ahead on goal difference.

With Panama playing the tournament’s weakest team, Bolivia, at the same time as the U.S.-Uruguay match, the Americans will likely need to pick up points to have any hope of advancing to the knockout stage.

If both the U.S. and Panama win, the Americans will need to have a greater goal difference than their rivals to advance.

The Americans advance automatically if they win and Panama draws. Meanwhile, if the USMNT draws, they will only advance if Los Canaleros draw or lose.

If both teams lose, the Americans will once again have to rely on a better goal difference to advance – and even that could be difficult. For example, if the USA loses 4-0 and Panama loses 1-0, then Panama will advance.

Failure to advance would raise a lot of questions about Berhalter’s future, as rumors and speculation about him leaving (or staying) would continue to circulate.