Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
- A US Men's soccer match against Mexico on Sunday was paused because of unruly fans.
- The fans broke out in a homophobic chant and threw garbage at players on the field.
- A photo shows Christian Pulisic celebrating the winning goal while a beer is flying at him.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
The US Men's national soccer team notched a 3-2 victory in the first-ever Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football Nations League final over Mexico on Sunday.
They were playing at at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, but opposing fans were so unruly that officials had to pause the game. The crowd at one point broke out into a homophobic chant, a fan had to be tackled by security after running onto the field, and someone in the stands threw a beer at the US players.
The beer incident came after forward Christian Pulisic scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in extra time.
Pulisic then ripped off his shirt and ran to the corner of the field with his teammates to celebrate. He made a silencing gesture at the crowd, but a fan nonetheless threw a cup of beer at the players, which hit US forward Giovanni Reyna in the face.
-B/R Football (@brfootball) June 7, 2021
Reyna laid on the ground for several minutes after the hit before walking off the field with trainers. He later returned to the field to celebrate at the end of the trophy ceremony.
US manager Gregg Berhalter addressed Reyna's condition and the poor fan behavior in a post-game pres conference.
"Total lack of respect for what's happening on the field and all effort that both teams are putting into the game," Berhalter said. "I think he's going to be OK, but he did take something to the head, and it could have been a lot worse."
The confederation rules stipulate that a chant with homophobic themes gets a warning by the public announcer, according to the league's anti-discrimination campaign. That warning came around halftime in Sunday's final. After that, the protocol allows for the referee to pause the game, which happened shortly after the second half began.
It was the second time in a week that Mexican fans caused a Nation's League match to be paused. Officials also paused Mexico's semifinal win over Costa Rica on Thursday due to homophobic chants from the crowd, and several fans were even ejected from the stands, according to CBS Sports.
In March, FIFA opened an investigation into anti-gay chanting by Mexico supporters during an Olympic qualifier against the Dominican Republic. That nearly led to sanctions against the Mexican Football Federation, according to ESPN.