Senor Jorge Larrionda

He definitely seemed proud of his red card, showing it to three players.

On ABC, Marcello Balboa wanted him subbed out after the Eddie Pope card, and wants him kept from officiating any further World Cup games.

Deadspin “hope they send him home and he gets caught between a couple of sexually aggressive water buffaloes.”

Bruce Arena was asked what he felt about Larrionda’s performance by a Uruguayan journalist. Here’s his response:

“He made some interesting decisions. I think some were absolutely on target, others are debateable but that’s every game. I’ve never been in a game with three red cards at this level and I think fouls are being punished too harshly without warnings. A foul sometimes is just a foul, it’s not a yellow card.”

“Whether it [Mastroeni's foul] was a red card or a yellow card that’s a decision for the referee … it was a poor error of judgement on the part of Pablo in a play with about a minute left in the half in an area of the field where it didn’t matter. Eddie Pope’s I don’t understand. That’s a foul, I’m not sure that’s a yellow card, but that’s the judgement of the referee.” Click here for the mp3 of Arena’s June 19th press conference.

Not sure if everybody already knows, but Lorrionda was suspended from the 2002 World Cup officiating list for “irregularities.” Nothing specific, but it’s led to suggestions he can be bought.

My take is that he’s just a bit incompetent. Lorrionda was within his rights for all of the cards but failed in his duty to control the game. Referees are supposed to prevent games descending into violence, first through talking, then through bookings, then through red cards. Outright violence like De Rossi’s elbow to McBride’s nose deserves red, but tackles that are just late or clumsy (Mastroeni’s and Pope’s) require a calmer approach. A flurry of red cards is almost a guarantee that a game will spiral out of control.