Jorge F_ _ _in’ Larrionda

Today’s matchup between the United States and Spain will be officiated by none other than #1 Referee in the World (according to worldreferee.com) Jorge Larrionda.

We try to be about statistics here, but Larrionda transcends them.  Mr. Larrionda’s earned the expletive “F_ _ _in’ Larrionda” after his performance during the US-Italy World Cup match, in which he issued three red cards (two to the US), providing the Italians (the only team to draw blood in that match) with a man advantage.   And in the 2003 Confederations Cup, Larrionda issued the US 4 yellow cards and awarded a penalty kick to Turkey in our opening-match 2-1 loss.

So, he’s seen us in all of the [our] last three full international squad tournaments.  In our prior two encounters with him, we’ve earned 6 yellow cards, 2 red cards, and conceded a penalty kick.

Of course, we should not permit our doubts about Mr. Larrionda’s poor track record against the U.S. to cloud our primary mission:  statistics.  Thanks to WorldReferee.com, we know that Larrionda likes to issue red cards:  his .72/match average suggests we’ll see at least one issued today (an American midfielder?).   We’re still looking into it, but if an American midfielder is red-carded today it may be a modern-day record for most red-carded team position in a major, international tournament.

Larrionda also averages over four yellow cards per match.

All in all, expect a colorful afternoon.  And don’t be surprised if at least one of these squads enters their ‘medal’-round matchup a man down.