That elbow to the face could have been darker than yellow, although not the way this game was called.
Anderson and Villarreal are on the Mexico match as AR2 and 4O. I believe Rockwell is there as Reserve AR. So, there's that. Note there were Mexican officials on the US match, just not in the middle.
Interesting note, you are correct. AR2 and 4O were Mexican. I wonder if that makes a difference for semi-finals assuming an American and Mexican have reverse fixtures.
I think it's a further signal that the referees are done unless one of the teams fails to make the Final. I said I wouldn't put it passed CONCACAF to use them on semis, but I don't expect it and believe it's a bad idea. Then again, CONCACAF has mixed and matched crews in the past, and there are no trios there, so there still might be an opportunity for Rockwell to work again.
In my philosophy of reffing, or AR-ing, anyway, it is a bigger error to raise the flag on an on-side player than it is to keep it down for an offside one. Twice in this tournament we have seen the US denied near certain goals due to an incorrectly raised flag. Many see these errors as a reason to bring in VAR. I think they're great examples of why the flags need to be heavier. But just out of curiostiy, how have the ARs performed in the matches that haven't involved the US? One of the reasons I ask is that I recall hearing at a recert once upon a time that MLS refs are actually very, very god at getting offside calls right. The comparsion at the time was betwen MLS and EPL refs, but I wonder how MLS ARs compare to the rest of Concacaf when it comes to those kinds of mistakes.
So if it's not Americans and Mexicans on the semis, that probably leaves Aguilar, Pitti and Martinez for the final three games, right?
He could get one of the semis. That then opens the door to Pitti, a re-use of Lopez, or a Mexican/American if it's not a US-Mexico Final. But yeah, smart money seems to be Aguilar right now. An interesting factor in the assignments is the early September Hex matches. If there's a plan to use a certain referee for USA-CRC or CRC-MEX in September, that could affect who gets assigned this weekend because you usually don't want to repeat referees on the same match so close together.
CONCACAF is really limited because there isn't much depth once the US and Mexican referees are removed from the pool.
And it makes sense. The September matchday is only a month away. You can't have a referee doing 2 matches of the same time so close to each other. I wouldn't want to see Aguilar again. I believe that CONCACAF should test Pitti on a possible USA - MEX final.
Not sure if you referee, but it was NOT a very late whistle. That is the same complaint I hear the same parents on my son's team make every game, week in and week out. And then you explain to them that good ref's (I suppose by the standards of 'every ref' Fisher would fall under be considered a good ref), you are taught/instructed to purposely be slow with the whistle for the very reason of advantage.
What I was saying is if he WASNT waiting for advantage to develop - which was the claim I was responding to - it was a weirdly late whistle. Of course, he SHOULD have had a late whistle for the purpose of waiting for advantage to develop - but then he should have given the penalty, not the original foul (which was my original point). EDIT: Now I realized it was you who were objecting to my first point, and I'm just bewildered. It was okay for him to call the first foul without allowing advantage to develop bc he hadn't signaled for advantage yet, but it wasn't a problematically-late whistle bc he was allowing advantage to develop? What the hell am I missing? Either advantage was developing and he calls the penalty as the advantage, or it wasn't and the whistle should have blown.
SF 1 USA-CRC: Aguilar (SLV) Reasonable choice, IMO. I wonder who has the other SF. Pitti for the final?
Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler i guess a Mexican will get the final.
Apparently CONCACAF's website prematurely announced Montero for tonight's match. That leads to the obvious possibility that he got moved to the Final once Costa Rica lost last night. If so, it would be such a CONCACAF move. Particularly now that Garcia or Ramos are options. Of course, it could also have just been a mistake. Which would also be a CONCACAF move.
Just saw it pointed out that Montero had the group stage Mexico-Jamaica match, so mistake is the most likely option. I'd say you're looking at Garcia or Ramos for the Final, then. Really no reason why not and if it is down to those two, will be interesting to see which one gets picked.