USOC Round of 16 whistles per Soccerway Tuesday: CLT/ATL: Sergii Boiko SJ/MIN: Lorenzo Hernandez Wednesday: RBNY/NYC: Chris Penso CLB/KNX: Nabil Bensalah NE/ORL: Abdou Ndiaye CHI/STL: Joshua Encarnacion HOU/LOU: Marcos DeOliveira COL/CSS: Rosendo Mendoza
at COL v COS ... I thought you were suppose to wear your US Soccer license badge during a USOC match? I mean, if you have a FIFA badge, I guess... but even UEFA makes their FIFA referees wear UEFA shirts...
UEFA didn’t used to do that, it’s a recent change in that took place less than 10 years ago. Typically, the norm was that you wore the highest ranking badge only, ie FIFA. But I guess UEFA wanted their branding to be there instead. Mendoza had a really good SFP red card decision in this one. It’s not a classic “studs to shin” SFP or anything like that, but rather a challenge from behind that had sufficient (and excessive) force to cause a dangerous rolling of the opponent’s ankle underneath himself.
I don't think I've seen a ref have more issues during KFTM than Mendoza last night. The players were clearly not on the same wavelength as him. He was constantly demonstrating to the keepers and eventually ended up yellow carding both of them during the shootout. The main point of contention is that the Rapids keeper (Colorado Springs shot first) wanted to grab the ball after the shot and hand it off to the Rapids kicker walking up to the spot. Mendoza didn't want him doing that. Then a couple of rounds in, after the Rapids keeper had been carded for continuing to try to do it, the Springs keeper grabbed the loose ball and tossed it to his kicker walking up. Which of course upset the Rapids keeper who had been carded for trying to do the same thing. So that led to the Rapids keeper starting to toss (rather than hand) the ball to his kicker in the latter rounds, which Mendoza just let happen.
I just looked at the highlights for the game. It’s a clear penalty, hand clearly moves up to deliberately hit the ball
Not great, and the couple of replays I saw last night made it look rather questionable. What was the better replay you saw @soccerref69420? The Rapids go ahead goal in extra time also has a hint of offside, though its close enough that I could go either way.
7:32. The second replay is much clearer. Defender practically windmills his arm up into the ball slapping it out of the air.
Would love to know why the referee felt this vicious tackle from behind was a second yellow instead of a straight red in this MLS Next Pro match: YIKES.Sal Olivas earns his second yellow after a horrific challenge, only to then rip the red card out of the referee’s hand.Frustration got the best of him and likely earned him an extended suspension for his conduct.#doop #usymnt #usmnt #MLS #mlsnextpro 📹: MLS NEXTPRO |… pic.twitter.com/rKDHcIFTcD— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) May 13, 2026 It seems like there are more hair pulling incidents overall. This time in tonight's NWSL match: Orlando Pride's Angelina is shown a red card for a hair pull on Delanie Sheehan 🟥 pic.twitter.com/caI12WoVZk— The Women's Game (@WomensGameMIB) May 17, 2026
The video angle isn't great, but looking at the contact, I have yellow. The front leg is in front of the opponent playing the ball, the trail leg/foot makes contact with the plant foot. We can't see the nature of that contact, but I think, at full speed, it looks worse than it actually is.
Yeah I mean when I saw the words "vicious" and "horrific" I was expecting something truly bad. This is a run of the mill "orange" card. I'm sure there are some bad elements at play that we just don't have a good view on. I was expecting a "what the ******** is he watching" type video. That isn't it.
This guy didn't even deem this yellow-card worthy. For me, it's mostly the point of contact. Somebody takes me out from behind on a play like that, I'm not looking for a yellow.
The lunge from behind was vicious if it was the lunging leg that made contact which would have been with the Achilles. However, the lunging leg completely missed the opponent to the left, and it was his bent right leg that cleared through the opponent. Yellow card is the correct decision and if a straight red was given in a pro game I assume VAR would be calling it down to downgrade
Nobody has an issue with #40 blue running in from 15 yards away, getting into the face of the referee and blocking the referee's path (twice, at least) to show the caution to the offending player?
For what it is worth, and I have not yet reviewed fully, the ref in the MLSNext pro match between Huntsville FC (Nashville SC) and Atlanta United 2, is getting absolutely roasted online for his part in the 6-2 win for ATL2.
"Getting roasted online for a 6-2 game between MLS B teams" some of these fans must have an unbearable amount of free time on their hands.
100% someone else on the crew needs to be aware of the player running from distance to dissent, especially when they are coming from behind the referee. When there is an incident that results in a mass of players, the trail AR needs to be aware of what is happening behind the referee. The instinct is to look at the referee or the center of the problem and we need to force to ourselves to look elsewhere.