Was the guy who reffed the US/Italy game awful or was it just me?

Question

i thought he was AWFUL

he made 3 good calls all day...the start of the game, the offsides on the US when McBride screened the GK, and the end of the game!

GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Yes, he and the officiating crew were pretty bad. Even the announcers stated that they hoped it was his last game as a referee.

I do not think it was a coincidence that they chose to card 2 US players out of the game - and that at least 1 US player will still be ineligible for the next must-win game against Ghana.

I'll probably get rapped in the mouth for saying so, but this bias seems to be typical of the anti-American bias in many international sports (World Cup, Davis Cup, Ryder Cup, Olympics [especially Winter Olympic events], and many World Championship competitions). The IOC even stated that part of its reasoning why it chose to eliminate softball and baseball from future Summer Olympiads was because these events were unfair to other countries due to the success of US teams. The US has only won 1 or 2 baseball gold medals in the last 30-40 years. But, I don't hear about the IOC applying this same reasoning to other events - especially "judges" events - dominated by one country or region.

So, don't expect this unfriendly atmosphere in international competition to change any time soon. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Answer 2

I'm not surprised that USA lost against Italy. Wait until Italy play with Germany, both big names inte Soccer World. I don't think Ukraine will have the chance coz referees favour Italy. Referees seemed to look after the big ones.

Answer 3

i think the mastroeni could been called red or yellow it was kinda wreckless and im a US fan he made bad calls troughout the whole game for both teams i think hes the worst referee so far in the world cup although i think he did good the last 15 minutes when the italians were diving he didnt buy it but besides like 4 calls the rest was lousy

Answer 4

Yes..The ref was consistant....
Consistantly HORRIBLE!!

Actually he WAS NOT consistant.

Up until 20 minutes into the second half
he threw around red/yellow cards like he was
giving away "Watchtower" magazines at the
airport.

Then when he realized too many people had been walked
off the field, he stopped calling all together.

Answer 5

YES! he was a complete idiot.

I was furious at the red cards that the US got. we get a player with a broken nose because they elbow us in the face, and they remove two players for god damn slide tackles that happen every 20 seconds.

there were at least 15 slide tackles in that game, and of course the US gets carded for two.


that was utter bullshit. I could see a yellow, but the throw him out for one offense was retarded.

i am also pissed that we screened the goalie on that second goal. it was not intentional, but it would have been great for the US to get that win.

Answer 6

That ref needs to be slapped with a couple of red cards than shot in the sac with the ball..... *****

Answer 7

Yeah the worst ref in the cup!!!! without a doubt.

Answer 8

yes i think he brandished cards like confetti though some of them were justified i think he may well have gotten just a little carried away, but at least he wasn't the only one seeing red lol

Answer 9

FIFA actually thought he was good and he even got to officiate another match.

Answer 10

He pulled cards appropriately...
I was suprised we lost two players...I had always thought we were better than that.