Photo by ISIphotos.com
U.S. national team midfielder Michael Bradley has been handed a four-match suspension by FIFA for his run-in with referee Jorge Larrionda following the U.S. national team's 2-0 win vs. Spain in the Confederations Cup, Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl reported on Tuesday.
The suspension will not keep Bradley out of the Aug. 12 World Cup qualifier vs. Mexico in Mexico City. In fact, Bradley will be able to serve the suspension during the Gold Cup even though he has not been called in. He served the first match of the suspension during the Confederations Cup final, with the first two U.S. Gold Cup matches covering the next two matches of the ban. The fourth match is a suspended sentence that will kick in if Bradley has another incident during a probationary period of six months.
U.S. head coach Bob Bradley did not sound too bothered by the decision when asked about his son's suspension on Tuesday.
“Obviously, the emotions after a game like that and a decision like that are high," Bob Bradley said. "This is typically the way FIFA handles those things.”
Bradley had words with Larrionda near the locker rooms following the Spain match, a match that saw Larrionda issue Bradley a highly-questionable red card in the 87th minute. Reports out of Spain suggesting that Bradley attempted to attack Larrionda have been proved false.
What do you think of this news? Relieved Bradley will play vs. Mexico? Angry that Larrionda still has a job as a FIFA referee? Praying he isn't chosen to referee in the 2010 World Cup?
Share your thoughts below.
GREAT PASSION, but immature and stupid action. I hope he feels something missing for not having played against Brazil and so comes to Azteca with a vengeance (a smart vengeance)
“highly-questionable red card” is a gross understatement, it was questionable if it was even a foul, let alone a card
Yes, I did mean “Parity”, my b.
Clearly FIFA felt the red card was complete BS with letting the “suspension” be served in games he wasnt even called in for.
MB needs to keep his head but with with this news it appears FIFA has to act but doesnt want to punish anyone for their refs huge mistake.
Anyone else see this as FIFA’s way of saying it was a horrible call, while still saying that its not acceptable to be aggressive towards referees?
Posted by: AJ | July 07, 2009 at 10:20 AM
I think that is exactly the message they are sending.
I don’t think FIFA ever publicly states an official’s status so this ref might well be sat down for some time as a result of his call too.
How is Larrionda even still allwoed to ref after his suspension for irregularities a few years back?
Champe – I agree with your MB assessment. He is a box-to-box midfielder who is respected throughout the world (witness European media response to his Confed Cup play). AND he’s what… 22 years old? If that’s nepotism, then I wish BB had more kids on the team.
There should not be a special immunity for referees off the field.
If the referee made a horrible call, then it shouldn’t be wrong to confront the referee after the game as long as there is no physical violence.
In this case FIFA should have looked at the replays to determine how bad the call was. If it was really that bad of a call, then they should punish the referee, not the player who would then miss out on an important match because of a referee’s negligence or possible intentional actions.
The players of course should be held accountable for their actions, but the referees also need to be held accountable. If the accountability was simply getting yelled at by Michael Bradley, then that seems reasonable.
Bradley is one of the best field players we have. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand the game and is letting silly prejudices interfere with their talent evaluation. Or they haven’t watched him since his admittedly rough beginning to his time on the ‘Nats, when he was a turnover machine. He is the closest thing we have to a Lampard or Gerard — a bix to box engine, who tackles and scores.
The red card, like the others in the Confed Cup, was a complete joke. It is not a coincidence that US players continue to get questionable red cards in international tournaments — it is biased officiating. Sacha’s card was the closest to deserving, but even it was a yellow.
This supension is a joke. Larrionda should be banned. I hope Gulati files a complaint.
(1) The only thing of any long-term importance here is that the young Bradley needs to get his emotional act together. His propensity for rash challenges is a matter of coaching (that’s you, Coach/Dad) and self-discipline (that’s you, Michael/ son). But it’s never, ever, ever fruitful or prudent to confront a match official. Ask Bruce Arena. And Claudio Reyna. And Dider Drogba.
(2) All that said, FIFA had to know that the suspension would be absorbed by the Gold Cup, and that Bradley would not miss the Mexico match. It’s as close as you can get to telling Larrionda and the world, “We actually think Bradley had a good argument.”
so what’s the point of suspending someone if they’re not even on the roster?
I would think someone serving suspension would have to dress and ride the pine. Guess not.
Wow, FIFA really showed Michael.
Suspending him for a final he was already banned for and for a tournament he wasn’t gonna play in anyway.
Gosh, I’m sure with a harsh penalty like that Michael and all other players will really learn their lesson.
The number and type of competitive matches needs to be taken into account. South Africa’s players would be suspended for the World Cup as they don’t go through qualifying and don’t play any other “real” matches.
Couple thoughts:
First, the suspension from FIFA’s perspective is not a joke. The US has a slate of games right now and it has no way of knowing if Bradley is in the coach’s plans or not. Nor should it consider that. Just hand down what they think is appropriate and move on.
It is also possible that FIFA is handing down a toothless penalty because they are enforcing the letter of the law but they don’t think the action was that serious. (Yes, this contradicts my first point.) Bradley should know better, although his emotion at having to miss a FIFA final is understandable. But the toothless penalty may indicate that the referee overreacted to the approach.
@ Jacob A – agree 100% that MB is a legit player, and I like a kid with some fire in his belly, but he needs to learn to control his emotions. Between him and Jones (eventually), I’m concerned that our midfield will spontaneously combust.
BTW….LOL that the Bundesliga is a “parody filled league.” I’ll assume you meant “parity filled,” not a league filled with Hans und Franz and Bruno types….but maybe I’m wrong. =D
Agree completely that Michael has to learn when to control his emotions (that otherwise serve him pretty well professionally). But using this as further “proof” that MB is overrated (?!) is a little silly. The last USMNT player that got a suspension like this was Claudio Reyna following the Costa Rica-Peter Pendergast debacle.
You can’t attack the referee, physically or verbally. Period.
How many of you want to be “only” sworn at for screwing up at work?
Actually this is good……….because it gived M. Bradley some rest till the Mexico game. Bob uses Michael wayyyyyyyyy to much. Bradley needs the rest for the Mexico game.
mike, he wasn’t added as one of the additional players
Would he still have been able to “serve” his suspension if he hadn’t been added as one of the 7 additional players?
Hooray for the relatively meaningless Gold Cup!
That’s like suspending a starting pitcher in baseball for the 4 games in between his starts…
What an enormous waste of time all around.
Michael has to cool his emotions at times. He has to realize that you have to leave things on the field. When you don’t you expose yourself to the possibilities of suspensions. I’m glad he is not suspended for the Mexico match but in some ways it would have been a hard earned lesson if he were to miss the match. Going after referees is never going to do you favors. The referee was ridiculous to show him red but that still doesn’t excuse Michael’s actions. Hopefully this is a pne time isolated incident.
Posted by: Michael Vann | July 07, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Michael Vann I couldn’t say it better. I’m with you.
I think this is a win for all parties. FIFA gets to make a statement and show that confronting match officials will get you a considerable punishment. For Bradley, he was never going to play in the Gold Cup so the suspension is pretty meaningless. The only loss was not having him for the final against Brazil, but that wasn’t up to FIFA, it was the official who made a huge error in judgment. But, that’s soccer, and life. Let’s move on.
Okay, can we quit with the nepotism crap yet? The dude is likely our 3rd or 4th best field player. He performed admirably (sp?) in a relegation battle in a parody filled league, and one of the big 4 to boot. He was great in the Confed Cup, and you could tell how sorely he was missed in the final. The kid has earned his spot. Period. Maybe at first it was his Dad showing some favoritism, but he’s more than grown into it. He’s there because of who he his and how he plays, not who his daddy is.
Please, get over your BB hate, and respect Michael Bradley as a legit player.
I’m glad he’ll be ready for Azteca, but this kind of thing is unacceptable. He loses his cool way too often for someone who is obviously going to be a team leader for the next decade and a half.
Come on everyone who play soccer/Football should know to keep your mouth shout when a referee send you off. You can argue to a ref. or scream to yourself when given a red card or yellow that is why there are Federation that can go and dispute the card. Simple Bradley need to be cool and Daddy Bradley need to set some type of discipline starting with his son. See what happen to Drogba at Chelsea on the Champion League
but there’s obviously different rules for not just Americans but people who speak English. When Latin players tackle hard it’s applauded and encouraged, but when British or American players play hard it’s “ugly football”.
Posted by: Ben | July 07, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Please Ben M. Bradley was an Idiot to go up to the Referee. Drogba and Ballack get into trouble for screaming to the Ref. also.
No word on any suspension for Larrionda. eh?
oh, and I don’t think the probationary period will affect him much. I think he should go ahead and get another red card for accidently headbutting Ronda in the 85th minute against Mexico. That way he can serve out his suspension in style.
Poor Bradley won’t get to coach his baby boy.
EEFFFFFFFF LLLARONDA…RONDA IS AN UGLY WOMAN AND MUST BE KICKED OUT OF THE THE LEAGUE…ONLY MALE REFEREES ALLOWED.
Its all part of Bradley Sr.’s master plan to make sure this guy doesn’t handle any US matches next summer.
so if the attack allegations were proven false, is FIFA simply handing MB a 4 game suspension for “having words with the ref”???
im assuming there was a bit of yelling and name calling, but seriously?? this seems a bit harsh assuming nothing actually went down….
either way im glad he’ll be at the mexico game…
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This is exactly what i was thinking if it was proven false why in the world did he get suspended. The refs should get suspended to for making such unfreakinbelievable calls like that stupid red. They know that they messed up really bad on those calls when they watch the replay so why don’t they get reprimanded. That type of crap pisses me off.
so if the attack allegations were proven false, is FIFA simply handing MB a 4 game suspension for “having words with the ref”???
im assuming there was a bit of yelling and name calling, but seriously?? this seems a bit harsh assuming nothing actually went down….
either way im glad he’ll be at the mexico game…
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Michael Vann- easier said then done especially when you were forced to miss the FINALS b/c you were given a red card for a clean tackle… again, the attack accusations were dropped, so a 4 game ban on yelling at a ref outside the game??
what actions arent excused?? from what ive read it was merely “having words”…. as there was no “attack charges”
This really means nothing. It was a win/win call for Fifa. If it wasn’t for the Gold Cup, Fifa would not have given a suspension at all. They were able to suspend a player from going to something he wasn’t going to go to anyway, and also appear to back up their ref.
-Mike
Sounds like stupidity all around to me.
Stupid of Larrionda to give an absolutely atrocious red.
Stupid (I mean REALLY stupid) of Bradley to have it out with him after the match. I hope his dad gave him a good hiding for that.
And stupid of FIFA to impose what is in effect a meaningless penalty. Do they really think they’re fooling anyone with that “suspension”? Either make the penalty count, or don’t impose one. What they did isn’t going to deter any players from doing what Bradley did or cause them to respect the referee more – just the opposite.
Stupid.
I agree that Mikey has not always demonstrated the most calm demeanor on the field, which is strange considering his seemingly laid-back persona in interviews. He needs to get a better control on his emotions. That said, if bogus red cards earned you wins, the USA would be World Cup champs several times over.
Anyone else see this as FIFA’s way of saying it was a horrible call, while still saying that its not acceptable to be aggressive towards referees?
The red was a joke as is the suspension. Nothing will be as harsh as the fact that he had to miss the final. That tackle would have been barely a foul if it hadn’t been a US player making it. Period.
What a joke. A suspension that doesn’t have him miss any matches. Gotta love international FIFA rules…
I’m a huge Bradley fan and have been from early on, but I can’t accept actions like that.
Yeah, the ref was a complete tool and Bradley’s red card was completely rediculous, but having words with the ref after the game is definitely not going to accomplish anything but get a further suspension.
He absolutely has to be smarter than he was here.
Larrionda is the Rob Styles of asinine red cards…Is there seriously no review or complaint process for completely ridiculous cards on the international level?
Freakin Larrionda, he sucks as a referee I hope he gets a life suspension for his bad a ss job as a referee
FIFA should suspend horrible referees like Larionda. He is worse than that clown who botched South Korea Italy or whatever and then got banned for rigging games.
This story is really nothing big, doesn’t affect anything and I would have attacked the ref as well.
Michael has to cool his emotions at times. He has to realize that you have to leave things on the field. When you don’t you expose yourself to the possibilities of suspensions. I’m glad he is not suspended for the Mexico match but in some ways it would have been a hard earned lesson if he were to miss the match. Going after referees is never going to do you favors. The referee was ridiculous to show him red but that still doesn’t excuse Michael’s actions. Hopefully this is a pne time isolated incident.
good timing. He’ll be rested for Mexico
Larrionda is the sort of ref that makes watching soccer a nightmare. Rather then let the players play the game he insists on “imposing his will” on the match. Awful.
Lucio or Carles Puyol would’ve had their one game suspension rescinded. I’m not that big on conspiracies, but there’s obviously different rules for not just Americans but people who speak English. When Latin players tackle hard it’s applauded and encouraged, but when British or American players play hard it’s “ugly football”.
go mikey! that ref is a complete idiot. deserved whatever verbal lashing he got.
Can we get Sunil to ask FIFA to suspend Kljestan 4 games (including Mexico?