Was there ever any doubt from the opening Yellow Card shown to Landon Donovan that Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda was going to put his stamp on this SemiFinal matchup between the United States and Spain?

As far as the Red Card shown to Michael Bradely (who alongside Ricardo Clark was fantastic once again), no chance. Three Red Cards in four matches in which only one you could make an argument for.

Now the United States heads into the 2009 Confederation Cup Finals without one of their best players once again without hearing the explanation for the sending off, which will probably be termed “Violent Conduct” when Larrionda turns in his report.

If that does happen, please re-visit that David Villa elbow….

Image via Bp