Ricardo Valenzuela (referee)

Ricardo Andres Valenzuela [ [http://listserv.uri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0011b&L=socref-l&T=0&P=12542 Middle name confirmation] : "ListServ.uri.edu" website.] (born February 7 1964 [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/schiedsrichter_profil.php?id=20444 Birthdate confirmation] : "Weltfußball.de" de icon website.] ) is a United States former football (soccer) referee from Richmond, California, who officiated for the U.S. Soccer Federation in various leagues and competitions, as assigned. He was also a FIFA referee. His other occupation is as a schoolteacher. [http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=847071050&page_url=%2f%2fwww.gasoccer.org%2forg%2forginfo.asp%3fo%3d1168%26wzb%3d1%26cconid%3d912574%26ccatid%3d0&page_last_updated=10%2f2%2f2004+8%3a19%3a22+PM&firstName=Ricardo&lastName=Valenzuela Career details] : ZoomInfo cached webpage.]

Career

He first took up refereeing in 1982, officiating in youth soccer in New Mexico, [ [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:lI0E7Li-UzcJ:www.deltasoccer.org/documents/CYSA%2520Youth%2520Referee%2520Pamphlet.pdf+%22Ricardo+Valenzuela%22+referee&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=uk Youth refereeing] in New Mexico: HTML cached version of a PDF document at "DeltaSoccer.org" website.] and progressed to become a FIFA referee in 1999. In the lead-up to the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament, he was appointed to a friendly match between the United States and Canada at the Civic Stadium, Oregon, on June 6 1999, which finished 4–2 to the USA women. [ [http://www.womensoccer.com/wwcup99/wwcusasched.html#june6res Friendly match, USA v. Canada] (referee), prior to 1999 Women's World Cup: "WomenSoccer.com" website.] On July 13 of that year, he also oversaw the representative friendly at the Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado, between the United States men's national soccer team and Derby County, from the East Midlands of England, which the United States won 2–1. [ [http://www.estand.net/derby/s9900/pres9900.html United States v. Derby County] , friendly in 1999 (referee): "eStand.net" website.]

He was in charge of one of the semi-finals in the 2001 U.S. Open Cup, between Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire at Foxboro Stadium, Massachusetts, on August 22 2001, when Galaxy beat Fire 1–0 after overtime, and went on to win the tournament. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20020212010416/chicago-fire.com/pressbox/gamerecaps/gamerecapstext.asp?gameID=138 LA Galaxy v. Chicago Fire] , 2001 US Open Cup final (referee): "Archive.org" website.]

On December 21 2003, he was given control of the UNCAF Tournament Final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California, played between Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, and Comunicaciones of Guatemala, and which Deportivo won 3–2. [ [http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.asp?lang=en&id=2358 2003 UNCAF Tournament Final] (referee): CONCACAF website.]

Amongst his work for FIFA, he refereed a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying game in Tegucigalpa on October 8 2000 between Honduras and Jamaica, which finished 1–0 to the home side, [ [http://www.concacaf.com/Signals.asp?id=10/10/2000&year=2000#2 Honduras v. Jamaica] , 2002 World Cup qualifying (referee): CONCACAF website.] and four years later was appointed to three 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in the CONCACAF region. As well as being fourth official to Kevin Stott for the Haiti against Turks & Caicos Preliminary Round match on February 18 2004, [ [http://ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_53391.html Fourth official] , Haiti v. Turks & Caicos, 2006 World Cup qualifying: U.S. Soccer Federation website.] he took charge of the return match in the Turks & Caicos Islands on February 22 2004, which ended 2–0 to Haiti. [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/spielbericht.php?Thema=101&Liga=318&s_id=934&p_id=2939&r_id=2&detail_id=143348 Turks & Caicos v. Haiti] , 2006 World Cup qualifying (referee): "Weltfußball.de" de icon website.] Later in the year, on October 10 2004, he was referee for Trinidad & Tobago's 5–1 home win at the Dwight Yorke Stadium over St. Kitts & Nevis in the Semifinal Round of the same competition. [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/spielbericht.php?Thema=101&Liga=318&s_id=934&p_id=4355&r_id=0&detail_id=170388 Trinidad & Tobago v. St. Kitts & Nevis] , 2006 World Cup qualifying (referee): "Weltfußball.de" de icon website.]

In later years, he took charge of such prestige games as the MLS All-Stars on July 30 2005 in the Columbus Crew Stadium, Ohio, against Fulham F.C. from London, England, which finished 4–1 to MLS. [ [http://www.ibiblio.org/footy/2005g/0730_mls_ffc_ycj.php MLS All-Stars v. Fulham F.C.] , referee for the showpiece game: ibiblio.org website.]

Valenzuela had retired from refereeing by late 2006, [ [http://asktheref.com/Soccer%20Rules/Question/12542/ Retirement] : mentioned in November 4 2006 entry at the "AskTheRef.com" website.] leaving the FIFA list at the end of 2005. [ [http://fortheintegrityofsoccer.blogs.com/artandscienceofrefereeing/2006/01/going_backwards.html Mention of Valenzuela leaving FIFA list] (end of 2005): Ed Bellion's "For the Integrity Of Soccer" blog.]

References