To clear up a bit of confusion on what I've written here, or what you may have read elsewhere:
Apparently the fact that Fredy Montero was called up for the August 7 Colombia friendly is news to the Sounders. Despite the fact that it's all over the news down South America way, it is apparently not official. Yet. And he will apparently be in SanHo for the game on Sunday. Stay tuned. (Plus Aug. 7 is not an official FIFA date, so the team is not required to let him go. Although I think there's significant bad juju involved when they don't.)
Also, what about Freddie Ljungberg's yellow/red suspension situation? (OR: When does 4 + 2 = 4?)
Here's the deal: Freddie was sitting on four yellows and, according to MLS rules, facing suspension for a game if he got a fifth. So...he got a fifth. And then a sixth. Which, in the magical world of MLS, means he currently only has four. The fifth and sixth were rolled together for a red and a one-game suspension, and the current yellow card tally remains at only 4.
So rather than get a two-game suspension now for a red and five yellows, he'll only get the second one-game suspension after the next yellow. Unless it's the next two yellows, in which case they'd count as zero yellows toward the tally. Unless it wasn't in the same game. Because then they'd count as two separate yellows and you'd have six.
(Oh, stop whining. It's MLS. Just...cope with it.)
Alternatively, in the wise words of KFox over at the Goal Seattle forum, which provided me with my first laugh-out-loud moment of the day:
Does that mean they also take one away for good behavior? He's had 4 for at least 3 games I think.
Yup, pretty sure that's how it works.
Oh, also, the US Soccer referee review is up. They say everything to do with Freddie's cards is just peachy-keen and the ref did exactly what he was supposed to.
Did we expect them to say anything else?
The biggest issue I have with this is that the video they use to justify the second yellow, for dissent, is all of what happened after he got the second-yellow-slash-red. So they're validating the decision to give him the second yellow for dissent by showing what happened after the decision, when he has nothing to lose and is understandably going to be upset. They don't show much of anything of what led to the actual dissent card.
Does that seem a little...um...duplicitous to anybody else?
And last, Freddie has been fined $500 for not leaving the field in a timely manner after his red. CarlosT suggested that we take up a collection and pay the fine for him in the most devalued currency on the planet, which I believe is Zimbabwean dollars, which, with current exchange rates according to CoinMill.com would be Z$179,495.34.
Do they make Zimbabwean pennies?
Just wondering.