U.S. Soccer announced on Tuesday that Armando Villarreal will referee Wednesday's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake. The 29-year-old is no stranger to the competition -- having been selected as the man in the middle for last year's final at PPL Park -- or the rivalry.
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Villarreal was tasked with the initial MLS Cup 2013 rematch between SKC and RSL on April 5, 2014 at Sporting Park (highlights). The scoreless draw featured four cautions, two for each team, and this red card to Oriol Rosell in the 83rd minute for a late tackle on Devon Sandoval.
Rosell's expulsion -- the only red card he received in 49 career MLS matches -- evened the ejections at three apiece in 20 all-time regular season meetings in the series and led to Real Salt Lake's then general manager Garth Lagerwey claiming:
"First of all, I thought it was about time that one of their players got ejected. They should have a player ejected most every game they play, certainly every game they have ever played against us in the last four years. So I thought it was overdue, if anything."
Fast forward to tomorrow's semifinal showdown and Villarreal, in his fourth season as a Major League Soccer official, will be familiar with both opponents. In April, he was in charge of Real Salt Lake's 1-0 win at San Jose. In May, Villarreal oversaw Sporting Kansas City's 1-1 draw at D.C. United.
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Those two games are among 58 career MLS matches on Villarreal's resume since his debut on May 23, 2012. In those 58 matches, he has whistled 14 penalty kicks and issued 16 red cards.
