WTF?? Its not a flagrant type 2 foul. A red card could be awarded in different situations, stopping a clear gol situation with a foul, hard foul from behind, and of course yellow + yellow = red. Not the refs fault that Pope got himself sent off for stupid fouls he should have known better.
No . Now when did any of the other situations that can earn a red card happen during the match? That's right, they didn't. Di Rossi was sent off for violent behaviour, trying to take McBride's head off with his elbow, a clear call. Mastroeni was sent off for a hard tackle, from the side, playing the ball, es down, his slide led to him clipping the Italian player's ankle, a yellow card at best. Pope was sent off for two yellow cards for what amounted to jersey pulling and flopping by the Italians, he was sent off in the second minute of the second half to leave the US squad with 9 men.
- is guilty of serious foul play
- is guilty of violent conduct
A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as serious foul play.
That's what we're talking about here, deliberately endangering an opponent. There have been several tackles identical to Mastroeni's in this World Cup and not one of them earned a red card. It was a bogus call.