After a moment Jermaine Jones would surely like to take back, the United States will be without one of their most important midfielders for the rest of the the Copa America, no matter if they win or lose, after he was sent off for striking an Ecuador player in the face during the second half of the USMNT's match on Thursday.
Jermaine Jones out for the rest of Copa America Centenario after red card
Win or lose, U.S. fans won’t see Jermaine Jones again in the Copa.
Confused by the double red card? Here's another look at how Valencia and Jones were sent off. #USAvECU #MyCopaColors https://t.co/EhMsAfRCsV
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 17, 2016
In that video, you can clearly see Jones strike out at the face of Ecuador midfielder Michael Arroyo during a scuffle that broke out after Antonio Valencia kicked out at Alejandro Bedoya shortly before. That incident saw Valencia earn a second yellow card for his kick, but the referee showed Jones a straight red for his own lash out, which is a violent conduct incident that carries a three-game minimum suspension.
While many were confused as to the cause of the referee’s decision, the FOX commentary crew spoke to Dr. Joe Machnik, a former FIFA match commissioner who is intimately familiar with the laws of the game. He quoted a recently-enacted regulation that says that all strikes to the face outside a challenge for the ball are to be punished with a straight red card, and there are no machinations that can claim that Jones was challenging for the ball.
So because Jones lost his temper and self control in a heated moment, the USMNT will be down a crucial midfielder if they beat Ecuador and make the semifinal -- as well as Bobby Wood and Alejandro Bedoya, who have each been shown their second yellow card of the tournament, earning themselves accumulation suspensions. That’s going to make any match they face in that round much, much trickier.
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