Ricardo Andres Valenzuela (born February 7, 1964) is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

former soccer referee from Richmond, California, who officiated for the

U.S. Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

in various leagues and competitions, as assigned. He was also a FIFA referee. His other occupation is as a

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Career

He first took up refereeing in 1982, officiating in youth soccer in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, and progressed to become a FIFA referee in 1999. In the lead-up to the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

tournament, he was appointed to a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between the

and

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at the Civic Stadium,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, on June 6, 1999, which finished 4–2 to the USA women. On July 13 of that year, he also oversaw the representative friendly at the

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, between the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, from the East Midlands of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which the United States won 2–1. He was in charge of one of the semi-finals in the 2001 U.S. Open Cup, between

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

and Chicago Fire at Titan Stadium, Fullerton, California, on August 22, 2001, when Galaxy beat Fire 1–0 after

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, and went on to win the tournament. On December 21, 2003, Valenzuela was given control of the UNCAF Tournament Final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in

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, played between

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

of Costa Rica, and

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

of Guatemala, and which Deportivo won 3–2. Amongst his work for FIFA, he refereed a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying game in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

on October 8, 2000 between Honduras and

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, which finished 1–0 to the home side, and four years later was appointed to three

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matches in the

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region. As well as being

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the L ...

Kevin Stott Kevin Stott (born 1967) is a soccer referee for PRO from the United States. He was a FIFA referee from 1995 to 2008. Stott was selected as a referee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, wa ...

for the Haiti against

Turks & Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

Preliminary Round match on February 18, 2004, he took charge of the return match in the

Islands on February 22, 2004, which ended 2–0 to Haiti. Later in the year, on October 10, 2004, he was referee for

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

's 5–1 home win at the

Dwight Yorke Stadium The Dwight Yorke Stadium, located in Bacolet, Scarborough, Tobago, (Trinidad and Tobago), is named after former Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney, Sunderland and Trinidad and Tobago footballer Dwight Yorke ...

over St. Kitts & Nevis in the Semifinal Round of the same competition. In later years, he took charge of such prestige matches as the

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ...

on July 30, 2005 in the

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 ...

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, against Fulham from

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, England, which finished 4–1 to MLS. Valenzuela had retired from refereeing by late 2006, leaving the FIFA list at the end of 2005.Mention of Valenzuela leaving FIFA list
(end of 2005): Ed Bellion's ''For the Integrity Of Soccer'' blog.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenzuela, Ricardo 1964 births American soccer referees Sportspeople from Richmond, California Living people Major League Soccer referees