Jesus Noel Valenzuela(40 years old), FIFA referee since 2013, will be responsible for the inaugural match of the America Cup between Argentina and Canada, along with his Venezuelan compatriots Jorge Urrego and Lubin Torrealba and the Salvadorans Ivan Barton and David Moran (CONCACAF). The VAR will be commanded by the Uruguayans Leodán González and Richard Trinidad.
Valenzuela is a referee who has stood out in the field of South American and international football. A career that began in the 2000s, being at this time one of the most experienced and senior members of the Conmebol team, he has gained recognition for his professionalism and ability to operate in high-risk sports matches.
His career has included participation in various continental tournaments such as the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, as well as in FIFA competitions, such as the recent 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Valenzuela is characterized by its firm criteria when applying the rules of the game and by maintaining good control of the pace of the matches, with some deficit in its movement and dynamic positioning. He is a pragmatist who knows how to take control of the match with conviction and confidence in his refereeing strengths. He is not characterized as a rigid referee in discipline: his last 20 games show this, with only four players sent off (two for a double yellow) and only 20 reprimanded..
Participate in the meetings with a vocation to give continuity to it. In his last 20 presentations, the ball kept moving for 72 minutes over the regulation 90, something rare these days. The negative thing about this continuity is that it sometimes makes him confused when making disciplinary decisions; The technical is its greatest strength.
It is normal that the appointment of the Referees Commission in the first match is linked to the profile that is considered as the mirror so that the rest of the referees reflect themselves. As of 2019, the leadership decided that his qualities were more suitable for the role of on-field referee and he stopped being VAR.
His unfortunate task in the semifinal between Brazil and the Albiceleste in the Copa América that year lowered his thumb in front of the screen. Being responsible for the technology, he did not know how to observe and report, according to current VAR rules, a clear penalty on Otamendi, which could have changed the final result.
The 40-year-old judge He was the main referee in six matches against those led by Lionel Scaloni. In these meetings, The Albiceleste achieved three victories, two draws and one victory from the penalty shootout.
The first game coached by Valenzuela was in the 2018 Russia Qualifiers, when Argentina beat Bolivia 2-0. In 2021 he refereed the 1-1 draw against Chile in the qualifiers for Qatar 2022. He was also present in two matches of the Copa América 2021 in Brazil: the 1-0 victory over Paraguay and the memorable semi-final against Colombia, in which Emiliano Draw Martínez stood out in the penalty shootout and his immortal “look how I eat you” was born. In that commitment the goalkeeper established himself as an immovable figure within the 11 of the national team and proved to be a specialist from the twelve steps.
Valenzuela He was also part of the controversial suspended match between Brazil and Argentina in 2021 due to health issues related to the pandemic. The last game he coached was the 2-0 victory over Peru in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
In short, he is a judge who has a well-deserved mark in international arbitration, thanks to his experience and skills in managing high-level matches with fairness and precision. If the teams propose a match in which the technical prevails over the physical, we will have a good job from the match authority.
