Folarin Balogun says the firestorm over his World Cup red card 'didn’t help' the U.S. men's national team but rejects it as an excuse for a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.
U.S. star Folarin Balogun leaves the field after a loss to Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 on July 6 in Seattle. Folarin Balogun says the firestorm over his World Cup red card “didn’t help” the U.S. men’s national team but rejects it as an excuse for a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.
The American striker initially was suspended for that game before FIFA allowed him to play. The move was seen as controversial because President Trump lobbied FIFA.
“As an athlete, you go into a game that’s already difficult enough with everything that goes on, the pressure,” Balogun said. “So to have more pressure, not just internally from almost the whole footballing world, was difficult. But it’s not an excuse. We were disappointed with the way it ended, but there’s still a lot to be proud of.
”Folarin Balogun was born in Brooklyn, making him eligible to play for the U.S. He was also eligible to play for England or Nigeria, but he chose the U.S.Balogun, a birthright U.S. citizen whose Nigerian parents live in England, scored his third goal in four World Cup gameson July 1 in Santa Clara. But he also received a straight red card for stomping on the ankle of Bosnian center back Tarik Muharemović, meaning the top-scoring American player would have to miss the next game.
It was a controversial call, with some feeling the red card was unwarranted since Balogun’s action didn’t seem intentional.to ask for the decision to be reviewed. On July 6, the day before the U.S.-Belgium game, FIFA announced thatArellano: The Trump ‘curse’ at the World Cup is his latest red card against Americans For the past 11 years, I’ve waited for a scandal, a slip up, a moment of clarity that would finally make President Trump’s supporters realize that their man is a charlatan.
The only other time a red-card suspension was overruled during a World Cup was in 1962, when Brazilian attacker Garrincha was allowed to play in the final after Brazil’s prime minister lobbied on his behalf. He was correct about that. Although Infantino insisted that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee makes its decisions independently, the reversal caused outrage among many in the soccer world.
Belgium submitted an appeal, butFollow along as France faces Spain in the FIFA World Cup semifinals on Tuesday at noon PDT . Get the latest news, results and highlights. Amid all that, the U.S. had to prepare for Belgium — first without and then with Balogun in the mix. He told CBS the situation was “confusing” for all involved.
“I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique,” Balogun said. “But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.
” He added, though, that he and his teammates were “able to separate the emotion from the job at hand,” and the distractions didn’t contribute to the disappointing loss.
“We’re all professionals, so it’s not something I think was too difficult to be separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I’d be back in the team,” Balogun said. “I think you saw definitely it was a difficult game against Belgium, and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused or not. ... I know we had full concentration going into the game.
”Chuck Schilken is a sports reporter on the Fast Break team. He spent more than 18 years with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports Department in a variety of roles. Before joining The Times, he worked for more than a decade as a sports reporter and editor at newspapers in Virginia and Maryland. Norway star Erling Haaland left the U.S. with seven World Cup goals and a taxidermy raccoon, sparking a run on the item
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