Balogun will probably face a reaction, when he returns to League football, It needed to look ahead how it would affect his career. Fifa and USA haven't helped.
I agree with this to some extent. I heard and saw a lot of disparaging comments aimed at the players and management when this all happened. But the US team are, for me anyway, really likeable individuals and don't deserve it. Its not their fault they've been forced into this sorry situation by political figures and corrupt organisations.
Any criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Do feel for the lad. FIFA should at least offer him an unreserved apology for being a Pawn in the middle of all this nonsense. That decision has totally back fired on USA football team through no fault of their own. How to derail a Nations hope.
Not quite sure what was more embarrassing Trump speaking yesterday or FIFA finding a rule that was never there in the first place? Probably the latter.
Quote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 10:34:09 AMAny criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Well he could have declared himself not mentally prepared after the debacle and pulled out.
Quote from: JimmyConway on July 07, 2026, 11:04:42 AMDo feel for the lad. FIFA should at least offer him an unreserved apology for being a Pawn in the middle of all this nonsense. That decision has totally back fired on USA football team through no fault of their own. How to derail a Nations hope.
Not quite sure what was more embarrassing Trump speaking yesterday or FIFA finding a rule that was never there in the first place? Probably the latter.
The US football team were put in a difficult situation but Poch and those above him could have said no but they didn't. They chose to capitalise on Trump and FIFA manipulating the situation and they must take their share of the blame.
Quote from: alfie on July 07, 2026, 11:23:08 AMQuote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 10:34:09 AMAny criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Well he could have declared himself not mentally prepared after the debacle and pulled out.
That too but would you really decline a chance to play in a WC Last 16?
It does feel harsh judging Balogun who's been caught up in a political storm. Technically if FIFA change the rules, then ethically it's not right, but he's not done anything wrong himself. Apparently he went to the Belgium team after the game and said something to them which went down well and the belgium manager seemed to feel sorry for him.
Thankfully the ramifications of the decision aren't that significant and Belgium used the situation as motivation to completely put the USA to bed as comprehensively as they did
I do agree with some of the sentiment here about Balogun being sort of the victim here. He's an ambitious footballer who just wants to play for his team. And now he has this cloud kind of hanging over his head. I think FIFA totally owes this player, and the general football watching community, a huge apology for making this poor decision. Other influences notwithstanding, FIFA, and FIFA only, makes the final decision, and this just disrupts all the rules and regs fans and players are familiar with. Balogun was prepared to sit out this game, and was not crying about it either. I do wonder though how VAR intervention was used in this case. One criteria for red is bodily injury. Sure, the replay, slo-mo, stop action made the contact look bad, the rolled ankle and all, but the player harmed in this collision went on to play the game, nothing wrong with him. There was no whistle or stoppage of play when the players came together, and I'm still not sure when VAR intervention is called for. Anyway, tough on Balogun. Hopefully he gets past this episode in his career. And Belgium clearly the better team in this affair and deserved winner.
It will all be forgotten about in 6 months
Quote from: alfie on July 07, 2026, 11:23:08 AMQuote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 10:34:09 AMAny criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Well he could have declared himself not mentally prepared after the debacle and pulled out.
I disagree. He is a hired hand. If anyone should have stood up it was Poch as coach/manager.
Quote from: Grassy Noel on July 07, 2026, 05:07:43 PMQuote from: alfie on July 07, 2026, 11:23:08 AMQuote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 10:34:09 AMAny criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Well he could have declared himself not mentally prepared after the debacle and pulled out.
I disagree. He is a hired hand. If anyone should have stood up it was Poch as coach/manager.
Unfortunately I was not a big fan of Poch's reaction to FIFA's decision, but I'm a Canadian and the last two years of having the US next door and their changing policies have been difficult. So I'm likely biased.
I knew nothing about who Balogun was as a person before this WC but after seeing how he handled the whole situation I find myself INCREDIBLY impressed. Not sure he could have handled it any better. For me he's the only one who comes out of that whole mess with any credit. From his incredibly classy reaction to the red card in the first place to what he did on the pitch after the match last night.
https://x.com/tha_Real_Kumar/status/2073105697722839302?s=20
https://x.com/JoserNunez91/status/2074336476041507128?s=20
From what I have read, it was US Soccer's decision to bring the externals into this, therefore the USMNT players have not a blot on their reputations, but the following is an eye opener in what went on behind the scenes:
Following the fallout from the reversed card, FIFA quietly issued suspensions to two specific U.S. Soccer officials right before the Belgium match: FIFA Suspensions (https://frontofficesports.com/fifa-us-soccer-suspensions/) & FIFA Digital (https://digitalhub.fifa.com/web/53ea43224522196f/fwc2026-disciplinary-previews/?viewType=grid&mediaId=722E4C74-5868-4DB2-8D2F43D4A3A7F110)
Sam Zapatka: The USMNT Team Manager.
Frank Pannell: The U.S. Soccer Vice President of Security.
External Backers Scott Goodwin: A hedge fund manager and major financial donor to U.S. Soccer. He originally flagged match-fixing allegations regarding the game's Brazilian referee, Raphael Claus, which Trump later cited in his call to FIFA.
Quote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 11:33:24 AMQuote from: alfie on July 07, 2026, 11:23:08 AMQuote from: demeant0r on July 07, 2026, 10:34:09 AMAny criticism of Balogun, if there is any, is unwarranted since he doesn't decide if he gets selected.
Well he could have declared himself not mentally prepared after the debacle and pulled out.
That too but would you really decline a chance to play in a WC Last 16?
No, of course you would not decline the chance.
Similarly, if you had punched the ball into the net in a WC match and the ref hadn't noticed, you wouldn't rush up to the ref and ask him to disallow the goal.
I feel sorry for him too. Red cards can happen. I'm sure he was devastated he got the red and was unavailable to play. Obviously, he couldn't refuse to play if selected.
This is who I blame, in order from most to least: Infantino-FIFA board or whatever it's called that made the decision, Trump(and other politicians that have been involved) - USA technical staff - Pochettino.
Pochettino could have pit his foot down and not played Balogun. It could have potentially cost him his job, which is why he's ranked lowest in my blame list, but he would have shown integrity.
Infantino is clearly the biggest culprit as he actually accepted the ridiculous demands from the USA politicians. The other FIFA people involved are 2nd biggest as they didn't stand up to Infantino. The rest is pretty obvious.
The whole situation is ridiculous with players and the manager put in an impossible situation.
Corinthian casuals of old would have known what to do but those days have long passed.
Infantino is the problem, I have made my thoughts clear on his lack of moral integrity loads of times.
Trump is just doing what Trump does and we can't be political on here but he should not have intefered.
Time that FIFA was disbanded they are just not fit for purpose.
Quote from: SerbianLad on July 07, 2026, 10:38:58 PMI feel sorry for him too. Red cards can happen. I'm sure he was devastated he got the red and was unavailable to play. Obviously, he couldn't refuse to play if selected. This is who I blame, in order from most to least: Infantino-FIFA board or whatever it's called that made the decision, Trump(and other politicians that have been involved) - USA technical staff - Pochettino. Pochettino could have pit his foot down and not played Balogun. It could have potentially cost him his job, which is why he's ranked lowest in my blame list, but he would have shown integrity. Infantino is clearly the biggest culprit as he actually accepted the ridiculous demands from the USA politicians. The other FIFA people involved are 2nd biggest as they didn't stand up to Infantino. The rest is pretty obvious.
I put 100% blame for this fiasco solely on FIFA. Terrible ruling, terrible judgement, and, yes, does put a lot of folks in an impossible situation (player, team, coaches, et al). FIFA, and FIFA alone makes the final decision in such a matter. FIFA blew it.
This purely political, just cos trump said something about it not being fair, now the whole TDS media has grabbed a hold of it and turned it into witch hunt
I think Theres far worse things that need scrutinizing eg: egypts goal being disallowed - FIFAS love fest with Messi etc etc
TDS, Perry?
Really?
I don't think that the player can be blamed here really, anyone else would have done the same I think.
I've already aired my thoughts on those above him and it's despicable. All of those suits, the rancid President, the lot of them.
They have made this young man forever tainted by their attempts to twist the rules to suit their own agenda, once again and it's sickening.
There is just a possibility that FIFA will now agree that rescinding a red card is not allowed and therefore an ineligible player was on the pitch, causing the match to be re-scheduled. ::tongue:: (What's TDS?). 😇😕
Quote from: LittleErn on July 08, 2026, 04:16:28 PM(What's TDS?). 😇😕
Trump Derangement Syndrome.
It's a term that the manchild in chief created himself and the hard of thinking repeat.
Basically if you dare to question the adjudicated rapist about anything, you apparently suffer from this completely made up condition.