Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The United States face the biggest day of soccer in their history on Monday as they take on Belgium for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals after a dramatic reprieve for star striker Folarin Balogun thanks to the intervention of Donald Trump. Balogun, who has scored three goals at the World Cup, had been set to miss the clash in Seattle after receiving a straight red card following a video review for stepping on a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender’s foot in the round-of-32 match that the US won 2-0. Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban.
Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino asking him to review Balogun’s punishment, two sources familiar with the matter told AFP. World football’s governing body said Sunday the ban will now be suspended for a year, in a stunning move for which no specific explanation was offered. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The US team welcomed the decision, which coach Mauricio Pochettino called “fair”, but it sparked outrage from Belgium and other teams. European football’s governing body UEFA slammed the ruling declaring FIFA had “crossed a red line”.
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“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” added UEFA in a strongly-worded statement. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished” and stressed it was “investigating all potential options”. England coach Thomas Tuchel, asked about the Balogun case after having one of his own players sent off in the nerve-jangling 3-2 win against Mexico on Saturday, said: “Where does this start and end now? Can we overturn it? Where to draw the line is the question I ask. Where does this end now? It’s my question, I don’t have an answer,” the German added.
Tuchel’s compatriot Jurgen Klopp, who is in line to become the next coach of Germany, did not mince his words. “This is our game, not theirs… If Trump and Infantino really worked this all out between themselves, that’s crazy. It calls everything into question… These two individuals, neither of whom has a clue about football, shouldn’t have anything to do with it,” the 59-year-old added.
The stakes in Monday’s game are huge for the co-hosts. Playing on home soil, a strong US start to the tournament has raised expectations to fever-pitch levels among the American public. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are targeting a historic run to at least the quarter-finals, which they have not reached since 2002.
In the first game Monday, European champions Spain face neighbours Portugal in Dallas for a place in the last eight. On Sunday, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo came out fighting against critics he said had been “trying to kill me for the past 23 years”. Ronaldo, 41, admitted he was not the player he used to be, but said “I am not doing too bad”, pointing to the three goals he has scored at the tournament — two against Uzbekistan in a 5-0 thrashing in the group phase and a penalty in the 2-1 win over Croatia in the last 32.
Relishing taking on journalists eager to ask about his future and the harsh spotlight on him, Ronaldo told reporters: “It’s been like this since I was 18, it is not going to change. I always put body and soul trying to get our goals — playing or not playing, I will always have an important role to play.”
Spain started the World Cup sluggishly but found their form in breezing past Austria 3-0 in the last 32, and their own superstar, 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, is ready to showcase his precocious talents, coach Luis de la Fuente said. “He loves these kinds of games,” de la Fuente said. “He likes to be the focus, he likes the responsibility, he likes to take the initiative.”
England’s victory in the Azteca on Sunday sees them move on to a quarter-final against Norway next Saturday, after Erling Haaland produced two stunning goals to dump Brazil out of the tournament with a 2-1 win.
© 2024 AFP
