U.S. Men’s National Team forward Folarin Balogun knew his overturned red card at the FIFA World Cup would lead to issues.
Balogun originally was slated for a one-match ban after picking up a straight red card in a 2-0 Round of 32 victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, the American forward saw his ban dropped by FIFA, coincidentally after United States President Donald Trump reportedly contacted Gianni Infantino and asked him to investigate Balogun’s suspension.
The dropped ban allowed Balogun to start and play in the eventual 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium four days later, a decision that has since led to plenty of scrutiny surrounding the international federation.
Balogun has since spoken about the overturned red card, admitting that FIFA’s decision to change the ruling was something he knew would cause a major stir worldwide.
“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique,” Balogun said in an interview with CBS.
“But the closer we got to the game I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult,” he added. “A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid. It wasn’t something I could change. It was just a situation that was unfortunate, which gave me confidence.”
Balogun’s red card against Bosnia-Herzegovina came after the AS Monaco forward collided with Tarik Muharemovic in the second half. Despite opening the scoring with his third goal of the tournament, Balogun was sent off with 20+ minutes to play and the Americans clinging to a one-goal lead.
Malik Tillman’s free kick finish ahead of stoppage time not only sealed the USMNT’s place in the Round of 16, but let Balogun off the hook in case Bosnia-Herzegovina forced a late equalizer in the match.
Balogun still believes that he didn’t deserve to be ejected and that the USMNT were put in an unnecessary spot because of Raphael Claus’ decision.
“I was in shock,” Balogun said. “It wasn’t even a tackle. I was totally in shock, I think you could see my reaction, but I just had to accept the decision and just try to be there for my team.
“When something’s not intentional it should never be a red card, so it was just an unfortunate situation, and I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed,” he added.
Balogun is now on a short break before joining up with his AS Monaco teammates for preseason camp. The Ligue 1 side opens their competitive schedule against Le Havre on August 23.
Source: Sbisoccer.com
