Folarin Balogun has admitted FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend his one-game ban – following an intervention from Donald Trump – affected the USMNT ahead of their World Cup defeat by Belgium.
The 25-year-old was thrust into the center of a global storm after it emerged that the President had lobbied FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review his red card. Balogun was sent off during the USA’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an automatic suspension initially ruling him out of the last-16 game against Belgium.
But US Soccer chiefs – and the White House – pushed back against the punishment and, barely 24 hours before the game, the striker’s one-game ban was suspended, sparking allegations of favoritism and political interference. The USMNT went on to crash out of the World Cup with a 4-1 loss against Belgium.
On Tuesday, Balogun appeared on CBS Mornings and he admitted: ‘My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team. But when I 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. 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: ‘It was confusing because the team was practicing without me in the team, I’m almost just playing a supporting role to keep morale high.’
Folarin Balogun admitted his red-card reprieve – following Donald Trump’s intervention – affected the USMNT ahead of their World Cup defeat by Belgium
The striker was sent off for this challenge during their 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina
Donald Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to ask him to review the sending off
Balogun’s comments come just days after Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup Task Force, conceded that the scandal surrounding the red card could have impacted US players.
Giuliani insisted he ‘stands by’ the decision to intervene, maintaining that – given all the money the US spent on the tournament – they wanted to ensure the World Cup was ‘fairly administered on the pitch.’
But when asked by the Daily Mail whether the whole saga could have distracted Mauricio Pochettino’s team, he said: ‘Potentially.’
Balogun, who has signed with Klutch Sports – the agency which represents the likes of LeBron James and Jalen Hurts – was shown a straight red card after a collision with Bosnian player Tarik Muharemovic. As he tussled for the ball, the USA striker landed on the back of his opponent’s leg, raking down his calf before landing on the defender’s ankle.
‘It wasn’t even a tackle so I was totally in shock,’ Balogun told CBS on Tuesday. ‘I think you could see my reaction but I just had to accept the decision and just try and be there for my team.’
He added: ‘When something is not intentional, it should never be a red card – it was just an unfortunate situation and I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed.’
Balogun also gave CBS viewers an insight into the atmosphere within the USMNT as the saga played out.
‘My teammates are like my brothers so they gave me a lot of reassurance: it wasn’t something I could change, it was just the situation that was unfortunate – which gave me confidence,’ he said.
‘But it was confusing because the team was practicing without me in the team, I’m almost just playing a supporting role to keep morale high… we found out [that his ban was suspended] on the team bus – everybody was screaming and shouting, it was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field.
Balogun was controversially sent off by referee Raphael Claus before his ban was suspended
The USMNT striker was consoled by Belgium coach Rudi Garcia following the 4-1 defeat
He continued, ‘It’s more [about] being able to separate the emotion from the job at hand – we’re all professionals so it’s not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we got over the initial announcement that I’d be back in the team.
‘But you saw definitely it was a difficult game against Belgium and that can overshadow whether we were focused or not. But from me being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game.’
Balogun was the USA’s top scorer at the World Cup with three goals and news of his reprieve was seen as a huge boost heading into the clash with Belgium.
But Pochettino’s team struggled badly in the last-16 clash in Seattle. ‘The feeling of disappointment is very difficult to put into words,’ Balogun said at the time.
‘To not have the energy in a round-of-16 World Cup game, it’s difficult to explain. So I can only tell you my emotions, which are disappointment and a lot of sadness.’
USA captain Tim Ream insisted after the game that all the noise surrounding the red card ‘had no impact’ on the team but, even that night, Balogun suggested he would have more to say on the matter once the dust had settled on the USA’s loss.
‘The situation I’ve been involved in is also going to present different challenges,’ he said. ‘So it’s just important, for me, to be able to gather my thoughts and then at the right time, I’m sure I’ll be able to speak on the topic.’
On Tuesday, Balogun told CBS it ‘has been nice to step out’ of the ‘tough, high-pressure’ bubble of a World Cup campaign. But he added: ‘It was amazing to be a part of it – I really felt we were able to unite the country.
‘That was an aspiration of mine and the team before we set out and I definitely felt that. You could how many fans and how many young kids were captured by it.’
