It turns out Donald Trump was worried about the wrong striker. In an extraordinary intervention that cast a long shadow over the biggest game in US soccer history, the president had lobbied FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to allow the suspended Folarin Balogun to face Belgium.
How much influence that call had, we may never know. In the end, though, it made little difference. Because, even though Balogun was controversially cleared to play, it was Belgian striker Charles De Ketelaere who decided this World Cup showdown.
The 25-year-old scored two goals and helped create another as Belgium broke American hearts and shattered the co-hosts’ World Cup dreams in the round of 16. De Ketelaere was given a huge helping hand by Mauricio Pochettino’s players who, after weeks of promise and brilliance, put in a calamitous display. Balogun drew a blank before Romelu Lukaku profited from a final defensive lapse to seal a 4-1 win. What a dismal end to a magical few weeks. Good luck overturning this one, Mr President.
Perhaps there won’t be much sympathy elsewhere – amid all the chaos and confusion in the lead up to this game, there was plenty of fury too. Fury that Trump would stick his oar in. Fury that FIFA allowed Balogun to play at barely 24 hours’ notice. Fury that the lines between politics and sport had now become more entangled than at perhaps any point in modern history.
But that was not the fault of Balogun or the rest of Pochettino’s players. Who knows how much they had been affected by the mayhem of the recent days? They certainly looked distracted and drained over these 90 minutes.
Infantino, watching from the posh seats in Seattle, may not survive this scandal. But De Ketelaere ensured – if only for a while – that this World Cup saga did not escalate even further. It will be Belgium who face Spain in the quarterfinals.
Charles De Ketelaere scored twice in the first half of Belgium’s World Cup clash with the USA
De Ketelaere celebrates after giving Belgium the lead in the round-of-16 clash in Seattle
Folarin Balogun was selected to start after his one-game ban was suspended by FIFA
Donald Trump called Gianni Infantino to ask him about the one-match ban given to Balogun
Mauricio Pochettino consoles a devastated Chris Richards following the defeat in Seattle
For the uninitiated, a brief timeline: Balogun, the US’ leading scorer at this World Cup, was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. It looked a very harsh decision but FIFA rules prevented an appeal. And then on Sunday, FIFA announced out of nowhere that Balogun’s one-game ban had been suspended. Before long, it emerged that Trump had waded in. All hell then broke loose.
Belgium were left furious but Balogun was finally cleared to play just hours before kickoff, after FIFA rejected their appeal. Belgium threatened possible legal action if the striker played. He did. But he was powerless to prevent the USA from collapsing to defeat here.
Instead? De Ketelaere scored twice in the first half – either side of Malik Tillman’s freekick – before USA goalkeeper Matt Freese gifted Belgium a third goal with a comical error and Chris Richards’ mistake allowed Lukaku to make it four late on. With that, nearly 70,000 fans in Seattle were silenced and millions of dreams were shattered. On the bench, Christian Pulisic appeared to be in tears after coming off. Penny for the thoughts of the president.
There were still two hours until kickoff in Seattle when thousands of US fans began a slow, deafening march toward Lumen Field. They brought flares and flags and drums. They held up signs of John Denver and Folarin Balogun, one of which carried an image of the striker along with the caption: ‘Land Of The Free’
As the procession headed down Western Avenue, people lined the streets. Others gathered on balconies, bridges and on the roof of a parking garage. Among the huge crowds was a key figure within US soccer who stopped for a quick chat. They were unequivocal: Trump’s call to Infantino made no difference in FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban. They might be right. US Soccer led the fight; FIFA insisted its judicial bodies are ‘independent’ and ‘operate autonomously’.
But, by then, the die had been cast, the waters had been muddied and this World Cup had been plunged into chaos. Acolytes around the White House rushed to credit the president, big names across soccer voiced their fury. Belgium coach Garcia compared the decision to an April Fools’ joke, even Balogun’s dad insisted ‘politics should not interfere in sport.’
So much of this nonsense could have been avoided had FIFA rules allowed the USMNT to appeal Balogun’s red card. Or had FIFA just explained why his ban had been suspended.
Underfire FIFA president Gianni Infantino was among the crowd at Lumen Field on Monday
Malik Tillman’s deflected freekick brought the US level, only for Belgium to score minutes later
USA goalkeeper Matt Freese made a calamitous error to gift Belgium a third goal in Seattle
Instead? Confusion abounded and Infantino sat in the stands facing allegations of political interference and favoritism. But, more important than one man and his ludicrous grip on this sport, an amazing story had been blotted. What did Pochettino and his players do to deserve this? Over their first four games, they had played magnificently, capturing the hearts of millions around this country.
Now, through no fault of their own, they had been swept up in scandal. Pochettino was desperate to prevent his team being dragged into politics or any wider controversy. He succeeded until Trump picked up the phone.
Somehow, by the time the two teams emerged on to the field on Monday night, less than 36 hours had passed since Balogun and Co boarded the team bus for training, unaware they were driving into the eye of a storm.
The atmosphere inside Lumen Field had reached boiling point. Within 10 minutes, however, so much of the noise and energy had been sucked out of this place. Credit Belgium for that.
Almost immediately, Freese was forced into a save by Timothy Castagne. Then Youri Tielemans missed a glorious chance. And then three USMNT players failed to deal with a looping ball inside their own area, allowing Nicolas Raskin to gather it and put it on a plate for De Ketelaere. The defending was woeful.
The crowd was stunned into silence, Pochettino’s players were all over the place. It took the US half an hour to create a chance. Inevitably, Balogun played his part – winning a foul in a dangerous area and then whipping up the crowd. Moments later, Tillman’s freekick was deflected past Thibaut Courtois.
His set piece against Bosnia and Herzegovina had sealed the US’ place in the last 16. This gave Pochettino’s team liftoff once more. Alas, America was level for less than two minutes before Leandro Trossard crossed for De Ketelaere to score again.
Pochettino vented his frustration by kicking water bottles near the bench and the manager’s mood did not improve when, shortly before halftime, the ball dropped to Balogun a few yards out, only for the striker to fire over the bar.
Balogun missed another opportunity late on. By then, though this game had gone. Poor Freese. The goalkeeper initially did well to come out to collect a long ball ahead of De Ketelaere. But then he dithered for half a second too long, allowing the Belgian forward to deflect the ball to Hans Vanaken who, from around 35 yards, curled the ball past Freese and Tim Ream and into the net. Then Lukaku rubbed salt in American wounds.
