United States men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun said Tuesday that his overturned suspension in the World Cup went from elation among his teammates to a sense of uneasiness that impacted the side’s final match of the tournament.
In a visit to “CBS Mornings,” Balogun described the whirlwind of emotions that started with his red card in a round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina to FIFA rescinding his mandatory one-game ban for a round of 16 match against Belgium.
Resentment for the USMNT grew after President Donald Trump admitted that he reached out to FIFA for a review of the decision. The animosity picked up even more momentum when Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said his side was prepared to defend the credibility of the sport after Balogun was ruled eligible.
Belgium dominated the second half of a 4-1 victory on July 6 at Seattle that eliminated the United States from the tournament.
The USMNT’s ineffective play against Belgium was criticized, as was star player Christian Pulisic, who struggled to spark the offense before departing with a leg injury.
“It was a difficult game against Belgium and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused or not,” Balogun said during his studio visit. “From me, being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game.”
And yet the team carried the weight of what became a heavy dose of world politics.
“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,” Balogun said. “And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique.
“The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult (with) a lot of outside noise. That’s hard to avoid.”
While the United States won Group D with victories in its opening two matches and won again in the knockout round, it failed to equal its best run in the tournament. The USMNT advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup at Japan and South Korea.
