{"id":6077,"date":"2026-07-03T22:35:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=6077"},"modified":"2026-07-03T22:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:35:30","slug":"classy-folarin-balogun-handling-unjust-world-cup-red-card-the-correct-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=6077","title":{"rendered":"Classy Folarin Balogun Handling &#039;Unjust&#039; World Cup Red Card The &#039;Correct Way&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>SEATTLE <\/strong>\u2014 It is exceedingly rare for a player who has been robbed of the opportunity to compete in the biggest match of his life \u2014 in this case, the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s round of 16 match against Belgium at the FIFA World Cup \u2014 to chat with a horde of reporters about that heartbreak. It\u2019s more impressive still that Folarin Balogun did just that on Friday, his 25th birthday, without displaying even a hint of frustration or anger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Yet there was the star USA striker flashing his 1000-watt smile just after being informed by a team staffer that FIFA had issued just a one-game suspension for the controversial red card he picked up after scoring the game-winning goal vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina two nights earlier in Northern California.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;That\u2019s good,&#8221; Balogun deadpanned before grinning widely as the assembled media members erupted in laughter.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>With three goals in the three games he\u2019s played at this World Cup, Balogun has emerged as one of the faces of the national team over the last few weeks. He\u2019s possibly the most complete striker the U.S. has ever had, and Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s side will miss him mightily against the Belgians, FIFA\u2019s 10th-ranked squad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Making it worse is the fact that the play that saw Balogun sent off following video review should never have been flagged to referee Raphael Claus under FIFA\u2019s own protocols. Standing just yards away, Claus didn\u2019t even issue Balogun a yellow card for his inadvertent, accidental step onto the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The Brazilian official flashed the red only after seeing the slow-motion replay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;For me, it&#8217;s important to be fair, even when I&#8217;m giving my opinion,&#8221; Balogun said. &#8220;There&#8217;s scenarios that you simply can&#8217;t avoid, and that has to be taken into context when it&#8217;s being reviewed. I felt it wasn&#8217;t on this occasion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;There&#8217;s nowhere else to put your leg,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s going be unavoidable \u2026 I think a yellow card would have been fair.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino defended Balogun passionately in his post-game press conference. So did every one of his teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by John Todd\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images).<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>None of it matters. FIFA doesn\u2019t allow appeals of red cards; only if Balogun had been hit with a longer ban than the automatic one-match given for a red card would the U.S. Soccer Federation had any recourse to ask soccer\u2019s governing body to reconsider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Even in the moment, though, Balogun barely protested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion,\" he said. \"There's still lots of people we\u2019re inspiring \u2014\u00a0little kids, boys and girls who are watching, you know, and you have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it's unjust. So I felt I did that.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"I\u2019m happy with the support I'm receiving from the team,\" he continued.\u00a0 \"We\u2019re all looking forward to seeing what we can do against Belgium.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Without Balogun, an already tall task becomes harder. The other two strikers on the roster, Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright, have different qualities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Pepi is a lethal finisher but not quite as adept at holding off opposing center backs with his back to the goal. He has started two games without scoring. Wright, six inches taller, is better in the air and has experience playing as a winger for Premier League-bound Coventry City, but isn\u2019t quite as effective combining with others in open play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>(Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Pochettino could start Christian Pulisic up top, as he did in a March exhibition against Portugal. But the coach would then have another hole to fill in a playmaking role, and there\u2019s no obvious candidate who can also press defensively the way the hard-running Pulisic does\u00a0\u2014 especially against a foe that is expected to have the bulk of the possession.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;When you miss a player like Balo, obviously things change a little bit,&#8221; said U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams. &#8220;But we&#8217;ve been flexible. Guys have shown that they&#8217;re ready to play, if it&#8217;s Pepi, if it&#8217;s Haji, if we go a different direction. Who knows? I\u2019m not the coach. But it should be an exciting opportunity for whoever has to step up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>That\u2019s what Pepi did when Pulisic was forced to sit out the group stage win over Australia because of a calf injury, helping create space for Balogun in the build up to the own goal that stood up as the eventual winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The good news is that Balogun will be rested to face either Portugal or Spain if the Americans can advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>From the bench, Balogun will be their biggest fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"My role is just to continue to support everybody, to keep morale high,\" he said. \"The team comes first whether I'm out there or not.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">USA's Folarin Balogun Avoids Multi-Game Suspension; Won't Play vs. Belgium<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">Folarin Balogun Joins Exclusive Club With World Cup Goal \u2014 And Red Card<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">4 Ways USA Could Replace Suspended Star Striker Folarin Balogun vs. Belgium<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY SEATTLE \u2014 It is exceedingly rare for a player who has been robbed of the opportunity to compete in the biggest match of his life \u2014 in this case, the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s round of 16 match against Belgium at the FIFA World Cup \u2014 to chat with a horde [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}