SEATTLE <\/strong>\u2014 Rudi Garcia thought it was an April Fool\u2019s joke.<\/p>\n Belgium\u2019s manager was floored when he first heard that U.S. men\u2019s national team striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s suspension had been rescinded and that he would be available to play in what\u2019s now becoming an even more dramatic round of 16 clash here on Monday.<\/p>\n “I didn\u2019t know that at FIFA\u2019s headquarters, July 5 is the same thing as April 1,” Garcia said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. “It\u2019s a discovery for me.”<\/p>\n (Photo by DIRK WAEM \/ BELGA MAG \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n The biggest story at the World Cup right now is FIFA\u2019s stunning reversal of Balogun\u2019s already controversial red card from the USA\u2019s round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute after a lengthy VAR review overturned the original no-call, forcing the Americans to play the rest of the match with 10 men. A red card typically carries an automatic ejection and at least a one-match suspension.<\/p>\n The Belgian federation released a statement saying it was “astonished” and is “investigating all potential options” regarding FIFA\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the emotions couldn\u2019t have been more different on the U.S. side of things. Players were buzzing at training on Sunday morning, and manager Mauricio Pochettino \u2013 speaking after Garcia \u2013 was smiling and appeared light at his press conference.<\/p>\n “I think we celebrate that decision,” Pochettino said in front of a packed room of reporters. “We were punished enough against Bosnia and Herzegovina to play with 10 men for 30 minutes in a decision that was completely unfair.<\/p>\n “But it\u2019s not only because I am the head coach of the U.S. men\u2019s national team, I need to defend my side. I think 99.9% [of people] agree that was an unfair red card.”<\/p>\n (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Pochettino said he didn’t learn Balogun would be available until Sunday morning, ahead of the team’s training session. He was asked, but didn\u2019t really comment, on any posts or the reported involvement of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n “I was training, then climbing into the shower, eating so quick, and was taking the coffee into the car,” Pochettino joked. “I didn\u2019t have time to see social media.”<\/p>\n A U.S. Soccer spokesman told reporters Sunday that “we were engaged in the process with the disciplinary committee.” Pochettino said he was not involved.<\/p>\n “I was focusing and trying to prepare the team to face Belgium,” Pochettino said.<\/p>\n Pochettino was asked, though, if he was surprised that this has become such a massive story.<\/p>\n “That is the power of this sport,” Pochettino said frankly. “That is amazing. It doesn\u2019t surprise me. I came from a culture in Argentina and Europe that football \u2013 soccer \u2013 is more than a religion. It doesn\u2019t surprise me that in this country, the feeling is starting to grow so quick.\u00a0<\/p>\n “And yes, for sure, if we keep going \u2013 pushing maybe one more step tomorrow \u2013 you will see that the sport is magic, that the sport is amazing, is so powerful. It can unite people, unite a country like us.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY SEATTLE \u2014 Rudi Garcia thought it was an April Fool\u2019s joke. Belgium\u2019s manager was floored when he first heard that U.S. men\u2019s national team striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s suspension had been rescinded and that he would be available to play in what\u2019s now becoming an even more dramatic round of 16 clash […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6225","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\/6225","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=6225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}