SEATTLE — Over the past two days, the United States men’s national team’s clash with Belgium has been focused around the complicated saga of Folarin Balogun‘s red card. But after a decision from the FIFA disciplinary committee, and an apparent call from President Donald Trump, Balogun was back in the starting lineup on Monday amid a swirl of controversy.
And it didn’t even make a difference.
Advertisement
The sky-high hopes of this USMNT instead ended with a disastrous 4-1 loss to Belgium. The U.S. attack was nearly nonexistent; Balogun, supposedly the player who would be crucial to a win, was largely neutralized by the Belgian defense from the start.
In World Cups, because there are only so many opponents, things tend to move in cycles. It’s easy to look at Monday’s loss to Belgium and think of another Round of 16 loss to Belgium, back in 2014. But that was a 2-1 loss in extra time, after a lights-out, record-setting goalkeeping performance from Tim Howard. This was a 4-1 loss where Belgium dismantled a U.S. team that had shown generational promise with embarrassing ease. This was far more demoralizing.
Postgame, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino was transparent about the poor performance — but said that it wasn’t good to pin the loss on outside distractions.
“We don’t need to find another excuse. I think we were not good enough. It wasn’t our day. We didn’t perform in the way that we’re supposed to perform or show our quality,” Pochettino said. “All that was happening around was around, but I think it wasn’t a situation that affects us in the group. All the teams can have one day sometimes that is, you don’t perform and nothing is right for you. And today was that type of day that you suffer because you can never connect with the game.”
Advertisement
“I think [it] didn’t affect our performance,” Pochettino added later. “The way that we performed, we performed, and it’s not an excuse.”
Mauricio Pochettino said the saga surrounding Folarin Balogun was not an excuse for the USMNT’s 4-1 World Cup loss to Belgium.
(Luke Hales via Getty Images)
Balogun entered this game as the USMNT’s leading goalscorer, the kind of striker that makes an immediate difference on the field. But despite days of thoughts about whether any American win would feel “tainted” by the situation, the resulting U.S. performance was so uninspiring that Balogun’s inclusion felt like an afterthought.
“We were happy that we had the opportunity for him to play. I think he tried today to be a presence and a nuisance, and at times he was getting the ball in behind and doing what he does,” Tyler Adams told reporters. “Just didn’t have too many opportunities.”
Advertisement
Similar to his coach, Balogun said that he had been focused on doing his job when speaking to reporters. He also noted that he didn’t have any involvement in FIFA’s decision to clear him to play, but that it didn’t matter, when Belgium was “the better team.”
“I feel we didn’t have a good game,” he said. “When you know you’re given a red card, usually the protocol is you don’t play in the following game, and then when that decision is overturned, of course, it’s going to be controversial. I just had a job to do.”
Tim Ream, like Adams, said that the team did a good job of avoiding “outside noise” heading into the game.
“It’s one of those things — that’s the world we live in. We were fully focused on us as a group and as a team, and fully focused on the game and not really worried about what was being said or debated in the outside world,” Ream said.
Advertisement
But a clearly frustrated Pochettino started to speak his mind a little bit more later in the press conference, after another question about Balogun. Pochettino called the situation “frustrating and disappointing,” specifically in terms of the ways that people are manipulating the situation when he was just doing his job.
“My position was to train the team. And if you have available Balogun because the disciplinary [committee] of FIFA allowed for you to have the player, it’s not a problem. But, in a personal way, I feel so disappointed with too many people,” he added, “because they can input politics and can put, you know, manipulation. Talk about the ethics, the integrity.”
The Argentine coach made the point that many have made: That this isn’t the first time FIFA has commuted a punishment, and also not the first time a card has resulted in controversy.
Advertisement
“But that is not an excuse to say, ‘Oh we didn’t perform because of that.’ That is not true,” Pochettino concluded.
Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia also said postgame that, while they informed the team about the ongoing Balogun situation, it wasn’t something that he let distract them.
Garcia also noted that Balogun came up to speak to him after the match.
“It’s not his fault, he’s not the one to blame. That’s what I told him,” Garcia said when asked what they talked about.
Balogun confirmed the exchange.
“He hopes that this situation won’t overshadow the fantastic World Cup I’ve had,” Balogun said. “He just wanted to encourage me to be positive, and to be proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish this tournament.
Advertisement
“When the emotions settle, I think I’ll be able to, and just look back on what has been a fantastic summer, individually and collectively.”
Heading into the game, there was a sense that the United States couldn’t win without everyone being unhappy. Any Balogun goal would be a symbol of FIFA’s corruption, a marker of special treatment. And part of that feeling was based around the fact that this was a USMNT that could go far, that could finally get further than its predecessors.
But instead, the loss was so resounding that no one could take it as anything other than a loss.
“[They] were better than us and that’s it,” Pochettino said.
