Дэлхийн аваргын шөвгийн 16-д АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн довтлогч Фоларин Балогун улаан хуудасны шийтгэлээ цуцлуулж, тоглох эрхтэй боллоо.
Босни ба Херцеговины эсрэг өнгөрсөн лхагва гарагт болсон тоглолтод шүүгчийн гаргасан шийдвэрээр талбайгаас хөөгдсөн Фоларин Балогуны нэг тоглолтын торгуулийг ФИФА долдугаар сарын 5-нд цуцалсан нь олон улсын хэмжээнд хүчтэй шүүмжлэл дагууллаа. Бельгийн дасгалжуулагч Руди Гарсиа үүнийг “дөрөвдүгээр сарын 1-ний тоглоом” хэмээн нэрлэсэн бол УЕФА болон Мишель Платини, Уэйн Рүүни нар уг шийдвэрийг шударга бус, ойлгомжгүй үйлдэл хэмээн буруушаав.
АНУ-ын ерөнхийлөгч Дональд Трамп болон түүний баг хуульчдын баг бүрдүүлж, шүүгчийн алдаатай шийдвэрийг эсэргүүцэн ФИФА-д хандсан нь ийнхүү үр дүнгээ өглөө. Трамп тоглолтын дүрэмд оролцох сонирхолгүй ч шигшээ багийнхаа шилдэг тоглогчдыг талбайд гаргах ёстой гэсэн байр суурийг илэрхийлсэн юм. АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн дасгалжуулагч Маурисио Почеттино уг шийдвэрийг зөвтгөж, багаа хохироосон шүүгчийн шийдвэрийг залруулах нь шударга ёс гэж үзэж байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Талбайн эзэн орон ийнхүү өөрийн талбайдаа давуу талаа ашиглан 2002 оноос хойш анх удаа шөвгийн наймд шалгарах зорилготой байна. Бельгийн эсрэг даваа гарагт Сиэтл хотноо болох энэхүү тоглолт нь АНУ-ын хувьд түүхэн боломж гэж үзэж байгаа бөгөөд Фоларин Балогун бүрэлдэхүүнд эргэн ирснээр багийн довтолгооны хүч нэмэгдлээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
So, we received a gift for our 250th birthday and did not even complain that it arrived a day late.
The guardians of football, or soccer, from across the sea? Oh, they complained. Did they ever?
They saw FIFA’s July 5 reinstatement of United States striker Folarin Balogun for Monday’s match with Belgium as a World Cup travesty, a foul and sickening slice of home cooking.
The Belgian coach, Rudi Garcia, likened it to an April Fool’s joke. UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, called the suspension of Balogun’s one-match ban for the red card in Wednesday’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina “incomprehensible” and “unjustifiable.” French great Michel Platini, former UEFA president, told The Athletic it was “shameful.” English legend Wayne Rooney said on the BBC that the reversal was an “absolute disgrace.”
What FIFA’s Balogun intervention means for other World Cup teams
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Of course, if the player involved had been knocked out of a knockout round by some wretched refereeing while representing Belgium, France or England, they would likely be sounding like many of us are sounding here in the US of A.
Relieved. Rejuvenated. Ready to roll in the round of 16.
And about that ruling? One continent’s trash is another country’s treasure.
Listen, for decades, the U.S. has viewed a World Cup title as the most unattainable of grails. Americans have long seen this tournament as the only competition of any kind, in any forum, that makes a participation trophy a worthwhile goal. Even a month ago, eighth place was considered a victory and a major step forward.
But not this time. The U.S. might have its best team ever, along with a world-class coach, Mauricio Pochettino, and something just as American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie:
Homefield advantage, and the competitive perks that come with it.
And yet for all the global fuss made over President Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who has come across as a de facto member of Trump’s cabinet, this controversy started with the VAR ruling that went against Balogun on the Santa Clara, Calif., pitch. This call was the polar opposite of home cooking. The Americans lost one of their best players to a foul that did not rise to red-card level, not even close.
That decision could have cost the U.S. its round-of-32 match, never mind its round-of-16 match with Belgium. And there is no way American soccer officials, lawyers and, yes, politicians, should have taken that gut-punch in silence.
Again, not this time. Not in this World Cup. Not with a U.S. team that takes the field Monday in Seattle with a credible chance to reach its first quarterfinal since 2002 and, perhaps, with a puncher’s chance to reach the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
After so many years of caring too little and doing even less when it comes to soccer, the Americans were right to fight for justice on this one. Team USA may never have a better chance to pull off a sports miracle to end all sports miracles, and it will take every conceivable break and edge to keep the dream alive.
Take politics completely out of it — I know, I know, an impossible ask in the nation we live in. But given the (much-needed) unifying impact of Team USA’s pursuit, it wouldn’t matter who was sitting in Trump’s seat.
If any U.S. president could make a call to a friendly FIFA suit to … ahem … see if anything could be done to ensure the home team isn’t getting screwed, that call should absolutely be made. After The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon and Adam Crafton broke the news that Balogun would be available to face Belgium,theyalso reported that Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Andrew Giuliani of the White House’s World Cup task force, and U.S. Soccer donor Scott Goodwin had assembled a team of lawyers to apply a full-court press.
The plan worked.
“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this,’” Trump told reporters Monday at the White House. The president conceded he didn’t know what a red card was before the Balogun controversy, but described the foul as “a horrible call” and added, “I feel like we have to have all the best players on the field.”
So does every other World Cup stakeholder.
Though it’s hard to believe Trump’s influence played no role in the suspension of the suspension — despite FIFA and Infantino’s claims to the contrary — it’s also hard to believe other countries in the tournament wouldn’t have done exactly what the Americans did here, and then hoped for the best.
“If anyone was harmed in this whole situation, it was the United States,” Pochettino said. “Can anyone justify the idea that we weren’tpunished? I mean, playing 30 or 35 minutes a man down in a World Cup knockout match? It’s not as if we’re benefiting.”
Without Flo Balogun, the Americans survived and advanced to face a Belgium team strong enough to potentially dispatch the hosts to their favorite beaches and golf courses. But no matter how the Balogun story ends, it wasn’t at its core about politics or favoritism.
It was about righting a wrong and minimizing the damage done to a team’s chances of winning the World Cup.
What nation in the same situation wouldn’t have done the same thing?
Who in their right mind wouldn’t have fought this fight to go with Flo?
