A critical element that the "rulebook purists" arguing Balogun deserved a red card are conveniently overlooking:
BALOGUN was the one who was challenged from behind.
The Bosnian player played *through* Balogun from behind and placed himself in the path of Balogun's natural step.
When he begins taking that step, Balogun has no idea the Bosnian player would even be in front of him. In that sense, you can't really even consider his move a "challenge." It was simply a step that incidentally landed in the same place the opponent's foot did.
In fact, the reason Balogun's step came down so hard is *because* the Bosnian player challenged into him and knocked him off balance.
This is not "reckless" or "excessive force" by any stretch of the imagination.
The red card was *obviously* unjustified from the outset. The only thing FIFA got wrong here is not immediately suspending the red card after the match.
Weak is a beast, when he’s on the right side, left side is quite the difference. Plus, timings were just a bit off. If you haven’t seen USMNT ball before this cup, he’s been a baller for the US
By far the worst referee of the tournament goes to that Scotland v Morocco match. Nightmarish scenes. Morocco had a special whistle and swallowed it when Scotland was being thrown around and tripped all over. Absurdity
These hydration breaks need to stop. This Japan/Netherlands match has been brilliant and then just kill all momentum for a glorified TV timeout. Unnatural #FIFA
World Cup teams have mandated “community sessions” that are mainly exclusive ticketed events.
Algeria’s community session was a real one, where the community was invited and now, children in the KC metro get to say they’ve played with international soccer stars.
Do the Nationals have some tipping agent in Progressive field? Lmao this is absurd. They are meatballs, but these guys are practically 5/5 on hitting breaking balls 400+ft in 5 innings