@TalkSoccer Thought Weston badly misplaced a handful of balls but makes up for it consistently in many ways.
Agree that Jedi needs to be on point against Belgium. We’ll need Dest in attack mode, too.
On the basis of the images made available to referee Raphael Claus, the decision to send off USA forward Folarin Balogun is understandable. From the vantage point presented, via slow motion and still images, the threshold of serious foul play is met.
This challenge did appear to endanger the safety of an opponent. Those ensconced in FIFA’s refereeing hub may see that as an open and shut case. Yet to most observers and many of those who have played the game, at any level at all, this was a miscarriage of justice.
To show the challenge to the referee at a different speed to the incident he originally adjudicated upon is to warp and distort the judgment, removing context from the call. Slowed down, an accidental collision can resemble a premeditated challenge. A bad challenge can become a horror challenge.
In the case of Balogun, the freeze frame and slow-motion images eliminated the essential context. This was a simple ball played forward by Antonee Robinson, where two players jostled for position, and as Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic got in front of Balogun, the forward, off balance, landed in an unfortunate — but clearly unintentional manner — on the ankle of his opponent.
In football’s history, it has sometimes required major incidents at big international tournaments to accelerate change.
FIFA must use Balogun’s injustice as a line in the sand, ending once and for all the unfair and disfiguring use of slow-motion and freeze frames.
📝 @AdamCrafton_
https://t.co/pSW8R7RbSS
Just watched our third WC win in 19 days… we had 3 WC wins in the last 24 yrs.
Just watched our 10th WC goal in 19 days… we had 8 in the last 12 years.
Just watched our 2nd WC shutout win in 19 days… we had 2 in the last 24 yrs.
What a time to be a USMNT fan!!
@jhovey34 It’s a 50/50 ball. He’s fighting for position. Cleats coming down on the leg is so clearly incidental. Hard to believe it was given a red on review. Slow motion destroying perception.
@usmntonly They’re hardly that similar. Balogun is reaching leg out challenging for positioning. Playing toward the free ball. Messi is following a player with possession, in no position to make a play.
I hate red cards and don’t want Messi out either, but the balogun red is mind boggling
@jennyachiu Every challenge in a contact sport can endanger the safety of an opponent. Every single one does that. Impossible to apply a rule using that statement only with no other context.
@FOXSports Red cards (not second yellows) must come with intention. He’s literally just fighting for position and foot comes down on him. Ridiculous to kick him and out be suspended for the next.
@FOXSports Ref so caught up in the optics of the foot on the leg while taking absolutely nothing else into consideration. Hard to believe it was reviewed to be given a red card. Horrific