This USA team is a James Franklin team.
Looked great against opponents ranked in the 20-40s. Garnered a bunch of hype.
Now playing a top-10 team and are actively shitting themselves on the field.
“And every four years when the World Cup comes around, we will say that we’d dominate if we had a stronger youth program.”
“And will we develop a stronger youth program?”
“We will not.”
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.
Sad Belgium has to play this game in the conference/court room with backroom deals and power plays when we just want to play it on the grass like real men.