U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun revealed the suspension of his red card ban caused “a lot of outside noise” that stirred up “a bit of nerves” among his teammates ahead of the Stars and Stripes’ clash with Belgium.
Balogun, who was harshly sent off for catching Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemović on the Achilles in the round of 32, was originally suspended for the round of 16, leaving Mauricio Pochettino without his best goalscorer. Then, a whirlwind 24 hours saw FIFA controversially suspend the forward’s ban after intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.
