Belgium humiliates the United States after Trump's controversial intervention (1-4)

BarcelonaNeither Donald Trump's calls nor FIFA's favors have served much. The United States' journey in their World Cup has ended in the round of 16 after deservedly falling to Belgium, who will be Spain's opponent in the quarterfinals. will be Spain's opponent in the quarterfinals. Mauricio Pochettino's team played its worst match at the least opportune moment, likely distracted by all the noise caused by the scandal surrounding Folarin Balogun, the local forward sent off against Bosnia who was pardoned after pressure from the White House. An unprecedented event, where the president of a government boasts about having pulled strings so an expelled player can play the next match. But Balogun, likely overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the previous 24 hours, did very little on the pitch and the Belgian red devils ran over the hosts (1-4).

Balogun, the local team's top scorer, was destined not to play this match, but Donald Trump, who always finds time to start the least expected crusades, decided he would make it a state matter to see him on the pitch. The White House mobilized lawyers, made noise on social media, and Trump himself spoke with Gianni Infantino, FIFA president. The body governing world football has admitted the calls, but argues that the committee managing refereeing decisions acted independently when it decided to allow the Monaco forward to participate in the duel against the Belgians. A strange decision, as it did not revoke the red card he had received for a tackle as strong as it was unintentional on an opponent. What it did was freeze the suspension for one year. A decision too strange not to suspect that it was made to please a Trump who celebrated winning this battle as if it were a goal. But at the Seattle stadium, the goals were scored by the Belgians.

In fact, Balogun hadn't even touched the ball when Charles De Ketelaere had already scored the first goal of the match. The Atalanta forward, much criticized for his lack of accuracy until now, recovered it at the key moment and led the attack of a Belgium that had played very poor football until now. But, motivated by Trump's poor tactics, in Seattle he played an almost perfect game, with Trossard shining on the wing. Rudi Garcia had surprised by starting without Kevin De Bruyne, Lukalu and Jérémy Doku, but it was a winning gamble. The Americans, with their star team, did very little. They lost the ball, couldn't win the divided duels, and couldn't find a way to connect with Pulisic, who was a shadow.

Balogun, directly, seemed not to be there, always eclipsed by Ngoy. The Belgians have lost one of their starting midfielders through injury, Amadou Onana, who ended up walking on crutches and will be out on Friday against Spain. But they haven't noticed it much. Vanaken came onto the field, Tielemans occupied Onana's position, and they continued to dominate the game, although, around the half-hour mark, the United States equalized with a bit of luck. Tillman shot a free kick, it touched Vanaken's head and deceived Courtois. But the Belgians took just 30 seconds to score again. Trossard crossed and Charles De Ketelaere headed home.

In the second half, Reyna entered the local team. And when it seemed that Pochettino's disciples were improving, goalkeeper Matt Freese inexplicably gifted the ball to Hans Vanaken. It was the third goal. The United States did not recover from this blow, and shortly after Christian Pulisic was lost due to injury. The Belgian party was closed by the eternal Romelu Lukaku in the last minute, fighting for the ball until the end. Spain's opponent on Friday will be the Belgians.

And Donald Trump already knows that on the day of the final he will not give the trophy to his players. During the match against Belgium, seeing the nervous footballers, more than one must have thought that the president, rather than helping, had distracted them and thrown them to the lions. In the end, the Belgians ended up showing their sharp sense of humor and some players imitated Trump's dance. And the Federation's social media managers asked the Americans if they also planned to contest their goals.