Trump ends up with his nose a handspan long: United States falls heavily defeated

BarcelonaNeither Donald Trump's calls nor FIFA's favors have helped 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 quarter-finals. Mauricio Pochettino's team has played their 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, that the president of a government should come forward explaining how he has pulled strings so that an expelled player can play the next match. But Balogun, surely overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the previous 24 hours, did very little on the pitch. And the Belgian Red Devils thrashed the hosts (1-4).

Balogun, top scorer for the home team, was not supposed to play this match, but Donald Trump, who always finds time to start the least expected crusades, decided that it would become a matter of state to see him on the pitch. The White House mobilized lawyers, made noise on social media, and Trump himself spoke with Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA. The governing body of world football admitted the calls, but maintains that the Committee that manages refereeing decisions acted independently when it surprisingly decided to allow the Monaco forward to play in the duel against the Belgians. A strange decision, as it did not revoke the red card he had received for a stomp as strong as it was involuntary on an opponent. What it did was freeze the sanction 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 would be scored by the Belgians.

In fact, Balogun hadn't even touched the ball when Charles de Keteleare scored the first goal of the match. The Atalanta forward, heavily criticized for his lack of accuracy until now, recovered it at the key moment, leading the attack of a Belgium that, until now, had been playing very poor football. But motivated by Trump's unsportsmanlike conduct, they played an almost perfect game in Seattle with Trossard shining on the wing. Rudi Garcia had surprised by starting without Kevin de Bruyne, Lukalu, and Jeremy Doku, but it was a winning bet. The Americans, with their star team, did very little. They lost possession, couldn't win divided duels, and couldn't find a way to connect with Pulisic, a shadow of himself.

Balogun, directly, seemed to be absent, always overshadowed by Ngoy. The Belgians have lost one of their starting midfielders to injury, Amadou Onana, who ended up walking with crutches and will be out on Friday against Spain. But they haven't noticed it much. Vanaken came onto the field, Tielemans took Onana's position, and they continued to dominate the match, even though around the half-hour mark, the United States equalized with a bit of luck. Tillmann took 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 Keteleare headed home.

In the second half, Reyna entered the local team. And when it seemed that Pochettino's disciples were improving, goalkeeper Matt Freese incomprehensibly gifted the ball to Hans Vanaken. It was the third goal. The United States would not recover from this blow and shortly after Christian Pulisic would be 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. Will the Belgians be Spain's opponent?

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 thrown them to the lions, unsettling them. In the end, the Belgians ended up showing their sharp sense of humor, with players imitating Trump's dance or the Federation's social media managers asking the Americans if they also plan to challenge their goals.