US striker Folarin Balogun said he was not surprised with the controversies that ensued after Fifa suspended his one-match World Cup ban, Yankee Scores reports.
Balogun, 25, was sent off for serious foul play on Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32 and should have been given an automatic ban.
Fifa’s disciplinary committee, however, suspended the ban for a year in a move that drew widespread condemnation, especially when it emerged that US President Donald Trump and White House officials had lobbied football’s world governing body about the American’s sanction.
Balogun scored three goals at the World Cup and was named in the starting line-up for the last-16 defeat by Belgium, a decision European football’s governing body Uefa branded “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.
“My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team but when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to start a lot of controversy and I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves because it is something that is so unique,” Balogun told CBS.
“The closer we got to the game, I focused the best I could but it was difficult. The outside noise is hard to avoid.
“My team-mates are like my brothers, they gave me a lot of reassurance. There was nothing I could do or change.”
“It was confusing as the team was practising without me in the team. I almost played a supporting role to keep the morale high,” the Monaco striker added.
“When we found out on the team bus, everyone was screaming and shouting. It was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field.”
