Former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe believes that Donald Trump’s involvement in overturning Folarin Balogun’s red card was a costly distraction for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), Yankee Scores reports.
The USMNT were hammered 4-1 in the Round of 16 by Belgium.
But the defeat came after a messy, avoidable storm over Folarin Balogun’s availability, Donald Trump’s public intervention and FIFA’s decision to allow the striker to play after his red card suspension had appeared to rule him out.
Balogun was shown a red card in the United States’ win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, initially ruling him out of the Belgium match.
Trump then publicly called for FIFA to reverse the suspension, and the governing body’s decision to clear Balogun only added to the chaotic buildup.
Belgium Draw Inspiration from Red Card Situation
It also provided Belgium with a grievance.
On her podcast, Rapinoe said Trump’s involvement helped make the buildup a distraction that the United States didn’t need, per Marca.
“I think the distraction got to the team for sure in some type of way,” Rapinoe said.
“Whether it was, you know, this red card situation, whether it was Trump stepping in, whether it was FIFA allowing that to happen, whether it was the circus around it, it just felt like everything got away from them.”
Belgium made its feelings quite clear.
When Romelu Lukaku scored the fourth goal, Belgian players broke out Trump’s signature dance celebration, humiliatingly turning the controversy back on the Americans.
Belgium’s official social media account also posted “Overturn this”, a pointed reference to the Balogun ruling.
That seems to be the point Rapinoe was making. The USMNT didn’t just walk into a knockout game in trouble. They arrived at it through noise, politics and the feeling that the football had been pulled into a spectacle of Trump’s making.
Christian Pulisic admitted afterwards that the performance “simply wasn’t good enough”, but that is the most basic sporting explanation for the defeat.
But Rapinoe’s argument is that before the first ball was kicked, the United States made its life harder.
USMNT didn’t lose because of one politician’s comments. Belgium were better and they lost. But Trump’s involvement turned it into the kind of circus a serious team would never want around its biggest game.
