Infantino’s job ‘untenable’ after Balogun farce ended in US nightmare
A home World Cup campaign that began with such high hopes imploded in Seattle as the United States were humbled 4-1 by Belgium on Tuesday (AEST).
Despite not having beaten Belgium since 1930, bookmakers rated the US as slight favourites for the round-of-16 clash after star striker Folarin Balogun was sensationally allowed to play by FIFA.
United States’ Matt Freese reacts after Belgium scored their fourth goal. AP Photo/Abbie Parr
Instead, the next 24 hours turned into a nightmare for the United States team.
Rather than boosting the hosts, the controversial decision seemed to galvanise Belgium, an uber-talented but historically underachieving football nation reportedly plagued by internal squad fighting.
The fallout from FIFA’s intervention was swift, Socceroos legend Craig Foster taking to X to call Belgium’s victory a ‘layup’ for Australian fans and global football integrity.
Meanwhile, speaking on Stan Sport’s Added Time, former Socceroo Robbie Slater launched a scathing attack on FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, declaring his position completely “untenable”.
“He’s untenable. It’s just unprecedented,” Slater said.
“These kind of moments....this one will stay there. It’ll be remembered because things that happen in the World Cup, they talk about it in 20 years.
“Infantino’s gotta be in trouble.”
Charles De Ketelaere - a controversial selection ahead of Romelo Lukaku - scored Belgium’s first two goals before the wheels completely fell off for the home side.
Hans Vanaken scored Belgium’s third as US goalkeeper Matt Freese got himself in a horrible tangle in a moment that will go down in World Cup infamy.
Lukaku then finished the rout in added time in a thumping win that will be widely viewed as karma for the US and Donald Trump.
The Round of 16 match build-up was dominated by Trump’s unprecedented intervention before Balogun’s one-match ban for a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina was suspended.
The USA President admitted he called Infantino to request a review of Balogun’s red card suspension. While Infantino claimed the decision to overturn the ban was made independently, that didn’t pass the global pub test.
“I think he’s tainted himself,” Slater said further.
Belgium will now play Spain in the quarter-finals on Saturday (AEST) while the US reflect on what might have been.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side started the tournament as one of its hottest teams, thumping Paraguay 4-1 and then outclassing Australia 2-0.
“I hope there’s clarity about where this game was lost. Belgium was the better team, but the US showed a different attitude - this wasn’t the team we saw in previous World Cup matches,” respected broadcaster Andrés Cantor said on Telemundo’s coverage.
“The Balogun issue, we said, could have repercussions, all the noise around his situation. So much so that there are complaints, enormous discomfort from UEFA, from national associations and confederations.
Malik Tillman of the United States reacts. Getty Images
“We don’t know whether the Balogun issue affected them or not. Today the United States, perhaps not by coincidence, played their worst match of this World Cup. A national team that earned, through no fault of its own, the antipathy of the world.
“Today, people will keep saying justice was served, in the football world and in the world at large. The taste in our mouths, beyond the defeat, could have been a different one.”
De Ketelaere gave Belgium the lead in the ninth minute with a simple tap-in, taking full advantage of a nervous start by the US to quickly deflate the partisan crowd.
United States’ Tim Ream reacts. AP Photo/Manu Fernandez
Malik Tillman equalised in the 31st minute with a deflected free kick which wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois, but De Ketelaere restored Belgium’s lead little more than a minute later with a back-post header.
The US played with more authority after the break until a calamitous error from goalkeeper Freese allowed substitute Vanaken to score in the 57th minute, irreversibly shifting the momentum in a stunned Seattle Stadium.
Lukaku then added a fourth to send US fans streaming for the exits. The game had long since petered out when the 33-year-old bagged his seventh career World Cup goal and 93rd for Belgium with a cool finish.
The US struggled with Belgium’s intensity from the start, and with the crowd still going through their first chant of “U-S-A!” Timothy Castagne forced Freese into a fingertip save.
“It’s difficult to make a comment. We were not good enough today, we don’t need to find another excuse,” Pochettino said of the Balogun controversy.
Belgium fans react after they won. AP Photo/Abbie Parr
“It wasn’t a situation that affected us in the group. All the team can have one day you don’t perform. Today was this type of day. Belgium were better than us. That’s it. It’s very clear.”
- with Reuters
