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Shortly after the United States men’s national team<\/a>\u00a0crashed out of the FIFA World Cup\u00a0<\/a>via a 4-1 loss to Belgium in Monday’s round-of-16 matchup, Pro Football Talk’s\u00a0<\/span>Mike Florio<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and others suggested that the\u00a0<\/span>much-discussed<\/span><\/a>\u00a0red-card situation involving United States forward Folarin Balogun<\/a>\u00a0“killed the vibe” for the Americans.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Following the defeat, United States manager Mauricio Pochettino and others addressed the Balogun-sized elephant that hovered over Monday’s game.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “It didn’t affect our performance,” Pochettino said about the Balogun situation, per\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Sam Borden<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0of ESPN. “It’s not an excuse. I think we were not good enough. It wasn’t our day. We didn’t perform in the way that we’re supposed to perform or show our quality. All that was happening around [with the Balogun situation], it was around us, but I think it wasn’t a situation that affected us in the group.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Balogun was made available<\/a>\u00a0to play against Belgium after he was shown a red card during the United States’\u00a0<\/span>2-0<\/a> win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the tournament’s prior round. It was later\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>learned<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0that President Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of the Balogun suspension related to the red card.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n On Monday night, the Americans looked\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>outmatched<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> and overwhelmed throughout a loss many players will want to forget. The lowlight of the evening occurred when United States goalkeeper\u00a0<\/span>Matt Freese committed a terrible mistake that gifted Belgium with a third goal after defender Tim Ream was unable to make a clearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nFolarin Balogun situation “not an excuse” for United States’ poor performance vs. Belgium<\/span><\/span>
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