GatewayRedbirds.com

Fixing It For Argentina

I'm surprised Colombia lost to Swiss but that was some bad goalie work on the penalties.

England has Bellingham. I like Bellingham.

Norway has crazy Haalaand so there's still some interesting games to come.

I’m still mad the US team convinced me they were continent and then [expletive] their pants and left them right on my living room floor. Fool me every four years: shame on everyone.

But there were a couple great things after the game in revisiting it. Balogun trying to make peace with the waffle coach. He seems like a great kid, and I hope the stink on him doesn’t linger. Also Belgium players doing the official dance of US Patriotism.

OhtheBerkmanity wrote: ↑

July 9 26, 1:27 pm

Also Belgium players doing the official dance of US Patriotism.

This had me LMFAO too

pioneer98 wrote: ↑

July 5 26, 9:31 pm

Trump called FIFA can got Falorin Balogun eligible to play Belgium after getting a red card. First time that's ever happened. The fix is in! The USMNT is gonna win their first ever World Cup. Congrats everyone.

This didn't age well.

Everyone can hate that trump had to go to fifa on Balogun's suspension. But, the fact of the matter is, when 99% of people that know what they're talking about say it shouldn't have been a red card/suspension - and there's no appeal process in place in the biggest soccer tournament in the world available to rectify that - I think it's awesome that the potus or whoever was like...bro, fix this.

In the end, justice is justice. And Balogun being allowed to play was justice. Morally, ethically, spiritually, legally, and competitively the correct decision.

It's really odd that people are upset about this. Biggest TDS case I've seen. Trump stood up for an American player that was unjustly suspended. Oh the humanity.

Tough game against Belgium. I think if the US had not shown moments of brilliance throughout the tournament, people would have been like...yep...that's about right. My coworker is a huge soccer fan, got me a usa jersey for my birthday which was pretty awesome, and back in like march he said the us would lose to belgium in the round of 16. He had a spreadsheet all put together as soon as the groups came out. Big time into it. He's from Bangladesh, so loves Argentina which I guess is because they beat England in 1986 and who doesn't hate England . Regardless, after watching the Paraguay and Australia games, he shiifted and said the US would beat belgium and battle against Spain. Just an anecdote. But I think a lot of Americans followed his line of thinking. And then they laid an egg, gave up some embarrassing goals, and next thing you know its 4-1.

Pulisic is, somewhat deservedly, catching a lot of criticism.

On the bright side, I remember the 94 world cup and how much interest it generated. I'm doubtful America will ever become a world power in soccer just because it's not even a top 3 sport in america at the moment. But the world cup has been an unmitigated success in terms of drawing attention to soccer. The US run, the international fanbases, the amazing games. It's been awesome.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote: ↑

July 10 26, 9:01 am

It's really odd that people are upset about this. Biggest TDS case I've seen. Trump stood up for an American player that was unjustly suspended. Oh the humanity.

But it's not though. FIFA has some pretty long-standing rules around not only the finality of the one-game suspension, but also not allowing governmental intervention.

It is an incredibly bad look for FIFA and the US, regardless of who the president is. The fact that it is Trump doing it is just par for the course for him. Shut up and dribble, Donald.

OhtheBerkmanity wrote: ↑

July 9 26, 1:27 pm

I’m still mad the US team convinced me they were continent and then [expletive] their pants and left them right on my living room floor. Fool me every four years: shame on everyone.

But there were a couple great things after the game in revisiting it. Balogun trying to make peace with the waffle coach. He seems like a great kid, and I hope the stink on him doesn’t linger. Also Belgium players doing the official dance of US Patriotism.

That was my line of thinking regarding the usmnt about halfway through the belgium game. But, honestly, even though the result was the same and the tournament ended in an ugly loss in the round of 16; this team showed moments that just looked unlike anything I've ever seen. It's not like paraguay was a pushover, [expletive], they beat germany in a knockout game.

Balogun was undoubtedly the star of the US team both on and off the field. He had to have been involved in at least half the goals and put on a masterclass of how to handle adversity.

The only stink on him is made up, so it can only linger as long as people keep making it up. Dude did absolutely nothing wrong and has handled himself with the utmost class.

Popeye_Card wrote: ↑

July 10 26, 9:36 am

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote: ↑

July 10 26, 9:01 am

It's really odd that people are upset about this. Biggest TDS case I've seen. Trump stood up for an American player that was unjustly suspended. Oh the humanity.

But it's not though. FIFA has some pretty long-standing rules around not only the finality of the one-game suspension, but also not allowing governmental intervention.

It is an incredibly bad look for FIFA and the US, regardless of who the president is. The fact that it is Trump doing it is just par for the course for him. Shut up and dribble, Donald.

It is exactly that from my perspective. FIFA overturned (or whatever the verbiage is, i don't care) Ronaldo's suspension so he could play group stage games in this World Cup. So, those longstanding rules don't even apply to this tournament.

Maybe we're not on the same page regarding the red card in the first place. I don't think he deserved a red card. If you do, I can see where you're coming from. But, just listening to former players, refs, and friends that pay attention to soccer, it wasn't a red card.

Ipso facto, you have a player suspended that shouldn't be ... in the World Cup ... in the knockout stages. God Bless the US of A for being the shining city on the hill beaming light into the darkness of FIFA. Hopefully they make all red cards/suspensions reviewable. It's not like they changed the outcome of the previous game. They just did what was right for the next game. Crazy how much backlash that has caused. People hate trump so much they would rather see a players incorrectly suspended than live in a just world.

People can say it's a bad look for FIFA and the US. But, it's not. It's stupid that they don't have a way, even though they obviously do, to review suspensions. I mean....certainly we can agree on that, no?