Balogun admits Trump’s intervention made life harder for US team

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Folarin Balogun admitted Tuesday that the suspension of his red card in the World Cup after President Donald Trump intervened put added pressure on the US team.

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Balogun said in an interview with CBS he was “definitely in shock” when he was sent off for treading on the foot of a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender in his side’s 2-0 group-stage win.

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“When something is not intentional it should never be a red card,” he said.

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But days before the next match, the last-16 knockout game against Belgium, world football’s governing body FIFA announced the red card had been suspended, clearing the way for Balogun to play.

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Trump then admitted he had called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for the card to be reviewed.

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The US went on to lose 4-1 to Belgium and Balogun made little impact despite starting the game.

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“It was just an unfortunate situation and it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed,” said Balogun, 25.

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“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team but when I kind of started to reflect on it, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy.”

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He added: “I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it’s something that’s so unique.

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“The closer it got to the game I just tried to focus as best as I could. It was difficult, a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”

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