THE United States of America’s World Cup dreams came to a crashing halt in the round 16 against Belgium in the early hours of today in Seattle as Charles De Ketelaere scored twice in a 4-1 win overshadowed by FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend USA forward Folarin Balogun’s ban.
Balogun was permitted to play, despite receiving a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, after US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented intervention but he barely had an impact on the pitch.
The 25-year-old forward, born to Nigerian parents, did win the free kick which led to a first-half equaliser, though Belgium’s Nicolas Raskin said the perceived injustice had actually motivated Balogun’s opponents.
“I think there was always justice somewhere in life and the fact that something can happen like that … but we don’t think that was fair,” Raskin said.
USA coach Mauricio Pochettino said the row had not affected his team and attributed their poor performance to an off-day against a top side.
“We were not good enough today, we don’t need to find another excuse … I think it wasn’t a situation that affects us,” he told reporters.
De Ketelaere gave Belgium the lead in the ninth minute with a simple tap-in, taking full advantage of a nervous start by USA to quickly deflate the partisan crowd.
Malik Tillman’s deflected free kick levelled the game in the 31st minute, but De Ketelaere restored Belgium’s lead almost immediately with a back-post header.
USA improved after the break until a calamitous error from goalkeeper Matt Freese allowed substitute Hans Vanaken to score in the 57th minute.
Romelu Lukaku then added a fourth in added time to send USA fans streaming for the exits and Belgium into the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four World Cups. They will play European champions Spain in Los Angeles on Friday.
The US defeat means all three co-hosts are out of the tournament, after Canada and Mexico lost their round of 16 games.
Reuters
