After All the Controversy, the USMNT World Cup Game With Belgium Was a Tough One

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As we reported, there was a big controversy first regarding the giving of a red card to U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) player Folarin Balogun and suspending him from playing in the next game against Belgium. Then, again, the suspension was then reversed by the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).

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You even saw some on the Left freaking out over the news that President Donald Trump had spoken with the FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask for a review. Some of them said they would be rooting for Belgium, which was just straight-up shameful. 

Others claimed that if the U.S. won, the win would be tainted. Look at this ridiculous take from The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof. They couldn't just be happy that a wrong call was righted. 

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Now I don't know if all the hullabaloo distracted the team, but they definitely were having a tough night. They seemed out of it from the get-go. They did not do well. While they got one goal, they gave up too many mistakes; Belgium took advantage of those mistakes and turned them into goals. 

The man in question, Folarin Balogun, started the game, but he wasn't a big factor. 

Belgium got the first goal. Then the U.S. came back with the equalizer. But then, the Belgium team came back and scored another one. 

Then the Belgian team got a third goal, which was the killer, and even tacked on a fourth. 

The U.S. manager, Mauricio Pochettino, spoke to the team after the match.

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The manager perhaps said it best: it just wasn't their day, and they didn't approach the game as they normally would. He said they needed to look at how they did things, to work out what the issues might be. 

A sad ending for the team that had been playing so well, but they still brought us a lot of joy and fun, and we thank them for it. Belgium now advances to face Spain in the quarterfinals. The World Cup will continue, likely with more great action, just no more from the U.S. team.

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