📞 Is Trump calling Infantino? USA concede early v Belgium

📞 Is Trump calling Infantino? USA concede early v Belgium Rarely has a World Cup match been so heavily overshadowed in the build-up by off-field controversy: the discussions surrounding the suspended red-card ban of USA striker Folarin Balogun dominated all the headlines ahead of the Round of 16 clash against Belgium. US President Donald Trump personally confirmed that he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to inquire about the decision. “I merely asked for a review because I don’t believe it was a foul,” Trump told a group of journalists present. His call was successful. FIFA’s disciplinary committee, whose independence Infantino passionately insisted on, approved Balogun’s participation and handed him only a suspended ban. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino then named his top scorer in the starting lineup. At least for now, however, that measure has not paid off from the US perspective. Belgium were clearly the dominant side in the opening stages and duly took the lead through an early goal by Charles De Ketelaere (9th minute).  Bad news for Trump: the Europeans’ goal was completely undisputed. So any second call to Infantino is unlikely to be very promising... This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.