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.
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.
“When something is not intentional it should never be a red card,” he said.
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.
Trump then admitted he had called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for the card to be reviewed.
