It was a disaster of epic proportions. Within a few minutes of the opening kickoff last night, the U.S..-Belgium soccer match went from the Battle in Seattle to the World Cup's version of Custer at the Little Big Horn. The onslaught was immediate and overwhelming. Even when the U.S. managed to briefly tie the game 1-1 (the tie lasted for about two minutes of playing time) it felt like the ceiling was giving way.
The final was 4-1, which is pretty much the American football equivalent to getting your ass kicked 42-7.
Analysts, almost exclusively American, blamed the loss on a series of costly mistakes made by the U.S. team. The reality however, is that the Belgians, at least light night, had a vastly superior team. The U.S. could have trotted David fucking Beckham in his prime out there and they would have still lost.
Actually, they did put someone unexpected onto the pitch. The best U.S. player in the tournament, Folarin Balogun had been suspended for last night's match after he received a red card during the U.S. win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Then President Donald J. Trump made a phone call to FIFA head honcho, Gianni Infantino.
What happened next depended on who was talking. Infantino hasn't commented at all. United States Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX) publicly thanked Trump for getting Balogun's red card removed so he could play last night. Trump himself claimed he only asked Infantino to review the play involved since in his opinion, "It wasn't a foul." (He knew this because Trump is such an accomplished student of the game and FIFA rules, just ask him.) The Belgians and others screamed the fix was in. Despite Trump's claim, the affair did feel a little sketchy, especially when the media reminded everyone FIFA had just rented space for offices in Trump Tower.
In truth, yes, the red card call was questionable, and the foul, if there was one, did appear accidental not intentional. But no, the President of the United States should not have called the head of FIFA to complain about it. Sometimes bad calls are just part of the breaks in sports. Besides, doesn't the supposed leader of the free world have more important things to do?
In order to put a lid on the controversy Infantino did say the decision could not be appealed, no matter how loudly Belgium protested. The result was two-fold. First, Balogun played. Second, it really, really, pissed off the Belgian team. One former U.S. player said the Belgians came out mad with something to prove.
And they did. Even 67,000 American fans and their relentless renditions of that quasi fascist chant, USA, USA, USA couldn't stem the tide. The U.S. team was doomed.
Now comes the weird part. In 2001, Folarin Balogun's parents, who were both born in Nigeria, but living in the UK, came to visit the good old US of A. When they tried to return to the U.K. after their trip, she was so far along in her pregnancy the airline was afraid she would deliver the baby somewhere over the Atlantic. They refused to let her board the plane. The child, future U.S. soccer star, Folarin was born in Brooklyn a little later. Thanks to the 14th amendment to the Constitution, because he was born on American soil, he automatically became an American citizen. Yes, just as much of one as Stephen Miller.
It's called--the term has been in the news a lot lately--Birthright Citizenship. After mom and child were deemed healthy enough, some reports say seven weeks later, they flew back to the U.K. where they have lived ever since. However, because he has never formally renounced his U.S. birthright citizenship, Folarin Balogun remains an American citizen and was eligible to play on team U.S.A.
That's right, Donald Trump just intervened, one way or another, on behalf of a guy who is here only because of a Constitutional amendment the President desperately wants to get rid of says he can.
It is unclear which word, irony or hypocrisy, is more applicable at this moment. However, if Trump does manage to void the 14th amendment, now that the U.S. has been unceremoniously eliminated, there can be little doubt Folarin Balogun's name will be on the short list of the people Trump wants to, let's say de-citizeniize. You can almost hear him saying something like, I did the guy a favor and look how he repaid me.
Knowing Donald Trump as we do it is easy to speculate he was interested in the outcome of the World Cup for only one reason. In his own twisted mind, a United States win in a men's World Cup tournament, America's first, would somehow enhance his own greatness. That's right baby, when I was President the United State men were the best in the world and I helped. The odds are better than 50-50 he even envisioned that trophy sitting in his gilded Oval Office somewhere, then later at home on the mantle. Hells bells, it wouldn't be surprising if even now he didn't try to con the winning team into giving it to him.
It is, after all, how his brain works.
7-7-26
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