A disappointing day for Mauricio Pochettino endured in Seattle after the USA were comfortably beaten by Belgium in the World Cup round of 16
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken out about the USA’s World Cup exit(Image: FOX)
Mauricio Pochettino refused to allow the Folarin Balogun suspension saga to be used as an excuse for the USA’s World Cup defeat. The striker was at the heart of one of the biggest controversies of the World Cup so far.
He was originally serving a one-match suspension for his red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the ban was suspended for one year soon after President Donald Trump asked FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino to review the decision. This invoked anger from the football world, particularly from the Belgians who issued a huge condemnatory statement about the situation.
However, they were able to have the last laugh as a brace from Charles De Ketelaere and strikes from Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku secured a 4-1 win for Rudi Garcia’s side. Pochettino was disappointed with his team’s display, particularly with the manner the goals were conceded.
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Nevertheless, he did not want to let the saga around Balogun become the reason for his team’s loss. When asked if the controversy may have distracted his team, he said: “FIFA and all the different people involved explained, and those are the rules.
“It was a clear explanation, so I have no comment on that [President Trump admitting today he called Gianni Infantino to review Balogun’s red]..”
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De Ketelaere scored his first goal after nine minutes and while the USA equalised through Malik Tillman’s free-kick shortly after the hydration break, Belgium immediately regained the lead when the aforementioned Belgian star headed in his second.
In the 57th minute, Hans Vanaken took advantage of a poor error from USA goalkeeper Matt Freese to pass into an empty net from 35 yards. Balogun, the protagonist heading into the match had little involvement throughout the game.
At 3-1, he did force Thibault Courtois into a strong stop, but it had little bearing on the result. Romelu Lukaku capitalised on more poor defending in injury time to wrap up a commanding 4-1 victory.
In the end, Pochettino admitted his side never really got into the contest, despite being cheered on by the capacity crowd in Seattle. He said: “From the beginning we didn’t connect with the game. Even when we scored, 1-1, we concede in the next action. It was really tough from the beginning.
“I congratulate Belgium, they were better than us. It was not our day. It’s not to find excuses or argument, because we did not show normally what the team shows and that is the reality. We need to learn. It’s a process to learn.
“We need to see why we did not approach the game in the same way as the rest of the World Cup. Maybe the explanation is easy, it just wasn’t our day. The responsibility is myself. We need to check what we did because it’s not the performance the way we played.”
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