USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino vehemently defended American forward Folarin Balogun after he received a red card for colliding with Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic in the 61st minute of a World Cup Round of 32 match Wednesday.
“For me? Never a red card. Never an intention to step on the player,” Pochettino said after the U.S. pulled off a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina by finishing the game with a short-handed 10-man squad.
“It was a normal action in football that happened by accident.”
Pochettino said Balogun, who scored his third goal of the World Cup in the first half, was “very disappointed” after referee Raphael Claus sent him off with a red card following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, a decision that suspends Balogun for the USMNT’s Round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday.
“It was an action that wasn’t intentional, he’s sad,” Pochettino said. “We cannot do anything to change this feeling.”
“This is soccer, this is football. For sure, he’s going to help us to perform and hopefully we can go to the next round so he can be available again.”
USMNT midfielder Malik Tillman converted on a free kick in the 82nd minute to the U.S. secure the win at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
Muharemovic’s right ankle buckled under contact from Balogun when both players were challenging for the ball.
VAR made their decision to the referee based on slow-motion and still replays, which is not aligned with VAR protocols, as these should be used for only point-of-contact purposes in a red card tackle situation, as noted by ESPN.
Former Select Group referee Andy Davies said he believes the VAR made the wrong call.
“VAR made their recommendation to the referee based on slow-motion and still replays, which is not aligned with VAR protocols,” Davies said.
Claus came under fire for a number of questionable calls and inconsistencies.
“Today, you know 50/50 decisions? Not one goes for us,” Pochettino said. “The players reacted very well, we controlled the emotional part of the game.”
Balogun is the first player to score a goal and receive a red card in a men’s World Cup since Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final.
