00:00Bölgün brought the United States World Cup journey to a crashing halt
00:03with a 4-1 victory in the round of 16 on Monday,
00:07securing their place in the quarterfinals.
00:10The high-stakes matchup was heavily overshadowed
00:12by FIFA's controversial decision to suspend Fularan Balogun's ban
00:17following an unprecedented intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump.
00:22Balogun was permitted to play despite his red card
00:25against Bosnia and Herzegovina,
00:27but the 25-year-old forward failed to make an impact on the pitch
00:31outside of winning a first-half free kick.
00:33Belgium's Nicolas Raskin stated that the perceived injustice of Balogun's inclusion
00:38deeply motivated his team,
00:41expressing that the decision was simply not fair.
00:44Charles de Quetelaire fueled the Belgian attack by scoring twice,
00:48capitalizing on a nervous U.S. start with a ninth-minute tap-in
00:52before restoring the lead with a back-post header.
00:55Malik Tillman briefly gave the home crowd hope
00:58by leveling the match 1-to-1 in the 31st minute
01:01via a deflected free kick before Belgium swiftly responded.
01:05Any hopes of an American comeback were shattered in the 57th minute
01:09following a calamitous error from goalkeeper Matt Fries,
01:13which allowed substitute Hans Van Aken to score into an open net.
01:18Romelu Lukaku added a fourth goal in stoppage time,
01:21bagging his seventh-career World Cup goal and 93rd overall for Belgium,
01:2712 years after scoring against the U.S. in another round of 16 clash.
01:32The defeat eliminates the last remaining co-host from the global tournament,
01:36following previous round of 16 exits by both Canada and Mexico.
01:41Belgium will now advance to face European champions Spain and Los Angeles on Friday,
01:46while U.S. coach Maurizio Pochettino indicated his desire to discuss his future
01:51and continue with the squad.
Yorumlar