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Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino in order to get FIFA to review the red card that USA player Folarin Balogun recieved in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ordinarily, Balogun's red card would render him ineligible for Team USA's next game against Belgium in the round of 16. However, a special session of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to suspend the red card, allowing Balogun to play against Belgium.
Belgium is big mad. The conventional wisdom in the immediate aftermath of the red card was that this was not a reviewable decision. This is a good reminder that nothing is ever final until it happens.
Oh god, did Trump somehow manage to make the perpetually underdog USMNT the bad guy during their home World Cup?
We were always the bad guy, this has just given the hatred a locus.
Americans and their ability to front as the best and strongest country in the world whilst also being the worlds biggest victim is unmatched.
Trump is not a popular figure. Neither is FIFA. Seeing them shake hands over the US team is like getting a letter of recommendation from Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein on your ability to manage a summer camp for girls.
No one likes the Belgians. Seeing them lose to the Americans would be great. But that would be quite enough for most people. And you should be courteous enough to pack your bags and leave when you're done.
Yes, many Americans have no idea how much people dislike the Belgians (and not just for the actions of Leopold II). Previously I was rooting for USA win here. After this, well, I'm still rooting for a USA win here, but it's now a little bitter.
I've never met anyone, including several Belgians, who have strong opinions about Belgium as a country, much less actively dislike it. I don't really believe there's a large contingent of Belgium-haters anywhere outside their former colonies.
Oh, I genuinely dislike Belgians. My least favourite Europeans by far. Again, no issue with the land or its art (many great artists have come from the land now known as Belgium), but rather once again, it's the people and their ancestors. And actually, this time I have an issue with the country itself (in a way that I absolutely don't with the UK or France or the US) and how it's built from wealth extracted through opression of other peoples in far flung corners of the world to an extreme degree even the other colonial powers were horrified at (say what you want about the Brits, at least their colonialism was probably the most "enlightened" version of it out there).
The Jutes didn't get their own soveriegn country. Neither did the Frisisans. It's a sad accident of history that Belgium even exists as a country today and didn't get absorbed as a part of France.
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