Trump intervention helped Belgium play with 'real grit', captain says
Belgium captain Youri Tielemans revealed his team had been fired up by the uproar surrounding Folarin Balogun after the Red Devils thrashed the United States 4-1 at the World Cup today.
Tielemans said Belgium’s players had held a team meeting after Balogun’s shock Fifa reprieve and had vowed to make a statement in their match against the World Cup co-hosts.
“Let’s be honest: we held a meeting when we heard the news,” Tielemans said of the Balogun controversy.
“We told ourselves we needed to do our talking on the pitch. That’s what we did today. I’m very proud of the team,” the Aston Villa midfielder told Belgian broadcaster RTBF .
Balogun was named in the United States line-up after Fifa suspended his one-match ban for a sending-off in the Round of 32 but he made little impact in the match.
The shock Fifa decision came after an intervention by US President Donald Trump in a move that drew condemnation across the football world.
“We played with real grit,” Tielemans said. “We wanted to get off to a good start – something we’d been missing earlier in the tournament.
“We knew that if we put them under pressure, they’d make mistakes.”
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