Balogun Apologized to Belgium Coach After Red Card Controversy. Garcia’s Response Was Classy.

Folarin Balogun walked straight up to Rudi Garcia after the final whistle. The U.S. striker had just watched his team get bounced from the World Cup in a 4-1 loss to Belgium, and he wanted to talk to the man on the other sideline.

Garcia, Belgium’s manager, didn’t expect it. But he respected it.

“He came to talk to me. I really like that,” Garcia said after the match in Seattle. “It’s not his fault. He’s not the one to blame. That’s what I told him.”

Balogun had every reason to feel defensive. He was at the center of a political firestorm heading into this game. FIFA initially suspended him for one match after a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then Donald Trump personally intervened, and FIFA reversed course. The decision let Balogun play in the round of 16, but it also turned him into a talking point for everyone who thought the whole thing stank of political favoritism.

Mauricio Pochettino’s U.S. team never found its rhythm. The flow that carried them through the group stage was gone. Balogun started but barely touched the ball in dangerous spots. He looked like a player carrying something heavier than just the weight of a knockout game.

Garcia noticed. And when Balogun sought him out after the match, the Belgian coach didn’t brush him off. He told Balogun the controversy wasn’t on him — the 25-year-old Monaco forward didn’t ask for Trump’s help, didn’t file an appeal, didn’t do anything except play soccer and get sent off in a previous game.

The political cloud that won’t clear

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is the one taking real heat here. There are calls for him to resign after it came out that Trump’s personal involvement essentially overruled FIFA’s own disciplinary process. Infantino has been tight with Trump for a while now — he gave Trump the “FIFA Peace Prize” back in December during the World Cup draw ceremony in Los Angeles.

That cozy relationship looked even worse when Balogun’s ban got wiped off the books just days before a knockout game against the tournament’s co-hosts. The U.S. is a co-host. Belgium is not. So the optics? Terrible.

Infantino hasn’t commented directly on the Balogun situation, but the pressure is building. And it’s not going away just because the U.S. is out of the tournament.

What’s next for Belgium and the U.S.

Belgium moves on to face Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday in Los Angeles. That’s a legit test. Garcia’s squad looked sharp against the U.S., but Spain is a different animal.

For the Americans, it’s back to the drawing board. Pochettino has a young roster with real talent. Balogun is part of that. But this tournament will be remembered less for what he did on the field and more for the circus that followed him into it. That’s not fair to him, but sports rarely is.

Garcia seemed to understand that. He didn’t have to say anything kind about Balogun after winning. He chose to anyway.