United States striker Folarin Balogun says he knew Fifa’s decision to suspend his one-game ban at the World Cup was going to create “a lot of controversy” and could see the resulting “nerves” among his team-mates.<\/p>\n
Balogun, 25, was dismissed for serious foul play against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32 and should have received an automatic suspension.<\/p>\n
However, Fifa’s disciplinary committee suspended his ban for a year – a decision that prompted widespread condemnation, particularly when it emerged US President Donald Trump and White House officials had lobbied football’s world governing body about the American’s sanction.<\/p>\n
Balogun, who scored three goals at the World Cup, was able to start the USA’s last-16 defeat by Belgium – a decision European football’s governing body Uefa called “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.<\/a><\/p>\n “My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team but when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to start a lot of controversy and I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves because it is something that is so unique,” Balogun told CBS., external<\/a><\/p>\n “The closer we got to the game, I focused the best I could but it was difficult. The outside noise is hard to avoid.<\/p>\n “My team-mates are like my brothers, they gave me a lot of reassurance. There was nothing I could do or change.”<\/p>\n