Soccer <\/p>\n
Fans of the\u00a0<\/span>United States men’s national team<\/a>\u00a0may spend pockets of their July 4 weekend discussing the controversial red card shown to forward\u00a0<\/span>Folarin Balogun<\/span><\/a> halfway through the second half of the United States’ 2-0<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Wednesday’s round-of-32 FIFA World Cup<\/a> showdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n During a Thursday appearance on the FanDuel Network, current San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena<\/a> shared a take about the Balogun red card that may upset some American supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Intent doesn\u2019t matter,” Arena said, per Valentina Martinez<\/a> of the New York Post. “It\u2019s a dangerous play, and that fall, he could\u2019ve broken the player\u2019s ankle. And obviously, there\u2019s no intent by Balogun. It\u2019s unfortunate, but you got to take into account the safety of the player.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Arena was referencing how\u00a0Balogun and Bosnia-Herzegovina\u00a0<\/span>defender Tarik Muharemovic were both attempting to make a play on the ball when Balogun’s right foot\u00a0unintentionally\u00a0<\/span>landed on Muharemovic’s leg, causing Muharemovic’s ankle to turn.\u00a0V<\/span>ideo assistant referee instructed on-the-pitch referee Raphael Claus of Brazil to review the incident via the monitor, and Claus eventually showed Balogun the red card.\u00a0<\/p>\n United States manager\u00a0<\/a>Mauricio Pochettino and living legend Thierry Henry are<\/a> among some of the noteworthy members of the football community who have publicly disagreed with the sending off. Additionally, whether or not slow-motion replays should have been used in any review of the incident has become a hot topic<\/a> heading into the first weekend of July.\u00a0<\/p>\n “If the referee issued a yellow card,” Arena continued, “I could see that. But with VAR calling the referee over, and he sees that foul in slow motion, I think it\u2019s conceivable that he\u2019s going to issue a red card.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nSoccer Folarin Balogun red card related to player safety<\/h2>\n
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Soccer Folarin Balogun incident looked quite nasty on replay<\/h2>\n
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