1 minute ago, WhiteWall said:

??

Your punchline!

4 minutes ago, dermott said:

Your punchline!

4 minutes ago, dermott said:

Your punchline!

I'll get Copilot to trim it up for you in the future. 😁

I wonder how many people look like this this morning.

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Luckily for Henderson he was filmed being stretchered away. Not sure how he would have broached the subject with his wife, of having been prescribed Viagra, along with the rest of the squad, to combat the altitude issues, and then return home without participating and yet picked up a serious wrist injury!!

No idea why they needed a stretcher - with what he'd taken he could of just "pogo'd" off

UEFA accuses FIFA of crossing 'red line' by suspending US striker's red card ban - after Trump lobbying

What a night. One we’ll always talk about.

Massive game with Portugal vs Spain today, but have to think Spain will have too much for the Portuguese. Then onto the controversial game later. Part of me wonders if Poch won’t pick Balogun to uphold morals. Highly unlikely but would be quite the plot twist.

England are massive. Winning the lot. The sun never sets on our Empire.

6 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

What a night. One we’ll always talk about.

Massive game with Portugal vs Spain today, but have to think Spain will have too much for the Portuguese. Then onto the controversial game later. Part of me wonders if Poch won’t pick Balogun to uphold morals. Highly unlikely but would be quite the plot twist.

Poch: " it's not only because I am the head coach of the U.S. men's national team, [and] I need to defend my side. It's only because I think it's...99.9% that we all agree that it was an unfair card."

"[It was a] normal process and of course the Federation for sure was working really hard," Pochettino said. "[U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson] and the whole federation working on trying to defend our situation and that's it.

The corruption is embraced by the USA team. The whole world supports Belgium.

2 hours ago, just said:

However, I cannot move past the Balogun suspension decision. It is a totally outrageous and corrupt U-turn by FIFA, (I don't care how much pressure they were under from the US media and Trump administration), that has completely tainted the Soccer Ball World Cup for me.

Hoping for De Bruyne to roll back the years and a Lukaku hat-trick tomorrow morning.

Fully agree. For once, Lukaku may not be the most hated man on the pitch tomorrow.

The US media has also cleverly shaped the discussion around the merit of the red card, which is not relevant. It is unprecedented for FIFA to convene its disciplinary panel, nearly 4 days after the match, in response to a request from a government.

16 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Poch: " it's not only because I am the head coach of the U.S. men's national team, [and] I need to defend my side. It's only because I think it's...99.9% that we all agree that it was an unfair card."

"[It was a] normal process and of course the Federation for sure was working really hard," Pochettino said. "[U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson] and the whole federation working on trying to defend our situation and that's it.

The corruption is embraced by the USA team. The whole world supports Belgium.

This is pretty dreadful for American football fans with a sense of fair play, and I have to assume there are loads of them. Instead of watching the game tonight with hope and expectations they will likely feel a sense of discomfort from the watching world.

Trump & Infantino have a lot to answer for. They have devalued the competition in one phone call.

1 hour ago, dermott said:

Making up the numbers and moral support.

And studiously avoiding getting carded and injuring himself.

5 minutes ago, OTL said:

This is pretty dreadful for American football fans with a sense of fair play, and I have to assume there are loads of them. Instead of watching the game tonight with hope and expectations they will likely feel a sense of discomfort from the watching world.

Trump & Infantino have a lot to answer for. They have devalued the competition in one phone call.

As I say, the corruption has been embraced by Poch and the Team USa. A lot of yanks - the fans etc,. - are deeply embarrassed by Trump (a man who features over 5,000 times in the Epstein files - a google-able fact).

Trump and Infantino have done a lot of damage with this and a lot of yanks are just deeply embarrassed. And we all should be embarrassed by Fifa who are supposedly representing the 'beautiful game'.

Precedent was set when they overturned Ronaldo's decision. They did the same for Garrincha in 1962. This is nothing new, it wasn't a red for Balogun. Messi did the same thing a couple of games ago and it wasn't a red.

5 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Precedent was set when they overturned Ronaldo's decision. They did the same for Garrincha in 1962. This is nothing new, it wasn't a red for Balogun. Messi did the same thing a couple of games ago and it wasn't a red.

Agreed, corruption is nothing new.

Fifa should have a process to review and reassess red cards during the World Cup. But they don't. There is no process. This decision with Balogun has been reached on a whim. AND That is highly dubious and corrupt.

16 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Precedent was set when they overturned Ronaldo's decision. They did the same for Garrincha in 1962. This is nothing new, it wasn't a red for Balogun. Messi did the same thing a couple of games ago and it wasn't a red.

Reading is a great way of educating yourself and helping you give a properly informed opinion. You should give it a try one day.

BBC Sport

World Cup 2026: Uefa claim 'integrity of the game is at s...

Uefa says Fifa's decision not to uphold Folarin Balogun's immediate ban at the World Cup is "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable".

The red card hasn't been overturned it has been suspended. In some circles it matters not but to others it takes away the discussion re it was never a red/ or it was a red all day long.

It's simply we have changed things because it suits us

Edited July 6Jul 6 by OTL

I think Infantino has gone too far this time, he is now dreadfully exposed to criticism. FIFA might want to replace him. Especially with valid criticism from UEFA.

UEFA could delay the start of 2030 European Qualifiers until they have received a satisfactory solution to this. Lol a world cup without UEFA entrants good luck with that.

Edited July 6Jul 6 by OTL

24 minutes ago, just said:

Reading is a great way of educating yourself and helping you give a properly informed opinion. You should give it a try one day.

BBC Sport

World Cup 2026: Uefa claim 'integrity of the game is at s...

Uefa says Fifa's decision not to uphold Folarin Balogun's immediate ban at the World Cup is "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable".

Ahh yes, the ever impartial BBC.

Here's some more bedtime reading for you: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cristiano-ronaldo-precedent-fifa-changing-165937388.html

Let me know if you need help with any of the big words.

Here are the relevant laws too:

Article 27 says Fifa can "fully or partially suspend" a disciplinary measure for "a probationary period of one to four years".

And Article 25 states "the relevant Fifa judicial body may scale down the disciplinary measure to be imposed or even dispense with it entirely".

Edited July 6Jul 6 by GarnachoCheese

28 minutes ago, OTL said:

The red card hasn't been overturned it has been suspended. In some circles it matters not but to others it takes away the discussion re it was never a red/ or it was a red all day long.

It's simply we have changed things because it suits us

So the same way they suspended 2 of Ronaldo's banned games for the world cup?

1 hour ago, TheCeleryKing said:

The corruption is embraced by the USA team. The whole world supports Belgium.

Nah, Norway for me, despite that ugly bastard.

Messi's I was never convinced was a red even when you apply the follow through law or what's deemed reckless play.

Balogun genuinely almost snapped the blokes ankle off and by the standards we see in the Premier League for example, that's always a red unless you're Arsenal. We've seen Gusto get sent off for less.

58 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Precedent was set when they overturned Ronaldo's decision. They did the same for Garrincha in 1962. This is nothing new, it wasn't a red for Balogun. Messi did the same thing a couple of games ago and it wasn't a red.

But the validity of the card is not the point. There were on pitch procedures in place to overturn the decision and the decision, rightly or wrongly was made. Its the corruption after the fact that is galling for everyone. I had previously said that i felt sorry for the USA team and genuine fans as i think they would all be embarrassed by the way that this has panned out. But then Pochettino opens his mouth as well. Its a shame cos i now genuinely hope that Balogun plays and the USA get their arses handed to them, and yet they have done nothing wrong.

15 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

So the same way they suspended 2 of Ronaldo's banned games for the world cup?

Yep he's using the Ronaldo rule.