Maybe if he stopped micro-managing everything and paid attention to his briefings, instead of getting his corrupt friends involved in vanity projects, so they can fleece millions from American taxpayers ...

In breaking news, the American football ( soccer ) player, F Balogun, was red carded during his last game.
The ref was originally going to dismiss the infraction, saying it wasn't intentional, but VAR disagreed. Stepping on someone's ankle can result in serious injury; so he was given a red and a one game suspension.
Now, the Canadian midfielder I Kone had his leg broken in two places during their game against Qatar, and no one would argue that was intentional, yet the qatari player received a red card and a 5 game suspension.
F Balogun's carding/suspension was subsequently reviewed again by FIFA, and the suspension upheld.
Yet the latest news indicate that D Trump personally called his corrupt buddy, G Infantino, and as if by magic, F Balogun's suspension has been lifted and he will be playing. No explanation given, other than FIFA has the right to do it.

I have nothing against the players, as I'm sure they are doing their best, but this stinks to high heaven, and makes them look bad; as if they need to 'cheat' to get results, instead of hard work and skill.
But I guess that's how D Trump operates ( witness all the cheating involving mid-terms ).

It's official then.
D Trump and his gang of corrupt degenerates ( including G Infantino ) have fu*ked up everything he's involved with, including the World Cup.

1 hour ago, MigL said:

Maybe if he stopped micro-managing everything and paid attention to his briefings, instead of getting his corrupt friends involved in vanity projects, so they can fleece millions from American taxpayers ...

In breaking news, the American football ( soccer ) player, F Balogun, was red carded during his last game.
The ref was originally going to dismiss the infraction, saying it wasn't intentional, but VAR disagreed. Stepping on someone's ankle can result in serious injury; so he was given a red and a one game suspension.
Now, the Canadian midfielder I Kone had his leg broken in two places during their game against Qatar, and no one would argue that was intentional, yet the qatari player received a red card and a 5 game suspension.
F Balogun's carding/suspension was subsequently reviewed again by FIFA, and the suspension upheld.
Yet the latest news indicate that D Trump personally called his corrupt buddy, G Infantino, and as if by magic, F Balogun's suspension has been lifted and he will be playing. No explanation given, other than FIFA has the right to do it.

I have nothing against the players, as I'm sure they are doing their best, but this stinks to high heaven, and makes them look bad; as if they need to 'cheat' to get results, instead of hard work and skill.
But I guess that's how D Trump operates ( witness all the cheating involving mid-terms ).

It's official then.
D Trump and his gang of corrupt degenerates ( including G Infantino ) have fu*ked up everything he's involved with, including the World Cup.

Fifa is corrupt .Everything Trump touches turns to shit(Fifa already was,of course)

43 minutes ago, geordief said:

Fifa is corrupt .Everything Trump touches turns to shit(Fifa already was,of course)

Peas in a pod. In a way FIFA found out earlier that if give the masses what they want, you can be as corrupt as you like. Trump turns everything more to shit, as in addition to the utter lack of morals there is also staggering lack of basic competency.

1 hour ago, MigL said:

Yet the latest news indicate that D Trump personally called his corrupt buddy, G Infantino, and as if by magic, F Balogun's suspension has been lifted and he will be playing. No explanation given, other than FIFA has the right to do it.

Personally, I'm happy to see our diaspora Lagos boy get a second chance - the sending off was on the harsh side. Ironic that his qualification to play for the US in the current climate is down to an airline refusing his heavily pregnant mother to board her return flight to London following a brief visit to New York. No harm in having the corrupt nature of US immigration policy highlighted for all to see.

Besides which, in order to reach the final, the US have to get past Belgium, Spain, and France. Good luck with that!

And if he beats all those odds, he'll either get to face England, the team he would have played for if he'd been good enough, or a team good enough to beat England.

...so give the US team the benefit of the doubt in all marginal decisions, and leave the US administration without a shred of an excuse when they bear the humiliation of an inevitable defeat.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by sethoflagos

58 minutes ago, sethoflagos said:

Personally, I'm happy to see our diaspora Lagos boy get a second chance - the sending off was on the harsh side.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for F Balogun, and he should be proud of his efforts so far , in this World Cup.
But incidents do happen, and he could have broken the other player's ankle through a careless, if unintentional, challenge.
The red was deserved, as per VAR, and the second review a day later.

The team has gotten where they have through hard work and skill, but D Trump is making the team look bad, because he is used to cheating to get his 'wins', and now the USMNT is perceived the same ( there were already 'fix' rumors ).
Besides, the USMNT will be facing Belgium, and from what I've seen so far, they shouldn't have a problem dispatching the Belgians.
D Trump didn't need to meddle, and make every one look bad.

But it's halftime for the England - Mexico game, and, thanks to J Bellingham, England lead 2 - 1.
The last 15 min. have been very exciting.
With Italy MiA for the last three World Cups, and Canada having exited already, all I have left to wear is my white jersey with the St. George's cross on the shoulder.
Go England !

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by MigL

Holy crap !
England 3 - 2 Mexico.
That was a tense 2nd half.
One man down, it was ugly, but they did it.

Is it finally coming home ?

24 minutes ago, MigL said:

Is it finally coming home ?

They'll beat Norway but lose to both Argentina and Spain.

1 hour ago, MigL said:

from what I've seen so far, they shouldn't have a problem dispatching the Belgians.

You expecting ICE to detain half the Belgian squad?

10 hours ago, sethoflagos said:

They'll beat Norway but lose to both Argentina and Spain.

You expecting ICE to detain half the Belgian squad?

Norway's disciplined passing and Haaland's accuracy may be the undoing of England, although they did hold it together after that red card and one man down.

24 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Norway's disciplined passing and Haaland's accuracy may be the undoing of England, although they did hold it together after that red card and one man down.

Point taken. But unlike Brazil, the England players know Haaland very well - keeping him quiet has become an essential part of the Premiership toolkit. A can you see a viking goal coming from anyone else?

Both Norway and Argentina can be beaten ( as well as Portugal, the US or Belgium )
Spain and France may pose bigger challenges, and England should worry about having to face them.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by MigL

38 minutes ago, sethoflagos said:

Point taken. But unlike Brazil, the England players know Haaland very well - keeping him quiet has become an essential part of the Premiership toolkit. A can you see a viking goal coming from anyone else?

I was just going to also say that he is a very well known quantity in the English league.

I was watching the Mexico match and just had to switch off on the second half to retain my composure.(I fancied Mexico to knock England out after seeing their last match versus Ecuador in that stadium- puts the Colliseum to shame)

Viva Jude Bellingham (you know he has a younger brother,too?)

10 minutes ago, MigL said:

Both Norway and Argentina can be beaten ( as well as Portugal, the US or Belgium )
Spain and France may pose bigger challenges, and England should worry about having to face them.

England can be beaten too by any of those (the US would be a surprise -mind you they should be disqualified now imo unless they accept the red card suspension in full), although that was some test and it will surely stand them in good stead.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by geordief

12 minutes ago, geordief said:

the US would be a surprise -mind you they should be disqualified now imo unless they accept the red card suspension in full

Maybe England should petition FIFA to postpone J Quansah's suspension for his carding.
They would have to, otherwise D Trump's, and G Infantino's, corruption would be fully exposed.

Apologies for going off topic and causing thread splitting.

But now that we're on the topic of D Trump's corruption ...

NYT reports that D Trump's Cryptocurrency 'meme coin' lost an estimated 3.8 Billion ( ! ! ) for the one million suckers, er ... MAGA supporting investors, that bought them.
D Trump's return on investment, however, is almost 700 Million, of the estimated 2.2 Billion he made last year ( by his admission, so it must be much, much more ).

P T Barnum was wrong.
Its not 'a sucker born every minute'.
Rather 'a million suckers to be fleeced every time D Trump is elected'.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by MigL