'I didn’t know it was April Fool’s Day': Garcia slams FIFA decision over Balogun suspension

[p]FIFA announced that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/balgun-folarin/rVZLmUsU/"]Balogun[/a] would be available to play against the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/fuitL4CF/"]Red Devils[/a] on Monday in Seattle [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/folarin-balogun-available-against-belgium-as-fifa-lifts-u-s-striker-s-one-game-suspension/v3X7gslg/"]earlier in the day[/a], citing Article 27, meaning their disciplinary committee could overturn the original ruling of a one-game suspension and instead suspending it on a one-year probationary period.[/p][p]The challenge on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muharemovic-tarik/O0Ss5jSf/"]Tarik Muharemovic[/a] did not initially result in a card for the USA forward, with the decision to send him off coming after a VAR intervention.[/p][p]This comes just a day out from the vital clash for both sides, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a]'s manager said at his pre-match press conference that they should rename July 5th to another date.[/p][p]He said:[b] "I didn’t know that July 5th was April Fool’s Day; it’s new news for me. Our thoughts and opinions are in the statement - we are defending football; it’s the first time in World Cup history that this decision has been made.[/b][/p][p][b]"I will focus on my job as head coach, regardless of what team the USA play."[/b][/p][p]Belgium's football association (RFBA) said the mentioned statement that they were 'astonished' by the decision, saying that they were 'investigating all potential options' to 'safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams'.[/p][p]This could mean a trip to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if they decide to take legal action.[/p][embed guid="da090f33-00fe-4d20-bc21-fc9bd90d1df3" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2073814846194225255" social-type="twitter" /][p]Reports also emerged on Sunday that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, had made direct calls to FIFA to overturn the decision; however, the governing body reportedly stated this played no part in the outcome of their independent disciplinary committee.[/p][p]Asked about the comments from Trump, Garcia told journalists not to waste their time on this subject, instead wanting to focus on the game.[/p][p]He added:[b] "We have to improve, we can improve our consistency during the game. We must reach the Belgian level that I am expecting from the kick-off to the final whistle. We need to be more consistent for the 90 minutes."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/courtois-thibaut/MVExOq3n/"]Thibaut Courtois[/a], also at the press conference, is set to play his 20th World Cup game for Belgium against the USA, and was in goal back in 2014 when the sides met at the same stage of the tournament, with the Red Devils prevailing in extra time.[/p][p]He said of the Balogun news: [b]"We talked about it for five minutes; maybe not everyone saw the news, it’s not making such a big difference. It doesn’t change anything; it will be played on the pitch. We want to be ready for them tactically, physically, mentally."[/b][/p][p]Despite the news coming just a day before the game, Courtois insisted he is ready to face the pacy striker.[/p][p]The 34-year-old added:[b] "We always prepare for all the strikers. He is a very fast striker, a different profile than (Ricardo) Pepi. They have a lot of quality up front; they create a lot of one-v-ones on the goalkeeper.[/b][/p][p]"The goalkeeping coaches have looked at all the penalties for Balogun. For the 11 that will start, we will be ready for each of them."[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=xhRXm8PG"]Follow the Round of 16 clash with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="79bb87c6-d26e-46c2-b1ec-7eec56479c0a" /]