The U.S. Men's National Team is officially advancing to the Round of 16, but their historic 2-0 knockout stage victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night was somewhat overshadowed by a significant officiating controversy. In the 64th minute, star USMNT forward Folarin Balogun was shown a straight red card following a lengthy VAR review for what appeared to be an unintentional, follow-through challenge on defender Tarik Muharemovic.
The controversial decision forces the USMNT's leading goalscorer to miss the highly anticipated round of 16 match against Belgium, sparking immediate outrage from fans and former players over the strict, VAR-driven protocols. Unsurprisingly, it was French football legend and Fox Soccer ******* yst Thierry Henry who delivered the ultimate defense of the American striker, completely dismantling the referee's decision with four words that should resonate for the USMNT fanbase.
The short of it? "Have some common sense."
Henry's comments came during the post-match breakdown alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Rebecca Lowe and directly addressed the controversial decision, as The Mirror detailed.
"You need to have some common sense," Henry said. "Where is the player supposed to put his foot there in that situation?"