Connect with us

Sports

‘Ethics and integrity’: Pochettino welcomes Balogun move after Trump involvement

Published

on

FIFA has suspended the red card ban for United States striker Folarin Balogun, making him available for Monday’s World Cup last-16 clash against Belgium in Seattle.

The unprecedented move by FIFA, announced on Sunday, sees the ban suspended rather than rescinded. It followed a direct call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

US coach Mauricio Pochettino welcomed the decision, sayinfg, “I think everyone who really looked at the sport and trusts in ethics and integrity should celebrate that decision. We were punished enough against Bosnia and Herzegovina, playing with 10 men for 35 minutes after a decision that was completely unfair.”

Balogun was sent off during Wednesday’s round of 32 match against Bosnia, after a video review confirmed he had planted his boot into the ankle of Tarik Muharemovic. The 25-year-old’s dismissal left his team playing with ten men for a significant period.

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia had reportedly said the ruling felt `like “April Fool’s Day”. Pochettino acknowledged Garcia’s position although he insisted the decision was good for football.

Advertisement

He added that `while he understood Garcia had to object, integrity and ethics were “global” and “more fair than that is impossible.” Pochettino said he had not been involved in the appeal process and only learned of the ruling shortly before the team’s training session.

The Argentine added that political pressure should not influence sports rulings. “We ‌cannot mix that,” Pochettino said.

United States' Folarin Balogun (20) and Bosnia's Tarik Muharemovic (4) react after Balogun fouled Muharemovic during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara
United States’ Folarin Balogun (20) and Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic (4) react after Balogun fouled Muharemovic during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara (© 2026 Stephen Lam / S.F. Chronicle)

Pochettino acknowledged that Balogun’s availability was a boost but stressed that the U.S. team’s strength was in the collective. “The power is in the 26 players,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow my decision is to put Balogun on the bench. ⁠Who knows?”

Balogun has been America’s top scorer in the tournament so far, making up for U.S. talisman Christian Pulisic’s limited game time due to injury. Pochettino said Belgium remained “one of the greatest teams in the world” and among the contenders to win the World Cup. The U.S. lost 5-2 to Belgium in March in a World Cup warm-up game.

U.S. fans see Monday’s game as a boost to the country’s international football reputation and domestically puts the sport on a par with other major professional sports in America. “I think this knockout round against a European country, being at the door of the quarter-finals, would make even more history for a country ‌like this,” Pochettino said.

Advertisement

Before this World Cup, he `said, soccer in the U.S. “was beginning to grow among young people, but now people `are waking up and beginning to feel the sport.” The U.S. and Belgium are playing in one of the country’s biggest soccer ‌cities and in a stadium known for being among the loudest in professional ‌sports.

“We are going to have the support of our fans, the 12th Man,” said Pochettino, referring to the diehard supporters of the Seattle Seahawks.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

Kevin Owens makes emotional return at WWE SummerSlam after serious neck injury

Published

on

Kevin Owens still has plenty of fight left in him. Seventeen months after a neck injury that nearly cost him his professional wrestling career, Owens made an emphatic return at Night 2 of 2026 WWE SummerSlam on Sunday.

The show began with what had been advertised as a match between Finn Balor and Sami Zayn for a No. 1 Contendership to the Undisputed WWE Championship, currently held by CM Punk. Nick Aldis, recently reinstated as SmackDown general manager, had other plans. Moments before the match started, Aldis added Gunther and a returning Owens to the match.

The Minneapolis crowd welcomed Owens back with a roar of excitement and a sigh of relief. After all, there was once a concern that Owens would never wrestle again. He had not performed since beating Zayn in a physically grueling unsanctioned match at WWE Elimination Chamber on March 3, 2025. Owens was preparing for an encounter with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 that never materialized. On April 4, he revealed that he’d been dealing with nagging neck and spinal cord injuries that required surgery.

“The pain in the neck, the stuff going down the arms, the legs not really responding, it’s all been happening,” Owens told Cody Rhodes two months later on the “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast. “It’s been pretty f—ing brutal. I can’t wait for the surgery. And then to move forward, whatever that looks like — but it’s been very frustrating.” 

Advertisement

If not for selling his neck injury during the match, you wouldn’t know his career had nearly ended. Owens crushed his three foes with a swanton bomb to the floor, planted Balor with a fisherman’s buster and even took some decent bumps. Perhaps the most touching moment of their short match was when Owens and Zayn — best friends for decades who started their professional wrestling careers together — embraced before throwing punches. 

Owens scored the pinfall after planting Zayn with a stunner. The win immediately thrusts him back into SmackDown’s main event scene, putting him on a collision course with Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Spooky in Love – When will episodes 7-8 release and what to expect

Published

on

Spooky in Love episodes 7 and 8 will air on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9, 2026, respectively, at 9:10 pm KST on tvN. The episodes will be available on Netflix a few hours after the Korean broadcast. It has a total of 12 episodes.

The lead cast features Park Eun-bin as Cheon Yeo-ri, Yang Se-jong as Ma Gang-uk, and Ong Seong-wu as Kang Min-hwan.


What to expect in Spooky in Love episodes 7 and 8?

Advertisement

The preview for Spooky in Love episodes 7 and 8 opens in the aftermath of the sudden engagement announcement between Yeo-ri and Gang-uk.

Baek Gyeong-ja does not accept the news at face value and searches for signs that the arrangement is not genuine. She questions whether Gang-uk’s choice stems from business considerations or actual feelings. Gang-uk states directly that he likes Yeo-ri enough to decide on the engagement. Yeo-ri explains her earlier distance as an attempt to play hard to get.

Family members and others around them express clear resistance to the match and take steps to interfere. Yeo-ri encounters Paeng Myo-sun, Gang-uk’s grandmother, and initially mistakes her for a ghost before realizing she is alive when the older woman greets her. Paeng Myo-sun asks Yeo-ri about her zodiac sign and year of birth.

Ok Gye-hee is shown keeping closer watch on Yeo-ri. Cheon Ha-ri approaches Kang Min-hwan and proposes that they work together, stating that she already has a method to end the engagement. Min-hwan makes his own opposition clear by telling Gang-uk to call off the engagement while there is still time. Min-hwan also locates Yeo-ri’s former fiancé and brings up the actual reason the previous relationship ended, leaving the man without a response.

Advertisement

Yeo-ri and Gang-uk are shown spending additional time together once the engagement is underway. They go on dates and appear to enjoy each other’s company. The preview includes a mysterious phone call received by Yeo-ri at the same time that information about her ability begins to surface. Ha-ri is shown witnessing an event she was not meant to see, which leaves her frozen in place.


Spooky in Love episodes 5 and 6 recap

Spooky in Love episodes 5 and 6 aired on August 1 and August 2, 2026. In episode 5, Yeo-ri hugs Gang-uk after believing he has become a ghost. She hears his heartbeat and learns he survived the earlier accident. After discharge, Gang-uk finds he can no longer see ghosts. Yeo-ri suggests they stop meeting.

Media gather at the hotel over the abduction reports. Min-hwan shields Yeo-ri from reporters. Gang-uk notices Min-hwan’s protective actions and feels jealous. Yeo-ri warns Ha-ri about further contact with Seung-jae. Min-hwan invites Yeo-ri to an event at the Yeeon Museum of Art. At the museum event, Gang-uk meets Yeo-ri and later claims he sees ghosts in order to speak with her. She identifies his lies. Gang-uk proposes they work together on the related cold case.

Yeo-ri later feels jealousy when she sees Im Seo-hyeon holding Gang-uk’s hand. Yeo-ri confronts her grandmother over the engagement news leak to the media. She later summons a spirit to solve a case that shows a man killing his girlfriend. Yeo-ri and Gang-uk confront the man at the site. Yeo-ri then agrees to collaborate with Gang-uk on cold cases, beginning with the 300-year-old letter.

Advertisement

In Spooky in Love episode 6, Yeo-ri and Gang-uk set rules for their joint work. Gang-uk locates additional artwork and the missing portion of the letter at a graveyard. Yeo-ri vows to reunite the pair. Later at the museum, Min-hwan gives Yeo-ri a pair of gloves, and they run into Gang-uk and Seo-hyeon.

The group later shares dinner, and Yeo-ri feels jealous of Seo-hyeon’s closeness to Gang-uk. Afterward, Yeo-ri and Gang-uk trip near an alley and share an accidental kiss. They confirm no bare-hand contact occurred and agree to report any spirit sightings to each other.

The next day in Spooky in Love episode 6, Min-hwan obtains a report on Gang-uk’s past heart transplant 12-years ago. Yeo-ri and Gang-uk locate Hwagyeongdang’s burial site under camellia trees at the museum grounds. Yeo-ri trades a family pine tree for the camellias. Ha-ri plans to expose Yeo-ri’s secret and meets her former fiancé.

Yeo-ri visits her hospitalized grandmother, who urges her to engage to Min-hwan. Yeo-ri informs Gang-uk of the impending engagement demand. At a family dinner that includes Min-hwan, Yeo-ri announces her engagement to Gang-uk, leaving those present in shock.

Advertisement

Viewers can stream the released episodes of Spooky in Love on Netflix.