Otto Ravens

I built a machine with 626 acts for men who refuse to drift. Not your guru - your armorer. One exhibit daily. The machine: odinsjourney.app

@stoolpresidente You know, this is the experience of any football/soccer fan. Some years your team does well, other years they get utterly humiliated. That is the beauty of it as well.

In 4 years when the World Cup comes around again, I need everyone to remind me not to fall for Big Soccer’s tricks

Amazing how the US went from uniting the world with fans dancing in the street and loving the country to uniting the world against them and all this over a span of two days.

@cenkuygur Hahaha Balogun plays for MONACO

Here's what I'm not interested in - Belgium crying they have to play us with a full roster. They really want to play us without one of our best players. Wow, what great sportsmanship. I get it if others are pissed, but Belgium thinking it's unfair to play our whole team is weak.

Repost if you think Gianni Infantino is the worst FIFA president ever.

@ellencarmichael Your entire article started off great until you decided to trash Europeans and are basically calling us inferior. Anyway, you're going out of the World Cup later today.

The most interesting part of the red card saga isn't the ruling. It's how differently Americans and Europeans process the idea that they might have been wronged. Europeans are fundamentally different from Americans in one particular way: they expect life to be aggravating and at times unfair. It's just a fact of moving through the world. I joke that in Europe, the customer is always wrong. You didn't read the fine print. The only pharmacy in town is closed every other Tuesday for three hours, and even if the times weren't posted, that's still your problem. Too bad if you want the bill, because the waiter's on his union-mandated half-hour smoke break, and you're just going to have to wait. To quote the great Mark Knopfler: sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. There's something freeing in that. Things are less in your control, so there's less angst in managing your expectations. In America, things couldn't be more different. We simply can't accept a wrong left unrighted. The flight attendant sneezed handing you a drink on your one-hour flight? 15,000 frequent flyer miles. Didn't like your appetizer? A replacement is on the way, and the whole course comes off the bill. There's a reason our interstates are lined with trial lawyer billboards. Europeans have turned complaining into a continental pastime with no expectation that the universe owes them a remedy for their grief. You gripe about the train being late, your friends nod solemnly and everyone goes back to their apéro. In America, we launch a full-blown investigation of the train system, sue the government (and its contractors) that allowed for the tardiness and hold a Congressional hearing on the state of national infrastructure. So to an objective observer, the red card shouldn't have happened, and VAR was a travesty. To Americans, our star player shouldn't be unfairly banned from a match we couldn't afford to lose for a card he so obviously didn't deserve. Who cares that FIFA used a little-used reversal to fix it. Who cares that other people are mad about it. We. Were. Wronged. It was unjust. It must be corrected. We would accept nothing less. Europeans waxing poetic about the sanctity of the game are, of course, talking about a governing body whose last tournament host was decided via confirmed cash bribes — one that imposed dress codes on women, shrugged off widespread allegations of modern slavery and reconfigured the entire tournament calendar to suit the host country. Which is exactly the point. If you've made peace with all of that, at least enough to watch the tournament four years later, a probationary suspension isn't actually a scandal. Maybe that's the real divide. Over millennia, Europeans have made peace with being the bug. Americans have never once considered it, and apparently, we're not about to start now.

@SaraReed001 @foxandfriends @AlexiLalas We're not scared at all. Balogun plays for mid-tier Monaco. It's about the blatant corruption

@foxandfriends @AlexiLalas This makes Belgium look weak! They are scared of a full USA team? They are acting like they lost already because of this decision. Aren’t they a top team and favored to win?

“Belgium wants to lawyer up against the United States? Go for it. Have at it. Knock your socks off.” U.S. soccer legend and FOX Sports analyst @AlexiLalas previews tonight's Round of 16 showdown between the U.S. and Belgium, reacting to reports that Belgium has been granted the right to appeal FIFA's decision allowing Folarin Balogun to play—potentially reopening the door for the striker's red card to be reinstated.

That the World Cup is now being dragged into a culture war by poorly informed, blowhard simpletons is tragic.

@markvalorian So if you're playing France in the semi-final and Macron calls Infantino to unsuspend Mbappe you would be fine with that ?

@OttoRavens He’s a politician making calls to support the national team in a massive tournament. How is that not just an obvious part of his official political duties?

Once you fully debunk the “technical justification,” the argument against Balogun’s reinstatement collapses to an irrational cling to normalcy: “This has never happened before, therefore it is unfair.” I can understand the gut reaction, but this is just as fundamentally illogical as the technical justification. If we concede the red card was undeserved, why is it a bad thing for FIFA to adapt and correct a wrong? Is it preferable to deliberately allow an unjustified suspension to be carried out? And why is it fundamentally unfair for this to be the first time they do it anyways? There is “legal” precedent; FIFA has the documented ability to review disciplinary measures and suspensions. Just because this scenario happened to play out at this stage of the tournament doesn’t change the fact that the red card was totally undeserved. If there were another immediate example in this tournament of an egregiously incorrect card being applied that was NOT corrected by FIFA, then there would be an issue. But as it stands, there is simply no rational argument for why this should not be the first. Of course, when you boil it down, the argument is not really about either the technical justification or the normalcy, but more that it’s just the USA that is the beneficiary. And I’m sorry to say, but if that is driving your sentiment, you need to get over yourself. The facts of the matter are clear: this was an unjustified red card that should have been corrected, regardless of the team it was applied to. FIFA absolutely made the right decision, and the game and tournament is better for it.

@JimHendley4NC It's not about the red card. It's about Trump calling Infantino.

It’s clear Balogun has position and is playing the ball in front of him and the Bosnian player attempts to play through Balogun to make a play on the ball! Suck it haters.

@KVanValkenburg @BennyMorts Exactly ! This is the heart of the matter. It was wrong but you should accept the wrong and not have daddy Trump call in a favor. We have a whole history of being wronged by referee decisions. But it's part of the game !

@BennyMorts Do you think they should have gone against their own rules and award a red through VAR, Ben? Because one of the main points you guys seem to be arguing is: It might be wrong, but you have to accept wrong.

@jltho Why are you glossing over the fact that Donald Trump called Infantino over this. That is not part of the appeal process.

To all the Europeans clutching their pearls over this after spending the last several days Eurosplaining the sport to us, let me explain it to you. Even if Balogun deserved a red (he didn’t), the referee misused VAR under FIFA’s own rules. That resulted in a red card that couldn’t be appealed. FIFA then correctly used Article 27 to review and suspend the ban because the initial VAR error led to an unappealable decision.

@RichardMotzkin @ussoccer My friend, Donald Trump has picked up his phone and called Infantino. That is a fact. That is not part of any "appeal process". Can't you not see the problem with that ?

That is incorrect. There is an appeal process via the Disciplinary Committee, @ussoccer went through it and, in my opinion, the correct result was achieved due to an incorrect application of the VAR rules, general equity and past precedent. As for Belgium, they should not be benefitted by a wrong decision nor should they want to play a short-handed team. All countries in a World Cup tournament should have confidence in their team and desire to beat an opponent at full strength, simple.

The fact that US Football fans do not see any problem with Trump calling FIFA AND start slinging insults at people who do - is showing the world who they really are. You are ignoring and even cheering on corruption while it's happening under your very nose.

@stoolpresidente You guys got so used to corruption you're now defending it. Where are those Epstein files btw ?

I never thought I’d see the day a Euro club was in a full on panic having to play the United States in soccer. You can feel the fear an ocean away

@stoolpresidente I had my suspicions but this comment proves you're an uncultured clown

Sometimes I exaggerate or say things for views. This is not one of those times. When you declare neutrality in every single World War like Belgium has done and rely on the United States to save your ass you lose your right to complain about an overturned red card 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

@MausMichel Veel respect voor u Michel, maar dit is naast de kwestie. Dat Donald Trump een telefoontje heeft gepleegd naar Infantino om een scheidrechterlijke beslissing terug te draaien is niets minder dan pure corruptie. Onze bond reageert op het precedent, NIET op het sportieve voordeel

Echte topsporters willen zich meten met de allerbesten. Alleen dan heeft een overwinning glans. Onze topvoetballers hebben liever dat hun tegenpolen gekwetst of geschorst zijn. hln.be/wk-voetbal/we-…

Of course the USA would find a way to ruin the World Cup

@AdamCrafton_ @TheAthleticFC @Dan_Sheldon_ Pure corruption !

BREAKING @TheAthleticFC Folarin Balogun will be available to play the USMNT’s round of 16 match against Belgium with his one-game red-card ban suspended. Extraordinary development. Story with @Dan_Sheldon_ nytimes.com/athletic/74234…

@MenInBlazers This is pure corruption

EXTRAORDINARY USMNT BREAKING NEWS 🇺🇸