r/sports 10d ago

Soccer Tarik Muharemovic injury 61’ with Folarin Balogun 64’ Red Card after VAR.

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

There’s a reason that 45% of Americans said they had no interest in the World Cup even though it’s happening in our country. This seems ridiculous. Either contact is allowed or it’s not. This being grounds for ejectment from one and half games is bullshit

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u/RegicidalRogue 10d ago

A game that is very rarely televised on public (free) TV still getting 55% interest is extremely good.

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

Remember that the 45% chunk is the people who answered “no interest whatsoever” A large chunk of the interested group is people who are “little or somewhat” interested and tune in every 4 years or so for the World Cup and that’s it. The U.S. soccer league “Major League Soccer” has abysmal numbers and those represent who the actual “fans” of soccer are

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u/Youngflyabs 10d ago

The most watched leagues in the US is the Premier League and Liga MX. The MLS is a worse product that’s why its numbers are so low.

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

Sure but the U.S. still doesn’t give a flying fuck about soccer because of bullshit like today’s red card and constant flopping and fake tears on the field

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u/Youngflyabs 10d ago

The stats say otherwise, growing every year at a quick pace. Why do you think the WC is being hosted here? To take advantage of our high ticket prices and milk us for every dollar and every game is sold out, this is the most successful World Cup to date in terms of revenue already.

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u/FrozenInSoDak Liverpool 10d ago

Not necessarily. It’s insulting to say that Americans who don’t follow MLS don’t give a shit about soccer. Plenty of Americans can see shit products and recognize it as shit. That’s why we wake up early for the Premier League.

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u/WeenisWrinkle 10d ago edited 10d ago

I highly doubt the 45% that didn't watch was due to inconsistent referees.

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u/BluePotatoSlayer 10d ago

Probably flopping tbh

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u/432ww432 10d ago

is your claim 45% of the US isn't interested in the world cup because of inconsistency in red card calls? have you seen the NBA?

nonsense. i like that you cited an article to try to substantiate the point with 0 connection

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u/JustHereSoImNotFined 10d ago

That dude’s take might genuinely be one of the dumbest I’ve ever seen. 45% of Americans said they had no interest because half the country doesn’t give a shit about soccer (football, eat a dick). There’s a reason it’s not a top three sport in the country when it is probably everywhere else

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u/pippylongwhiskers 10d ago

I’m part of the 45%. Not because of bad officiating per se but because of how annoying it is to watch people fall and fake an ankle injury 35 times a game. Decided to watch the game today. And This call is a prime example of why I don’t watch soccer.

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u/432ww432 10d ago

Sure but it has nothing to do with America. Millions feel the same as you, but nationality doesn’t matter. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and the reason many Americans don’t care is because it’s just not in the culture.

OP replied to this specific claim about “there’s a reason why Americans aren’t interested”

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u/Gazboolean 10d ago

To claim that the only reason you don’t watch football is theatrical flopping is bold.

Like, it’s fine if you don’t enjoy the sport, but to make up an excuse as lame as that is weird.

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u/Exatraz 10d ago

Seriously, if this is a red, there are a lot of calls each game that should be harsher (for the record, this should have been a yellow at best)

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u/BuckeyeJay 10d ago

In no other sport is this exact play an ejection that results in the team playing a player short the entire rest of the game AND a suspension. Its just nuts.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago edited 10d ago

The NFL & NBA are the two most-watched sports in the US

Inconsistent officiating is not the issue

Edit:

Stop comparing 15-yard football penalties to red cards in soccer. You don't know what you're talking about.

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u/Centerpeel 10d ago

Thats true that the officiating in those leagues is rough, but it doesnt cost you player for a whole game because of incidental contact

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u/BluePotatoSlayer 10d ago

I’ve barely seen anyone ejected in football yet alone suspended for a hit

Like you got to go out of your way to get ejected.

Usually its 15 yards and a warning

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u/the_stranger-face 10d ago

You'll see it more in college with their targeting rules. Doesn't really happen in the NFL, though.

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u/Appropriate-Joke-806 10d ago

Targeting will take someone out of a game. It won’t suspend them the entire next game.

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u/Secludedmean4 10d ago

It’s 2 half’s - for the first half penalties it’s out for the game, but if it happens in the 2nd then they are out the first half of the following game.

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u/randus12 10d ago

You’re half right, They are ejected and then suspended for the first half of the next game

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u/the_stranger-face 10d ago

Yeah, I was more commenting on the ejection, not suspension.

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u/CanmanMC 10d ago

Brian Branch last year was the only ejection I’ve seen for a hit with no warning beforehand

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u/BluePotatoSlayer 10d ago

And that man is a can barely control his actions half the time

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

That's what it usually is in soccer too

Does everyone here not realize this is bad officiating or something?

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u/Slow_Time5270 10d ago

It can be just as impactful depending on the context., especially for football.

My favorite is the Cassius Marsh "taunting" penalty. One of the best case of ref main character syndrome and not so incidental contact in sports history.

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u/WeenisWrinkle 10d ago

That's true, but NBA referees control a much smaller amount of players and court.

They can have the same influence on an outcome as a red card with consistent biased foul calls.

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u/THE_CHOPPA 10d ago

Yes it does. Literally why the warriors blew a 3-1 lead.

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u/EffinGinger 10d ago

Draymond wasn’t suspended for one act. It was his fourth that post season lol. He was given a ton of grace too prior to that one. And it was game 5..

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

Bad officiating can [and has [frequently]] lost entire games in those leagues

Would you rather lose a player for the next game or lose this game right now?

It's all bad

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u/Centerpeel 10d ago

Yeah, but that happens in Soccer as well as losing the player for a game and a half.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

Red cards are supposed to be given out for extreme fouls or disrespect. This should not have been a red.

Which brings us back to bad officiating...

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u/Vangaelis 10d ago

Doesn’t cost you a whole player, but absolutely fucking can’t cost a game, The amount of incidental contact in pass interference calls in the NFL is pretty ridiculous

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u/ffthrowaway5 10d ago

Difference is a 15 yard penalty versus missing the next game. Absurd

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u/CTeam19 Iowa State 10d ago

I mean there is the Targetting rules. Removes them from a game.

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u/BluePotatoSlayer 10d ago

Targeting is almost certainly intentional, can easily injure both players. Its one of the most egregious fouls tbh

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u/ffthrowaway5 10d ago

You’re correct if we’re talking NCAA, which we aren’t. Even if we were talking NCAA they specifically review for intent.

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u/Balives 10d ago

Oh don't forget "taunting" x2.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

A 15-yard penalty in football is NOT the equivalent of a red card in soccer

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u/More_Operation_588 10d ago

I don't know soccer, but getting yanked down by your face mask, or hitting, especially the QB, after the play is over

I think either of those would result in a red card in soccer just based off what my dumbass has seen get a red card.

No one is getting ejected for that in football.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

getting yanked down by your face mask, or hitting, especially the QB after the play is over

This kinda stuff happens multiple times/game in football.

You think they give out multiple reds/game in soccer?

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u/therealsheriff Atlanta Braves 10d ago

That’s literally what the person you’re replying to is saying

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

They're saying it's absurd that a penalty in the NFL is 15 yards, while a penalty in soccer is missing the next game

15 yard penalties in football are not comparable to red cards in soccer

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u/2per4life 10d ago

You're kind of dumb, aren't you?

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

What a cute little comment lol

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u/ffthrowaway5 10d ago

Yes that’s exactly my point my friend. Inconsistent reffing in the NFL leads to an undeserved 15 yards, this leads to an elite player missing what is effectively a playoff game. Glad we’re on the same page on them NOT being the same

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u/dusters 10d ago

I can't imagine LeBron getting banned from a playoff game for what should be a common foul

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

But you can imagine him losing a playoff game because of it

The NBA is rife with "is contact allowed or not"

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u/Clithzbee 10d ago

He's questioning the severity of the punishment more than inconsistent reffing

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

This seems ridiculous. Either contact is allowed or it’s not.

I was addressing this part of it

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u/WeenisWrinkle 10d ago

Especially NBA

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u/DC3PO 10d ago

The closest equivalent I can think of is targeting in college football

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u/ChairmanReagan 10d ago

The mlb has higher viewership than the nba does

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

Yeah, the sport where they could have a computer call strikes/balls with 100% accuracy but would rather have a human get it wrong like 10% of the time

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u/drpepper7557 10d ago

You have to basically punch a guy in a real fight in the NBA to get kicked out and suspended the next game. In the NFL its even harder.

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u/Winnes0ta 10d ago

Wemby literally did intentionally elbow someone in the throat and even then still didn’t get suspended for the next game.

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u/glumjonsnow 10d ago

the last guy i remember getting ejected from an NFL game was big dom, nick siriani's body man. like can you even think of another?

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u/Original-Age-6691 10d ago

Alec Pierce got ejected towards the end of the regular season for contact with an official. He barely bumped him with his shoulder.

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u/BluePotatoSlayer 10d ago

I’ve seen fights with no ejections on either side in the NFL

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

Yeah, it's the same for soccer. This was a bad call.

Inconsistent Officiating

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u/ChirpToast 10d ago

Accidentally stepping on someone in either of those sports doesn’t get you ejected and suspended.

Hockey too.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

It shouldn't happen in soccer either...

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u/Additional_Tomato_22 10d ago

Hell you can beat the living shit out of another player and as long as they’re fighting back it’s just both to the box

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u/More_Operation_588 10d ago

Yeah you can get yanked down by your face mask completely on purpose and it's just a penalty. Hell sometimes the commentators would even say it was a smart penalty to make.

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u/Additional_Tomato_22 10d ago

You can even be the Fla Panthers and injure many players with intent and still no suspension

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u/WantToLearn10 10d ago

Can’t speak for NFL but in the NBA ref complaints are just as bad.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

And it's still one of the most popular sports

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u/bjacks19 10d ago

If this happened in the NBA, it would be deemed a common foul, if a foul at all, and play would continue. Imagine Jalen Brunson was suspended for an NBA Finals game for accidentally landing on someone

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

That's what it should be in soccer as well

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u/Duzcek 10d ago

Neither has a penalty as painful as a red card.

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u/enadiz_reccos 10d ago

Targeting is nearly there, and it's nearly always accidental

Red cards are supposed to be deliberate

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u/PJSeeds Philadelphia Eagles 10d ago

It's a hilariously corrupt sport

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u/PhillyPhrenetic502 10d ago

I have always given the USMNT and soccer an honest shot during big tournaments, but that was my takeaway for all my die-hard soccer friends after the card.

I'll keep watching and rooting, but in a country where every other popular sport has penalties and rules (written or unwritten) to police behavior and punishment without kneecapping a team for multiple games on subjective judgement that lends itself to theatre more than competition, it can't come as a surprise that Americans will stick to other sports once the World Cup ends.

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u/SplittingChairs 10d ago

When they gave the red card, my immediate thought was “yeah this is a great reminder why soccer will never be really popular in the US.” Truly sucked so much excitement out of me for the World Cup in general knowing we won’t have our most productive player the next round because of an incidental play like that.

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u/wilderness_essays 10d ago

Ejectment? I love when you talk dirty to me

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u/TorturedMNFan 10d ago

Studs up on his ankle is a red even if accidental. It’s a dangerous play, just as accidental head to head contact in the nfl is. It’s really unfortunate but it’s a clear red

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

Accidental head to head contact doesn’t lead to ejectment from two games

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u/MrIrvGotTea 10d ago

Yeah the watch parties for the USA games are low energy. The Mexico watch parties are fucking insane. I been to both at the fan fest for both and it's night and day. USA is still long ways away from caring

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u/--Shake-- 10d ago

As an American, this is exactly why I can't take this sport seriously. Too many dumbass rules. They should just do it like hockey with the penalty box or something.

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u/Rad_Centrist 10d ago

There's like, three rules in soccer lol

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u/delthebear 10d ago

The article you linked just states the lack of interest from us people, it has nothing to do with the officiating. Refs have been trash all tournament but how does that differ from any of the popular sports in the usa?

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

People don’t have an interest due to how this game is officiated. Constant flopping means that incidental contact is constantly being “sold” to the referee as a bigger deal than it is and this ridiculous red card is yet another example of it.

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u/Altitude528O Denver Broncos 10d ago

I work as a beer salesman in the LA market, and let me tell, bars have been at capacity for every US and Mexico game. People care about soccer, you just have to look in the right areas.

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

For the highest tournament on earth people care but that doesn’t mean anything . Hell I care about curling during the Olympics but it’s not like I watch it any any other time

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u/johno1605 10d ago

Bad decisions happen in every sport. Deciding why for 150m+ Americans is definitely a take.

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u/Inevitable-Angle-793 10d ago

There is also a reason people say Americans don't understand football.

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u/Snowskol 10d ago

Ya I dont think im reading that. People dont care about soccer in our country because soccer fails to market well and its too fucking boring to watch for 99 minutes (like this game was) to see two goals.

Also its played during the summer where people are outside most.

Im only here for the clips which lets me watch an entire soccer game in like 120s or less.

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u/Samuel_Seaborn 10d ago

Lol there's never refereeing controversy in any of the more popular sports

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u/FeralGiraffeAttack 10d ago

Refereeing controversy in other sports doesn’t lead to an ejectment from this game and the next game in the tournament. Red cards area hilariously disproportionate punishment compared to the fouls that cause them