US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said his country’s World Cup team had been “screwed” and called for an appeal after star striker Folarin Balogun was sent off against Bosnia.
Washington’s top diplomat tackled the sporting controversy on Thursday a day after Balogun was given a red card in the 2-0 US win. Balogun is now set to miss his side’s last-16 showdown with Belgium.
“It was great. They got screwed with that red card,” Rubio told reporters during a brief appearance in the White House briefing room when asked how the co-hosts were doing in the tournament.
“There needs to be an appeal process for that. It’s probably too late for that, right?” added Rubio, who was leading a group of people on a tour.
While he weighed in on the World Cup, US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic pointman declined to answer questions on Lebanon and Iran.
“Guys I’m not here to talk about the news,” Rubio added.
