US Soccer had no right of appeal. Red cards cannot be appealed at the World Cup. This was clearly a political gift to Trump.

Red cards at the World Cup cannot be appealed. There was never any appeal.

We’re watching the Americanisation of football in real time. If it happened to any other country, it would be an entirely uncontroversial red card. But I guess that’s soft now. If you wanna play a manly sport, you should expect to get away with smashing people’s ankles with your studs as long as...

I mean OK, if you want to take Infantino’s side and claim this is somehow a normal reversal, I’m not gonna stop you. That’s certainly a…take. I suppose even FIFA needs defenders. Personally, I’m a Belgian tomorrow. I’ll be cheering for them like it’s the Socceroos.

I can’t see any debates. He nearly snapped the guy’s ankle in half by landing on it with his studs. In what world is that not dangerous and/or reckless play? It’s such an easy red that I can’t believe there’s even any discussion. The subsequent corruption is just out of this world. They don’t...

What is wrong with you? It wasn’t unfair in any way. It was a clear red that would be given in any league with VAR in the world. And justice has been served??? This is as obvious a case of corruption as you can get. It’s outrageous.

He failed in Japan too. Good on him if he’s going well in Vietnam, but surely he has to be tested at a higher level than that before being considered for the Socceroos. Even a few years in the A League might do. Vietnam simply isn’t enough.

There is something wrong with Kewell. It seems he’s just not good enough as a head coach. He gets sacked after a couple of months wherever he goes. And apart from his extremely underwhelming stint in Japan, he’s only coached in League 2 and the conference (where he had no success at all). I...

Now you’re just being absurd. Why would you think this group was easier than the last one? I don’t agree with that at all. This was actually a pretty tough group in which we did well to finish second. Take out France, and we got quite lucky with our 22 group. Denmark and Tunisia both turned out...

I don’t mind domestic coaches as a policy. Unless you can get a Hidink or someone of that stature, it’s usually not even worth looking. Otherwise you end up with garbage like Verbeek, Holger or BVM. Might as well give the locals a go. It’s just a shame Popa isn’t much chop. We’ve had good luck...

It had to be Ange. No regrets at all about that one.

Round of 16 would be an easy birdie if not an eagle. This is a clear par (if not a birdie). Made it out of the group without too much fuss and didn’t even need to rely on the third place table. Exposed some talented youngsters to the pressure of the World Cup, which should stand them in good...

It was a par tournament. Could have been better, but it certainly could have been a lot worse. We made it out of the group in second place. Had a great win in the first game. Gave a number of young and promising players invaluable exposure. Those are achievements in themselves and shouldn’t be...

I don’t think this is actually a thing. I can’t find anything about it in any serious publications.

Japan will be the runaway favourites. If the last 2 are any indication, a petro state will probably win it. We’ll be out in the quarters or semis. …and it won’t matter. This world cup has exposed Asia as a mickey mouse confederation. The standard is so embarrassingly low that it will be hard to...