Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin stated justice had been served after Belgium dumped the United States out of the World Cup after Folarin Balogun's red card was suspended.
The striker was allowed to play in the round of 16 match despite having been shown a red card in the previous round against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
President Donald Trump confirmed he had called Gianni Infantino to demand that he review the situation. UEFA deemed the situation “crossed a red line” and stated "disbelief" at the FIFA ruling.
However, Belgium ensured there was no further fallout as they dumped USA out 4-1 in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with Raskin assisting Charles De Ketelaere's early opener.
After the win, Raskin remarked: "I think there is always a justice somewhere in life and the fact that something can happen like that, you can put back it all you want, but we don’t think that was fair.
“And today, I think it just brings us a little bit of luck. We needed to win the game and the message throughout.”
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Despite the furore, Raskin believes the situation actually motivated him and his team-mates. He said: "Yes, of course that motivated the group. We operate on the principle that there is always justice in life in one way or another.
"And I think that when you try to force something special, it always comes back to hit you in the face like a boomerang at some point."
The Belgian FA had been stunned by the decision ahead of the match, stating: “After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations."
“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
“For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.
“All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests.”
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