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Folarin Balogun helps stretch referee after official goes down with cramp during U.S. win over Australia originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Players aren't the only ones at risk of injury at the World Cup.
As the United States rolled to another huge group stage victory, officially clinching Group B's top spot with a 2-0 win over Australia on Friday, one rather unusual situation caused some extra time to be added on the clock: a referee injury.
German referee Felix Zwayer began dealing with apparent cramping late in Friday's match — and U.S. star Folarin Balogun was there to help him, stretching out his leg during the delay.
Here's a look at how Balogun helped the referee dealing with a cramp in United States vs. Australia.
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Folarin Balogun stretches referee
After Zwayer, one of the officials for Friday's Group B match, went down onto the pitch with an apparent cramp, Balogun made his way over — the U.S. star hadn't just scored a goal earlier in the match, but had also been assessed a yellow card just a few minutes prior.
Whether Balogun was seeking any extra favor from the officials or not, he offered some help as Zwayer stretched out his left leg:
Balogun wasn't alone, however. Members of Australia's squad also helped down the referee on the ground:
MORE: Everything to know about Christian Pulisic's injury status
What happened to Felix Zwayer?
Zwayer went down onto the pitch late in Friday's match with apparent cramping, with the matchup being played in some summer Seattle heat.
Zwayer, 45, was brought something to drink — potentially pickle juice — and stretched out in what resulted in a delay, but was ultimately fine to continue his role in United States vs. Australia.
MORE: Why Alex Freeman's goal vs. Australia was ruled onside
What happens if a referee gets injured and cannot continue?
Every World Cup match has four referees, with one head, two assistants and a fourth official near the technical areas. If the head referee goes down with an injury, then the fourth official steps onto the pitch as a direct replacement — they receive the head official's communication headset and the full authority.
Additionally, to replace that fourth official, a reserve assistant referee who is part of the stadium's officiating pool for that day, but is unassigned to the match, will be summoned to take over technical areas, administrative duties and the substitution board.
Meanwhile, if an assistant referee goes down, either the fourth official or the reserve assistant referee will take over the designated touchline.
Ultimately, this rare process wasn't necessary on Friday. Zwayer returned to his role on the pitch after his cramping incident.
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