Folarin Balogun urges U.S. to stay poised despite

Like a good striker, Folarin Balogun never loses sight of the objective. And the objective for the U.S. group in this summer time’s World Cup hasn’t been just to win, which they’ve performed, but to inspire.

And that’s how Balogun discovered himself on the sector, shaking arms with Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, about 45 minutes after Claus gave him a controversial pink card in Wednesday’s win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, a pink card that will keep him out of Monday’s round-of-16 sport with Belgium.

“Little kids are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust,” Balogun said Friday.

“It’s not an excuse to be disrespectful, to not do the right thing. I’m aware that the World Cup might be the first time a lot of American viewers are tuning in. So it’s important, whether things happen to you good or bad, just to continue to be yourself.”

That doesn’t imply Balogun didn’t suppose the pink card was unjust. He does. And he positively thinks one thing unhealthy occurred to him and his group since Balogun, the Americans’ main scorer with three objectives in as many video games, may have to sit out the group’s most important sport in a technology.

It’s just means that Balogun, who celebrated his twenty fifth birthday Friday, is also mature enough to perceive a sport — even a World Cup elimination sport — is just a sport.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said before the group’s training session at the University of Washington. “There’s been lots of different emotions. I’ve been upset, I’ve been happy. But for me, it was just important to stay calm. I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion.”

Balogun, who had given his group a 1-0 lead in the waning seconds of the first half, collided with Tarik Muharemovic 16 minutes into the second half, and when the Bosnian defender planted his proper leg below Balogun’s proper foot, the American inadvertently stomped on his proper ankle, twisting it awkwardly.

Both gamers went down and Claus didn’t signal a foul or pull card. But after the video assistant referee urged him to watch a replay, Claus walked away from the monitor and flashed the pink card. That left the U.S. to end Wednesday’s sport with just 10 males and disqualified Balogun for Monday’s sport. U.S. Soccer said Friday FIFA’s disciplinary committee didn’t add any video games to Balogun’s suspension.

“There’s the scenarios that you simply can’t avoid,” he said, “and it has to be taken into context when it’s being reviewed. I felt it wasn’t on this occasion. There’s nowhere else to put your leg. It’s going to be unavoidable.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair. [But] it’s something that’s happened, so we have to move forward, and I have to accept it. The most important thing is just to focus on the bigger picture, which is Belgium.”

Replacing Balogun gained’t be simple since he’s emerged as one of the group’s most efficient and inventive gamers, either scoring of setting up the go-ahead objective in all three of the U.S. wins.

“We’ve got guys that can fill in and have to be ready for the opportunity to step up,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “When you miss a player like Balo, obviously things change a little bit. But we’ve been flexible. Guys have shown that they’re ready to play.”

The most probably replacements are Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright. Pepi, who scored 16 objectives for PSV in the Dutch Eredivisie this season, performed 90 minutes in place of Balogun in the U.S. loss to Turkey in the ultimate group-stage match. Wright, who had 17 objectives for Coventry City in the English Championship, performed in all 4 U.S. video games in the 2022 World Cup, scoring once, but he has made just one look in this summer time’s event.

“Balo is an important part of our team, and it’s a disappointing way for him to miss the next game,” said Wright, who grew up in Culver City and spent three years in the Galaxy academy. “But, I’ll always be ready and prepared for whatever comes.”

A victory over Belgium would ship the U.S. to the quarterfinals of a World Cup for just the second time. It would also give it 4 wins in the event, double the quantity of victories in any earlier World Cup and marking the first time the Americans have gained twice in the knockout phases in the same event.

U.S. ahead Ricardo Pepi pursues the ball during a World Cup match against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara , Calif., on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

It’s a second, Adams acknowledged Friday, many gamers have waited for their complete lives.

“You need to embrace the moment, that’s for sure,” he said. “To have the opportunity to play in a round-of-16 game — which, obviously, last World Cup we did, but it was the first knockout game, not the second — it’s exciting. It was nice to get a little bit of a taste of what it feels like to play with something a little bit more on the line in the last game. I think that’s good preparation.

“Advancing and taking this thing as far as we can is the most important thing. We have a good opportunity here to do so.”