Folarin Balogun made sure to stay in the headlines with his performance for the USA on Wednesday night, scoring a goal and receiving a red card.
Former Arsenal academy striker Folarin Balogun certainly had an eventful Wednesday night, playing for the USA in their World Cup last-32 match against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
31 minutes in, Balogun believed he’d given his team the lead as he cut behind a defender and finished with his left foot. But the goal was quickly ruled out for an offside, with almost the striker’s entire body behind the last line of the Bosnia defence when the ball was played.
Balogun kept pushing, and 14 minutes later he found that vital opening goal, pouncing on a defensive error to slide a finish home for 1-0.
Yet the game took a turn in the second half, as Balogun was dismissed for a foul after a VAR review.
The decision seemed harsh, with Balogun clearly catching his opponent and turning the defender’s ankle in a painful manner, but the contact simply resulting from his attempt to place his foot on the ground. It was careless and unintentionally harmful, but arguably not violent.
As well as reducing the USA to 10 men, Balogun will also now serve a one-match ban, with no chance of appeal. FIFA’s disciplinary committee could add more games to the suspension (which would be a decision that could be appealed), but that seems unlikely in this case.
Fortunately for Balogun and his team, they managed to hold on with 10 men and actually add to their lead. Malik Tillman scored a free-kick in the 82nd minute to settle the result, and the USA progressed to the last-16 with a 2-0 win.
Balogun will now miss that upcoming last-16 match against Belgium on July 6th, but if his team can keep progressing, he should be available for the subsequent quarter-finals.
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