Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup before being sent off with a red card in the second half, and Malik Tillman converted on a free kick to give the 10-man United States a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night that advanced the Americans to the round of 16.
Balogun dominated the first half with his 45th-minute goal, 14 minutes after he put the ball in the net but was called for offside. The Americans had to scramble down a man after his foul against Tarik Muharemovic in the 64th minute.
Star Christian Pulisic had a goal disallowed for offside in the 78th minute, and Tillman helped seal the win when he curled in a free kick from just outside the box in the 82nd, a shot off diving goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj's right hand.
“We had to dig deep for that one," The Associated Press quoted Pulisic as saying. "It didn’t go exactly to plan with the red card, but that just shows what a good team we are. We said in the hydration break, you know, this is what it takes to be a really strong team. And, we were able to do it.”
The Americans gained just their second World Cup knockout round win. They made it to the semifinals in the first tournament in 1930 by winning their group and won a round of 16 matchup against Mexico in 2002.
The win over Bosnia in the round of 32 in this year's expanded tournament sets up a matchup on Monday in Seattle against Belgium as the US hopes to make a deep run on home soil. The Red Devils beat the US 2-1 in extra time at the 2014 round of 16.
“I’s about to keep dreaming,” said US coach Mauricio Pochettino, who belted out “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as it played over the public-address system after 10 minutes of stoppage time. “In football all is possible if you believe.”
Balogun leads the US with three goals, but will miss the Belgium match because of an automatic suspension for the red card, assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus after a video review. Balogun stepped on an ankle of Tarik Muharemovic, apparently not intentionally.
“For me? Never a red card,” said Mauricio Pochettino, the first US coach with three World Cup wins.
Balogun matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second-most goals by an American in a World Cup, behind only Bert Patenaude’s four in the initial tournament in 1930.
“Of course he’s a great player," Tillman said. "We have great players who can replace him, and give the best they can, and hopefully score some nice goals as well.”
Tillman changed his right boot just before scoring the first US World Cup goal on a free kick since Eric Wynalda in the 1994 opener against Switzerland.
Tillman had a bloody sock around his big toe.
“You never know when it’s going to happen. Today, it happened,” he said.
The game was played less than 20 miles from the site of the first US knockout round game of the modern era when the Americans lost 1-0 to heavily favored Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994.
The US was favored this time around for the first time on record in a knockout round match and didn’t let down the large contingent of red-white-and-blue clad fans at Levi’s Stadium who were chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the closing minutes.
The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the US against European teams dating to a tie against England in the 2022 World Cup. The Americans had lost seven games and tied six against European nations since beating Portugal in their 2002 opener.
The US had started fast in the group stage matches by scoring in the first 15 minutes of all three games. But it was Bosnia that had the better chances early with Matt Freese needing to make two saves early to stop Ermedin Demirovic following a deceptive goal kick that caught the US defense napping and then again on the ensuing corner kick that Kerim Alajbegovic almost scored on directly.
Balogun took over from there, having one apparent goal called off for offside, being knocked down in the box on two other opportunities and then finally delivering in the 45th minute. Tim Ream intercepted a Bosnia goal kick at midfield and then Tillman found Balogun in the box. He slid the left-footed shot past Vasilj.
Balogun punctuated the goal with his version of the LeBron James Silencer celebration, drawing a positive reaction from King James himself.
“We considered a goal through our mistakes," Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said through a translator. “Unfortunately things like that happen but at this level they are immediately punished.”
Balogun nearly scored again in first-half stoppage time but his shot from in close deflected off the cross bar and out of play.
Bosnia’s second World Cup trip was a success with a draw against Canada in the opener and a win over Qatar that helped the team advance to the knockout round for the first time.
