\n<\/p>\n
The US had their hands on their heads. Weston McKennie\u2019s face betrayed a look of total disbelief. Mauricio Pochettino waved his hands towards the sky, incredulous.<\/p>\n
Folarin Balogun had been sent off after a seemingly innocent collision with Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s Tarik Muharemovi\u0107 that saw the US striker land a foot on his opponent\u2019s ankle. Just like that, the US\u2019s high-flying World Cup journey had the feel of impending doom. The temperature had soared on a previously cool, sunny evening at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. And it wouldn\u2019t fall until Malik Tillman had his say.<\/p>\n
Tillman\u2019s magnificently placed free-kick from the edge of the box put the finishing touch on a gritty 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a win that propels the co-hosts into the last 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo proud of all my players,\u201d Pochettino said after the game.<\/p>\n
Say that this was only the last 32. Bemoan the state of Fifa\u2019s expansion to 48 teams. And certainly, complain all you like about the red card if you are a US fan. But the fact of the matter is this: the US men have won a World Cup knockout match. That alone vaults this team into a different conversation entirely; one that has not been dusted off since 2002, when Bruce Arena\u2019s squad made the quarter-finals in the middle of the American night, when soccer in the US was in an entirely different state of popularity compared with today.<\/p>\n
With this win, and the steely demeanor it took to achieve it, Pochettino\u2019s team become a national conversation in the US. Exactly 12 years to the day since the US lost in extra time to Belgium at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Americans have set up another date at the same stage with the Red Devils. They will face them on Monday in Seattle, Washington.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, another sold-out, pro-US crowd cheered loudly and often, and they were greeted with bright moments to start the match, albeit without the early goal that had come in each of the US games so far in this tournament.<\/p>\n
In the fourth minute, Christian Pulisic mirrored the early danger he had posed to Paraguay in the US\u2019s opener. Cutting inside from the left, the Milan winger shifted past Bosnia and Herzegovina defenders before rifling a shot that was blocked by Stjepan Radelji\u0107. It was the best moment on an otherwise quiet night for Pulisic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to dig deep for that one,\u201d Pulisic said after the match. \u201cIt didn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bosnia and Herzegovina forced an awkward save from Matt Freese 10 minutes in, resulting in a corner kick, and their young star Kerim Alajbegovi\u0107 attempted an audacious Olimpico Freese had to stretch, but it was kept out.<\/p>\n
As the players and coaches gathered for the first-half hydration break, psychedelic rock band Rising Rhythm \u2013 live in the stadium \u2013 played a repeated riff. The US matched the band\u2019s commitment to one idea for the rest of a physical first half. Sergi\u00f1o Dest attempted runs behind the Bosnia and Herzegovina backline. McKennie continued to float wherever there happened to be space. And Balogun kept threatening.<\/p>\n
The Monaco striker thought he had found the breakthrough after 32 minutes. Dest\u2019s pressure as Bosnia and Herzegovina dawdled in possession freed the ball for McKennie, who found Balogun just as he shed his defender. An expert finish was applied and the crowd exploded, but the goal was soon called back. Balogun was a fraction offside, but the warning shot had been fired.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough finally came just before the end of the half. Tim Ream was the genesis, getting a good jump on an underhit clearance. The defender could have settled the ball to himself, or cleared it back into the mixer, but instead opted for the cultured approach \u2013 a first-time knock to McKennie, who played a nifty dummy to Tillman. The ball was deflected and got caught under the foot of Muharemovi\u0107, but Balogun was alert enough to adjust and finish once again. This time, it counted.<\/p>\n
Folarin Balogun player embed<\/a><\/p>\n Balogun could have had a second soon afterwards, again thanks to some nice combination play when McKennie found Dest with a perfectly timed loft over the top of the defense. Dest\u2019s header across goal was met by Balogun, but the ball kissed the top of the crossbar and went out of play.<\/p>\n The US defense may have thought they\u2019d been handed a reprieve when Edin D\u017eeko was forced off with an injury after 50 minutes. But they soon had bigger problems to worry about.<\/p>\n In the 64th minute, Balogun and Muharemovi\u0107 came together chasing a loose ball, with the striker landing hard on the defender\u2019s ankle. Referee Raphael Claus went to the monitor for a video review, and sent off Balogun.<\/p>\n From there, it was all hands on deck for the US defense, with Bosnia and Herzegovina showing much more verve in the wake of their numerical advantage. But the US never stopped pressuring, and it paid off as Dest earned a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.<\/p>\n Tillman stepped up, and hit a beautiful dipping effort that went over the wall, under the crossbar, and gave his team a palpable relief.<\/p>\n Incredibly, Belgium will be the fourth opponent out of five at this World Cup whom the US have played in a friendly within the last year. That previous matchup leaves little room for confidence \u2013 a 5-2 loss involving many (but not all) of the players who make up this squad.<\/p>\n But after this hard-earned win, there is the sense that these players could maybe, quite possibly, go as far as they want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The US had their hands on their heads. Weston McKennie\u2019s face betrayed a look of total disbelief. Mauricio Pochettino waved his hands towards the sky, incredulous. Folarin Balogun had been sent off after a seemingly innocent collision with Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s Tarik Muharemovi\u0107 that saw the US striker land a foot on his opponent\u2019s ankle. 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NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The US had their hands on their heads. Weston McKennie\u2019s face betrayed a look of total disbelief. Mauricio Pochettino waved his hands towards the sky, incredulous. Folarin Balogun had been sent off after a seemingly innocent collision with Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s Tarik Muharemovi\u0107 that saw the US striker land a foot on his opponent\u2019s ankle.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32310,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions\/32310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}