Team USA Advances: What Still Needs to Be Answered?

Yahoo Sports

The U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) battled through their round of 32 matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina, scraping across a 2–0 win. The next competitor, Belgium, poses a serious threat to stop the home team in their tracks.

The USMNT and Bosnia-Herzegovina kicked off at 8:00 PM ET from Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, CA, and it was all U.S. to start. In the first half, over 80% of the USMNT’s possessions were on the opposition’s side of the field. After many missed opportunities on attack, the USMNT’s leading scorer, Folarin Balogun, received a fortunate bounce off a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender after a feed from Malik Tillman, and he buried the opening goal underneath the goalie in the 45th minute.

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USMNT defenders Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, and Sergino Dest fended off a swell of Bosnian attacks, keeping the pressure off keeper Matt Freese. In the 64th minute, Folarin Balogun went for a tackle from behind Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic and put his cleat to the lower leg of Muharemovic. Balogun was then sent off with a red card after a VAR review, opening the door for Bosnia-Herzegovina with a man advantage. Throughout the game, including being down a man for over 25 minutes, the USMNT capitalized on Bosnia-Herzegovina’s over-aggressiveness on offense, turning defensive shutouts into chances on the other end.

In the 82nd minute, Malik Tillman was selected to take a free kick from just outside the goalie box in the offensive zone. He buried a beautiful hook shot over the Bosnian wall of defenders into the top-left corner to give the USMNT a 2–0 lead.

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Not much more could be said about the way the USMNT persevered and played their hearts out for over 90 minutes. Behind the home crowd in San Francisco, every player from top to bottom went to battle with no sign of letting up. This was an effort that American soccer fans hadn’t seen in quite some time.

Group Stage Notes

Against Paraguay in Game #1, the USMNT dominated on the attack, controlling possession and creating many more chances at the goal. A 4–1 victory (over a team that just eliminated Germany as major underdogs) made the home fans believe that this team could be brewing something special under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

In Game #2 against Australia, the American defense proved more of a threat than the attack, shutting down everything Australia threw at them. A suffocating first half was enough to put the Aussies away 2–0, as the American defense limited Australia to only five attempts at the goal for over 90 minutes.

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Game #3 against Türkiye was not quite a throw-away game for the USMNT, but a game in which many players sat to decrease the risk of injury and possible suspension. The Americans won the battle of possession and number of attacks once again, but a late goal from Türkiye in stoppage time sealed the deal as the USMNT took a 3–2 loss.

Concerns for the Round of 16

1. Who will be the next man up after the Balogun suspension?

As the USMNT’s leading scorer, Balogun proved himself as a vital asset on the attack for his teammates to feed near the goal. His touch and precision will be hard to replace, but the American roster is full of talented athletes with a wide variety of skill sets. Belgium’s midfield, led by Kevin De Bruyne, proved that they will be the ones to turn the momentum over to their side, as they cut off many potential chances when it mattered against Senegal in the Round of 32.

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2. Belgium’s second-half substitutes played a completely different game

Down 2–0 for most of the game, it took Belgium 86 minutes to get on the board after a goal from seasoned veteran Romelu Lukaku. Three substitutions were made between the 56th and 64th minutes that turned the momentum of the game around completely, as Belgium began connecting on long passes and creating impressive chances that eventually led to two goals before extra time. No team that the USMNT has played showed that type of intensity, especially at such a quick turnaround, so they will have to play their best game of the tournament without their leading goal scorer. Troublesome.

3. Will the tightness of the team outweigh the pressure?

From many of the post-game interviews after the Bosnia-Herzegovina game, the team seemed slightly dejected about the loss of Balogun. However, not many answers included thoughts on individual play; there were many references to “we” and “the team”, which essentially inspire the team to persevere. The last time the USMNT played Belgium in knockout play, they were eliminated in the round of 16 by a score of 2–1. The USMNT needs to overcome a great deal of mental hurdles to advance to the Round of 8, and it starts by putting the team first.