One day before the USMNT faced Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16, everything changed. FIFA overturned Folarin Balogun’s suspension from his red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, clearing him to return alongside Christian Pulisic and company. In an instant, the 25-year-old striker turned himself into the biggest talking point of the tournament. But what was it like inside the locker room?
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CBS Mornings’ host Gayle King had the same question for the 25-year-old. “What are you guys saying to yourselves in the locker room at that time? Because it seemed disorienting for us on the outside, watching it,” she pointed out.
“My teammates are like my brothers, so they gave me a lot of reassurance. It wasn’t something I could do; it wasn’t something I can change. It was just a situation that was unfortunate, which gave me confidence,” Folarin Balogun explained. “But as you said, it was confusing because the team’s practicing without me being in the team.”
Balogun also added that once he returned to the squad, he took the role of a supporting player to keep morale high. “I think it was a day or two days before kickoff, I get told I’m back in the team. We found out on the team bus. Everybody was screaming and shouting. It was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field,” he added.
You see, there was a five-day gap between the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 match. This means that head coach Mauricio Pochettino had a total of 4 days to prepare against Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku. Now, with just 48 hours left before the game, when FIFA announced Balogun’s availability, there was obvious confusion amongst his peers. However, they adjusted to the addition and welcomed Folarin back into the squad.
Everyone wondered whether Balogun and the rest of the USMNT could block out the chaos before facing Belgium. “It’s more just being able to separate the emotion from the job at hand. We’re all professionals, so it’s not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I’d be back in the team,” Folarin Balogun further shared.
“I think you saw it was definitely a difficult game against Belgium, and that can kind of overshadow whether we was focused or not. But from me being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game,” the star striker concluded.
The matchup against Belgium wasn’t easy for the USMNT. They surely didn’t expect to end their World Cup journey with a 1-4 blowout loss. However, stars like Balogun himself couldn’t produce results. Balogun lasted the full 90 minutes, but he could not influence the game. He took three shots and tested the goalkeeper just once. Balogun created no chances and finished with a 5.7 player rating.
Despite the odds and a heartbreaking exit, Folarin stated that he will come back in 2030. Simply put, he will put on that #9 jersey once again. And strike like the striker he is.
