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Wednesday’s victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina It was well-deserved at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium and it got it for Pochettino’s side against Belgium in Seattle on Monday night (Tuesday 01:00 BST).
But it didn’t come without a price.
24-year-old former Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogu It inspired the United States to win a great victory over Paraguay He scored twice to start their campaign and added his third of the competition to break the deadlock just before the break.
He might have scored a hat-trick, firing an effort just wide of the near post, seeing an effort ruled out for offside and clipping a shot into the bar from close range, but after the hour, he trained for the night and maybe the World Cup was over.
A seemingly innocuous clash with Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic ended up with a straight red card for throwing looping balls down the left channel.
Muharremovic managed to get in front of him as Balogi tried to block the ball and the forward’s boot landed on the back of the Bosnian’s ankle, causing the ball to misfire.
In real time and in reality, this looked like a complete fluke, but Brazilian referee Rafael Claus was sent to the monitor to watch an extremely slow replay, giving him little choice but to pick up the red card.
It further enshrined Baloghi’s name in the record books.
The night he became the third American to score three goals at the World Cup, he became the fourth player following Brazil’s Garrincha in the 1962 semifinal, his countryman Ronaldinho in the 2002 quarterfinal against England and France’s Zinedine Zidane in the Italy 2006 final.
The sending off will result in an immediate one-game ban, keeping Belgium out of the match, but could be extended by FIFA officials to keep the Americans out of the quarter-finals and semi-finals if they do.
Ricardo Pepi has been a long-time Fulham target. Despite not scoring in his 184 minutes on the field in this competition or in the four friendlies before that, he is the most likely to fill Baloghi’s shoes.
The PSV man’s last international goal came in a Nations League match in November 2024.
Crystal Palace and American defender Chris Richards said the players were backing Balogu.
We told him we had his back. “We are a team of 26, not just one.
“Ultimately we’re going to lose him for the next game but we know whoever steps up will do the same job as he did.
“I think they make us stronger. One guy goes down, the next guy steps up. We’re a team, we’re more than one player, we’re more than 11 players.”
Pochettino added: “When Baloghi got the red card, I thought this is the moment we have to show that we are a team and the eyes of the players were saying: ‘Coach, we are ready to go and fight’ and that is amazing.”
“These guys are creating a legacy in this country and it’s all possible with our amazing fans. Why not us?”
