The USMNT began the knockout phase of the World Cup on Wednesday night taking on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. The US lineup was identical to their opening match lineup as Christian Pulisic was fully fit and Mauricio Pochettino returned to his preferred eleven after massive changes in the final group stage match.
Things started a bit slower for the US on Wednesday, the did not score within the first ten minutes of the match for a change, but they were able to dominate possession against
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s low block including a couple half chances.
The US found a breakthrough just before the half as Folarin Balogun pounced on a Malik Tillman attempted pass that bounced luckily off a pair of Bosnia and Herzegovina players before Balogun could get just enough on it to get it through the keeper.
The opponent made several changes just after the half, including bringing on Wisconsin native, and former US player Esmir Bajraktarevic and early on it looked like the US was willing to concede a bit of possession up a goal. The intensity really ratcheted up twenty minutes into the second half when Folarin Balogun was shown straight red for a foul on the back of an opponents leg, twisting his ankle. In real time the foul didn’t look significant and no card was shown initially (no cards had been shown to either side at this point, though not for lack of physicality) but VAR intervened and the slow motion shots looked bad as Balogun was lost for the rest of the match and the US was forced to play a man down for the final 30 minutes.
Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to see more of the ball in the second half but were not able to create many clear cut choices. Ultimately, it was the US who would find the back of the net for a second time in the 82nd minute after Sergino Dest drew a foul at the top of the box and Malik Tillman hit a beautiful freekick over the wall and past the diving keeper.
The US would make a handful of changes just before the 90th minute as Sebastian Berhalter and Ricardo Pepi would come on, followed by Gio Reyna in stoppage time to see out the 2-0 win.
It wasn’t without it’s drawbacks – Balogun will be suspended for the round of 16 match as well – or stress but ultimately the US picked up their first knockout stage win in years while playing some lovely team action.
There were several standout performers but at SSFC we don’t tell you who you think should be the MOTM, we want to hear from you, who is your top player? Hit the ratings below and let us know who you think were the outstanding performers in tonight’s match.
