​The horror of Folarin Balogun’s ejection will linger, but so will the beauty of USMNT’s World Cup advancement originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.In describing the most compelling moments of the sport they invented, the English commonly will declare what they’ve just observed is “absolute cinema!”In fact, it’s become so ubiquitous throughout soccer that as I typed that sentence, the fine folks with the Fox Sports social team posted on Twitter a quick shot of United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino leaping in celebration and labeled it exactly that.So it was as the USMNT defeated Bosnia in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, by a 2-0 score Wednesday night that does not begin to capture the majesty of their performance.2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup ticketsThere was the moment of absolute cinema as directed by Wes Craven, the slow-motion piece of horror that got star striker Folarin Balogun ejected from this game – and, most unfortunately, the next – for a foul that almost certainly was not his fault.There was the moment of absolute cinema as directed by Steven Spielberg, the feel-good floating free kick launched by midfielder Malik Tillman that provided the clinching score, so breathtaking it might have been E.T. and the kids flying on bikes.Balogun was shown a red card for an inadvertent foul in the 64th minute, and the USMNT were forced to play through all that remained with 10 men. The ejection was the result of a VAR review, and it almost certainly was the product of the slow-motion replays repeatedly shown that exaggerated the villainy of the foul.“For me, never is this a red card,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said in his postgame press conference. “Watching after on TV, never was it intentional. The step of the player, that was a normal action in football that happened by accident. It was never intentional. That is why for me, it is never a red card.“I think today, the 50/50 decisions, not one went for us. And the players reacted very well. We controlled that emotional part of the game that was so important … How they managed the situation was amazing, and it showed that we are mature enough to continue competing.”MORE: Inside the controversial red card that will keep Florian Balogun out of the USMNT’s game vs. BelgiumThe USMNT stood up for roughly 45 minutes against Bosnia’s desperate attack, with occasional breaks for hydration and on-field injuries. What had been a defense-first-and-last starting lineup for Bosnia and Herzegovina was transformed through five substitutions into a run-and-shoot offense, and the Americans handled that siege.“We had to dig deep for that one,” star winger Christian Pulisic told Fox Sports. “Obviously, I felt we put on such a good performance and didn’t deserve the red card.“It took a