Balogun sees goal… then red vs Bosnia, Freese enters US World Cup record books
By Noah Zimmerman
noah@queensledger.com
New US stars earned their stripes at the World Cup this summer. On home turf, the US Men’s National Team started the tournament on the right foot. They took down Paraguay and Australia to win Group D before picking up a knockout round win for the first ever time.
On the front line, the United States was led by World Cup debutant Folarin Balogun. The Brooklyn-born striker bagged a brace in the opening match against Paraguay before adding a third goal in the knockouts against Bosnia. Behind him and between the posts stood Matt Freese, earning a second clean sheet to match the US World Cup record.
20 minutes into the second half against Bosnia, Balogun saw red. It was an awkward play, with the American striker beaten to the ball by his Bosnian marker. As a result, Balogun was put off balance, stepping awkwardly onto the ankle of Tarik Muharemovic.
It was a reckless and dangerous play, though not one most would call a red. Nevertheless, Balogun was ejected after video review and suspended for their Round of 16 match.
A call from Donald Trump tipped the scales, with the US President convincing FIFA to suspend Balogun’s red card ban. Despite outcry and protests, the top American goalscorer was allowed to suit up for Monday’s Round of 16 battle against Belgium.
No matter how one may feel about the red card or the importance of Balogun, the bending of rules to satisfy major markets was wrong when Cristiano Ronaldo was permitted to play for Portugal in the group stage and wrong again when Balogun was reinstated for the Belgium match.
Luckily, the controversy didn’t come around to impact play much further. Despite being fouled to set up a free kick goal, Balogun was kept off the scoresheet in the American loss.
A pair of clean sheets propelled Matt Freese to the top of the USA’s all-time goalkeeping list. The Round of 32 win against Bosnia put him level with Matt Turner, who he displaced as starting shotstopper just last year.
While the US has seen a few legendary goalkeepers since the 1930 World Cup, the only ones to keep multiple clean sheets in the tournament are Freese, Turner, and Jimmy Douglas back in the inaugural competition.
Freese made another huge save on Monday night, his best of the tournament, in the first minute of action against Belgium. He flew across the face of goal, reaching up into the top corner to steer a deadly shot away from harm.
Ultimately it wasn’t enough as Freese and the US conceded just nine minutes into the match, going on to lose 4-1. The third goal came from a particularly embarrassing giveaway by Freese just beyond his penalty area – a blemish on an otherwise impressive showing at the World Cup.
In the end, the soccer world is cruel to goalkeepers. Most fans will remember his 57th minute blunder rather than his 1st minute save. Freese had a very solid tournament and showed tremendous promise for the future, hopefully earning the 27-year-old more opportunities as the #1 option.
Matt Freese will be back in the Big Apple after the Major League Soccer season returns to play in late July. Following a match in Columbus, New York City FC takes on the Chicago Fire at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, July 25 at 7:30pm.
