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by Sana Aljobory
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KATU) — The United States National Men's Team advanced in the World Cup today after defeating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 at the San Francisco Bay Area stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The team scored their first goal in the 45th minute; breaking their streak of scoring the first goal within the 11th minute in every group stage match.
Bosnia had the better chances early this time with USA player Matt Freese needing to make two saves early to stop German-born Bosnian player Ermedin Demirovic following a deceptive goal kick that caught the U.S. defense napping and then again on the ensuing corner kick that Bosnian player Kerim Alajbegovic almost scored on directly.
Folarin Balogun then took over from there, having one apparent goal called off for offside, being knocked down in the box on two other opportunities and then finally delivering in the 45th minute.
American Balogun put the United States ahead of rival Bosnia-Herzegovina when he scored a goal after German-American player Malik Tillman's pass was deflected into his path by Bosnia's Stjepan Radeljic with a sliding clearance attempt; just before getting a red card early in the second half.
Balogun received the red card around minute 64 from Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for a foul in which he stepped on an ankle of Tarik Muharemovic.
Claus didn't initially signal a card but showed Balogun red after a video review, leaving the team with 10 players only.
Balogun will be suspended for the round of 16 game against Belgium.
By minute 82, USA player Tillman extended the team's lead by scoring a second goal.
Tillman scored a free-kick into the net, defying the odds despite being down a player.
The USA team played at 5 p.m. on Wednesday after winning against Paraguay on June 12 and Australia on June 19. Although the team lost to Turkey 3-2 last week, the game did not move the scale as the United States had already qualified before the game.
The odds were stacked against the team as the United States had only won a single World Cup knockout round ever.
While the team made it to the semifinals in 1930 during the inaugural tournament by winning their group, the Americans' only win ever came in a knockout round in 2002 against Portugal after beating Mexico 2-0 in South Korea. The team subsequently lost to Germany in the quarterfinals.
In the eight other tournaments since the U.S. returned to the World Cup in 1990 for the first time in 40 years, the U.S. lost its first knockout game—the round of 16 instead of the round of 32—four times, failed to make it out of the group three times and failed even to qualify in 2018.
The U.S. was still favored this time around for the first time on record in a knockout round match and didn’t let down the large contingent of red-white-and-blue clad fans at Levi’s Stadium who were chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the closing minutes.
The game was played less than 20 miles from the site of the first U.S. knockout round game of the modern era when the Americans lost 1-0 to heavily favored Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994.
The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the U.S. against European teams dating to a tie against England in the 2022 World Cup. It marked the first win in the World Cup for the Americans against a European team since a win over Portugal in the 2002 opener.
They were winless in 13 straight World Cup matchups against European teams since then, including a 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium in the round of 16 in 2014.
The USA emulated fellow cohosts Canada and Mexico in advancing to the round of 16.
Next, the United States will face Belgium after their 3-2 win earlier today against rival Senegal.
Belgium will bring it all back to Seattle on July 6 in the Round of 16 against the United States.
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