Cue Country Roads

The USMNT are heading back to Seattle

It turns out that many people owe ABC7 news anchor Abigail an apology. Not even Sergej Barbarez’ attempt to steal last night’s game ball could stop what was coming. The USMNT beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 in Santa Clara to mark their first knockout round win in the FIFA World Cup since shortly after Marshal Mathers dropped The Eminem Show and the first season of American Idol debuted.

Mauricio Pochettino (“I’m 200% Argentinian”) was singing Free Bird by the end. Mark Mckenzie led the post-game prayer circle to the ethereal background of Elvis confessing he’s a bit love struck. Bars and living rooms across the nation paid homage to John Denver again.

What Concacaf teaches you

As imagined, Bosnia & Herzegovina presented a physical challenge; the team that clocked the most fouls of all 48 teams in the group stage added 13 more (officially 13— in reality, there were more). Malik Tillman entered the mixed zone with a bloody foot. We briefly wondered if Tyler Adams was concussed. But a mature team dug deep and found a way to win, even when a devastating call sent off their topscorer, Folarin Balogun, and forced them to play 36 minutes with 10 men.

Tim Ream told reporters that Maurico Pochettino has perfected the USMNT’s ability to rage bait, an attribute Chris Richards said they’d honed over years in Concacaf (for an example of the beauty of Concacaf, see the fireworks going off through the night outside Ecuador’s team hotel before their Round of 32 game in Mexico City). But the flip side of baiting is understanding how to resist the rage. Last evening the USMNT did that well, like veterans of one of the world’s most entertaining regions. Lessons learned over years competing together, from the so-called Mud Game in San Salvador to that beloved melee in Las Vegas, brought them here.

It is a delicate balance between defending your teammates and reciprocating physicality, without getting held liable for a game-changing call after reacting to a match-long montage of shirt pulls, shoves or dangerous moments.

Pochettino: “Today, in all the 50-50 decisions, none were for us. And the players reacted very well. We controlled that emotional part of the game that’s so important…. How they managed the situation was amazing. We showed maturity.”

Winning in a different way

The USMNT scored within the first 15 minutes of each group stage game, soaring to the top of Group D with first-place locked up before the third game. They lost to Türkiye, but those early goals changed the nature of each game and forced the opposition to play on their terms.

Bosnia & Herzegovina’s compact defensive setup required patience, and time to pull apart. There were early glimpses. In the 31st minute Balogun collected the ball at the top of the box and struck it to the bottom right corner, but it was called off. Looking ready to capitalize on every opportunity, Balogun broke through just before the half with a cool finish amid disarray in Bosnia’s box to make it 1-0.

But a physical bout that the U.S. still had control of was turned on its head when, in the 64th minute, Balogun was held liable for an unintentional cleat to the ankle of Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemović. While VAR slowed down the play, shifting perception of the moment, the Monaco striker with three goals (more if you count the own goal he forced) was given a red card in an aberration from other unintentional, but dangerous fouls in the tournament, including the play that had wondering if Tyler Adams was concussed and a similar moment from Messi during his hat-trick performance in Kansas City.

Stone-faced and determined, the 10 players remaining on the field in front of 68,827 mostly-U.S. fans in California didn’t slip. Eight of Bosnia’s 10 shots were fired in the 34 minutes the U.S. were down a player, including two of three on target (their 11th-minute near-Olimpico didn’t register as a shot), but an ageless Tim Ream, flawless Chris Richards, sturdy Matt Freese, match-shaping midfield and undeterred team held firm.

In the 82nd minute, Malik Tillman, already having the tournament of his life, spun a physics-defying free kick past Nikola Vasilj’s outstretched hand to make it 2-0.

We’d soon learn that moments before that fateful strike, Tillman had a quick change of cleats after a tough challenge tore through his shoe and left him with a bloody right foot. While standing in the mixed zone in a bloody sock, Tillman, a unique talent whose humble nonchalance undersells his newfound heroism, reflected: “Yeah, someone stepped on me. But it’s just pain I guess. Nothing too bad”.

Cue Country Roads.