Malik Tillman’s heroics helped the USMNT survive Folarin Balogun’s red card and make World Cup history

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Malik Tillman’s shoe was broken.

He’d been stepped on by a Bosnian player, not hard enough to need to leave the game but enough to need a replacement cleat from the bench.

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The new one didn’t have any magic dust, but it didn’t need it. Tillman practices free kicks a lot, so he was ready when the moment came.

His team was a goal up, a man down, and fighting with every ounce it had to secure its first men’s World Cup knockout win in 24 years. In the 82nd minute, the chance to regain momentum finally arrived.

Bosnia’s Stjepan Radeljić held back Sergiño Dest, earning the U.S a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Tillman, with a bloodied sock underneath that new shoe, stepped up to score the goal that clinched the 2-0 win.

“I’ve been dreaming about this game, I’ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick,” he said. “I practiced this in training, and today I think I showed what I can do.”

Soccer now has its own version of Curt Schilling’s bloody sock saga in the American sports history books.

As Tillman ran toward the end line to celebrate, his teammates joined him in a joyous mass, fusing their energy with a crowd that had dug in just as much down the stretch. Even from the glass-sealed press box, they came through loud and clear all night, hoping to see a new chapter in a story that began when the Bay Area hosted the U.S. men’s soccer team’s first World Cup knockout game of its modern era in 1994.

“I’m a different type of person on the pitch,” Tillman said. “Of course maybe you don’t really see my emotions, but if you score a goal like this, you guys saw my emotions. It’s a great feeling, and of course a very proud moment for me.”

It’s easy to say that the Americans don’t face the kind of pressure that the world’s traditional powers do: Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, and so on. Even next-door neighbor Mexico deals with more, thanks to a rabid fan base that spans both sides of the Rio Grande.

But this time, the weight on the U.S. was massive. A squad of players long hyped as a golden generation simply had to win this game, or else they’d be tarred as failures in the big moment.

The stakes rose even higher when co-hosts Canada and Mexico won their round-of-32 contests first. Imagine what the reaction would have been in the soccer world if the U.S. failed to match them.

There will still be plenty at stake when the Americans play Belgium in the round of 16 in Seattle on Monday. This team still hasn’t beaten a really good opponent in this World Cup, or in general for a while. Nor has anyone forgotten that the No. 9-ranked Red Devils thumped the U.S. 5-2 in Atlanta in March, even if that was a friendly with different squads.

The U.S. also still has a poor all-time record against European teams in World Cups. Wednesday’s win was just the fourth win in 26 such games, against 15 losses and seven ties. Raising the win total to five now would make an all-time impact.

The call was certainly controversial, and by the letter of the law referee Raphael Claus might have relied too much on slow-motion replay footage instead of watching at real-time speed.

But the decision was not totally wrong. Any time a replay shows a player dragging his studs down an opponent’s calf and landing on the foot, it will almost certainly be a red.

An obvious counter to that is Lionel Messi wasn’t sent off in Argentina’s group game against Algeria for landing his studs in an opponent’s calf in an even more direct way.

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This is life in the sport, and every player knows it. Had Balogun been hit in a similar way, even though the initial collision was 50/50, U.S. fans would surely have brayed for the opponent’s dismissal.

Also, if Balogun had been given a yellow card right away, the odds might have decreased that a video review would upgrade the call to a red.

Because there was no card initially, when Claus went to the monitor, all he could do was give a red or let it all go. The rules mandate that a video review of a call with no card can’t lead to just a yellow. FIFA’s rules also mean U.S. Soccer can’t appeal the decision, though it almost certainly would have lost.

“Typical FIFA,” U.S. veteran Tyler Adams said of the rule book. But he didn’t totally argue with the call.

“You’re asking the wrong person, with how I tackle,” he said. “I think it’s a yellow card. I think when you slow everything down, it’s always going to look worse. I don’t want to say too much.”

It will definitely sting the U.S. to face Belgium’s stars without the striker who has more than justified the hype around his talent. Ricardo Pepi will presumably start, with Haji Wright able to come off the bench.

Pepi didn’t stop to talk with the media after Wednesday’s game, but Wright did. The last U.S. striker to score in a World Cup before Balogun’s three this summer declared himself “always ready and always prepared to give my best for the team.”

There was also lots of support for Balogun from his teammates.

“He’s done so much for us, and now we’ve got his back,” Christian Pulisic said, and Chris Richards said almost exactly the same words.

Matt Freese grew up in Wayne idolizing Tim Howard, the U.S. Hall of Famer who cemented his legend with 16 saves in the 2014 World Cup’s 2-1 loss to Belgium. Freese didn’t have to be that busy against Bosnia, but his three stops and overall command of his box were still plenty to confirm his status as the No. 1 in net.

Now he has a historic reward: being the goalkeeper of record for the first World Cup knockout win in so long.

“It means, really, more than I can say,” Freese said. “You dream of putting your name up there with the guys that you watched growing up. And there’s a lot more to do, but it’s an honor and a privilege to be in goal for this team.”

Watch the latest episode!

In this World Cup, underdogs are stealing the spotlight, the U.S. men are on a roll, and Philadelphia has not only welcomed the world but has given visitors a crash course on just how real the curse of the Rocky Statue can be.

Join Jonathan Tannenwald, the Inquirer’s soccer writer, and host Lisa Carlin, analyst for CBS Sports Golazo, as they dissect the matches, the moments, and more as Philly has its moment in soccer’s brightest spotlight. Watch our latest episode right here. 

Watch previous episodes:

Episode 1: The Wait is Over! 
Episode 2: Groups, Goals, and Glory
Episode 3: Electric Action in Philly

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