20230517 American States United

“Balogunnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!”

—Jon Stewart on Twitter, responding to news that Folarin Balogun is joining the USMNT. Stewart, for the record, was a three-year starter on the men’s varsity soccer team at William & Mary.

It’s So Good to Have Good USMNT News:

Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 chose to represent the USMNT on a one-time switch from England on Tuesday. The fleet-footed 21-year-old striker has had a breakout season, blasting 20 goals in all competitions for Stade de Reims in Ligue 1. Expect the Arsenal loanee to be on the U.S. Nations League roster this summer.

Balogun’s is a remarkable story. Born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents who were visiting family here, living in London at the time, and they moved back shortly after his birth. He could have played for England, the United States or Nigeria, and he represented both England and the U.S. at youth level, before becoming a fixture in the England Under-21s.

Rumors about him changing to the United States bubbled throughout the last World Cup cycle — and we at MiB have heard that he came incredibly close to joining the U.S. — but the switch didn’t materialize. And the reality is, this is a hungry gent. In that England National Team depth chart, there’s so many strikers ahead of him. But in the United States by comparison, we not only have a World Cup coming to home turf in 2026, but remember, we scored three goals total at the last World Cup: one intentionally, one off Christian Pulisic’s crotch, and one completely by accident. The U.S.’s entire World Cup campaign was in many ways an infomercial crying out for just how badly we needed a striker.

Back in March, Balogun was courted by the U.S. in Florida. Name another football federation who can get you on the field with the Yankees, or courtside with the Orlando Magic. And now he rides with us.

How good will he be? He’s still young. And there is uncertainty about his club situation. But there is no doubt that this is a gent who can score, who thrives on the counter, who lives to pursue through balls, and can create and take his own chances. He’ll be a wonderful, badly-needed addition to this young United States squad.

But we’ve got to steel ourselves against the weight of our own expectations. We dream so much as U.S. fans, and one player alone is not going to allow us to silver bullet our way to fulfilling those dreams.

But big picture, it’s so good to have some good news coming out of the men’s national team program after the past few months. And this announcement feels like a symbol of new direction, new momentum, new possibility. It’s a great day for the United States team, for U.S. fans across the nation. Go, go USA.

More Balogun Coverage … 📹 Flo talks about what it means to represent the U.S. … 📹 How Balogun’s decision was covered in England … 📹 Balogun talks about U.S. fans on social media playing a role in his decision … 🧵 The Complete Folarin Balogun Origin Story … 📹 Balogun’s Announcement Video … 📹 Balogun Ligue 1 Highlight Reel … 📹 Flo scores at Lens last Friday.

US World Cup Champions in Europe:

More hardware for The Great Lindsey Horan 🇫🇷 (28; Golden, CO), as Olympique Lyon topped PSG, 2-1, in the Women’s French Cup Final, marking the 10th time they’ve won the national cup trophy. Horan and OL can make it a double on Sunday, as a win over PSG — or likely a draw, given their +22 goal differential lead — would give them the French League title as well.

On loan at Lyon, Horan is set to return to Portland Thorns at the end of the season. She isn’t the only USWNT star who looks set to depart OL, as Cat Macario 🇫🇷 (23; São Luís, BRA) is reportedly going to sign with Chelsea when her contract with the French side expires this summer.

Eagles Going Up 🤞:

Ethan Horvath 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (27; Highlands Ranch, CO) made two saves — and heard some USA! chants — in Luton Town’s 2-0 win over Lynden Gooch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (27; Santa Cruz, CA) and Sunderland in the Championship Promotion Playoff Semi Final on Tuesday. The Hatters, who have never been promoted to the Premier League, are now off to Wembley for the final on May 27, where they could face Zack Steffen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (28; Downington, PA) and Middlesbrough. Boro face Coventry City in the other semi final Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST, live on ESPN+.

News and Notes:

• Reports this week revealed that Chelsea tried to send Christian Pulisic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Hershey, PA) to AC Milan in a deal for Rafael Leao before the start of the season. Now the latest, according to the Daily Mail, is that Napoli are interested in CP10.

• Napoli have also reportedly explored bringing Jesus Ferreira 🇺🇸 (22; McKinney, TX) over from MLS to Serie A.

• Gio Reyna 🇩🇪 (20; Bedford, NY) scored his 7th goal of the season for Dortmund on Saturday in a 5-2 win over Gladbach (WATCH). Eric Wynalda has the record for most goals by an American in a Bundesliga season with nine — set in 1992-93 with Saarbrucken — but with just two matches left to go this year, Reyna will be hard pressed to catch the former US striker.

• Big honor for Malik Tillman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, as players in Scotland voted the 20-year-old from Nürnberg, Germany the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year. After receiving the award, Malik talked to the press about whether he’ll be with Rangers next season. “It’s 50-50,” said the USMNT midfielder. “It’s completely open.”

• Malik’s older brother, Timothy Tillman 🇺🇸 (24; Nürnberg, GER), filed for a one-time switch from Germany to the USMNT with FIFA. Timothy, a former Greuther Fürth midfielder now with LAFC, has five caps with the German U19s. Up the Tillmans. 🙌

• 🦅⚽️ Eagles In The Goals: Aron Johannsson 🇮🇸 (32; Mobile, AL) and 25-year-old Ohioan Emmanuel Sabbi 🇩🇰 (WATCH) both scored their third in their last three matches, for Valur and Odense, respectively, while Julian Green 🇩🇪 (27; Tampa, FL) had a brace for Greuther Fürth in their 2-2 draw with Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday.

• Goalkeeper Josh Cohen 🇮🇱 (30; Mountain View, Calif.) won his 3rd Israeli Premier League title with Maccabi Haifa after their 5-1 win over Maccabi Netanya on Monday. The 30-year-old from Mountain View, Calif. has worked his way up from playing collegiately at UC San Diego, to USL ball with Phoenix Rising and Sacramento Republic, to playing against some of the biggest clubs in Europe in the Champions League. 💪

• Joe Enochs 🇩🇪 has taken over as manager at 2. Bundesliga side Jahn Regensburg. Regensburg fell 5-1 to Hamburger SV in Enochs’ debut, and appear likely to be relegated to Germany’s third tier, but Enochs’ contract is through 2024, so the 51-year-old from Petaluma, Calif. appears to be a hire for next season.

Parting Shots:

American teenager Luca Koleosho 🇪🇸 was a late sub in Espanyol’s 4-2 loss to Barcelona on Sunday, marking his first appearance since playing 22 minutes in the Copa del Rey in January. The 18-year-old winger was born in Trumbull, Conn. — Luca’s mother is a former W-League player — and played for Manhattan Kickers growing up, before moving to Spain with his parents at age 11. The promising teen is eligible to play for the U.S., Canada, Nigeria, and Italy.

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