U.S. move to Round of 16 with unforgettable win

For those of you with FOMO who aren’t watching the World Cup, have no fear. You’re definitely missing out.

The games have been fun to watch, every one of them. Since the 48-country tournament entered the 32-team knockout round on Sunday, it has become both entertaining and compelling.

Some matches are more compelling than others. Last night’s contest between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina from Levi’s Stadium, after seeming sort of blah for most of the first half, got very interesting when striker Folarin Balogun scored just before the break to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

The match took on a much different feel in the 64th minute, when Balogun drew a controversial red card for stepping on the ankle of Tarik Muharemović. The ejection also gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a de facto power play for the rest of the game, since players who get a red card can’t be replaced.

It felt fatal to the effort by the U.S. team to advance. But they not only stiffened; they found a way to score another goal when Malik Tillman curved a free kick from just beyond the penalty area over a wall of defenders and past the goalkeeper in the 82nd minute.

There were still 18 minutes to play, thanks to a whopping 10 minutes of stoppage time. Bosnia got close once or twice, but they never managed to put the biscuit in the oversized basket.

“It’s kind of an adrenaline rush whenever you do go down [to] 10 men, because you’re like, ‘Oh shit, if we can pull off this win and hold them to zero goals, it’s even bigger,'” midfielder Weston McKennie said after the 2-0 win. “So everyone’s running everywhere and tackling, and just making sure we keep our structure, and we don’t want to give up a goal. It would be easy to have an excuse if they did score, but that’s not the type of team we are.”

Next up? Belgium on Monday, July 6, at Lumen Field in Seattle.

For as great as the game was, the best part came after the final whistle. The U.S. team has adopted John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads as its unofficial anthem. For those of us who have spent all or most of our lives living in West Virginia, it’s so much more than music to the ears. It’s the song that unites us like nothing else can, blending intense feelings of family, nostalgia, and pride into each note and every word.

Beyond wanting to see the U.S. keep going all the way to the final game — and winning it all — the prospect of having a packed stadium in New Jersey serenade the team with Country Roads as it raises the trophy would be the closest thing to seeing the WVU football or basketball teams winning a national title. (It may even be better than that.)

So keep it going, men. If you pull it off, you’ll never have to pay for a drink or a meal (or a car or a house) if you ever end up in West Virginia.