Folarin Balogun of the United States men's national team has proven once again that he's all class.
Unfortunately for Balogun, there was a lot of negative chatter surrounding him for the Round of 16 because of FIFA's decision to suspend his controversial red card. In fact, that ended up motivating Belgium for their battle in the knockout stage.
"There's always a justice somewhere in life," Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin said. "The fact that something happened like that, we don't think that was fair. And today, I think it just brings us a little bit of [motivation] that we needed to win the game."
Belgium certainly got the last laugh by defeating the U.S. 4-1 on Monday night. After the USMNT's dream run in the World Cup came to an end, Balogun posted a heartfelt apology on social media.
"My debut World Cup… it hurts to wait 4 years to compete at the highest level our sport has to offer. I want to say sorry to our fans it was not good enough when it mattered most and we let you down," Balogun wrote. "Soccer in America will only become bigger the belief, the talent, and the passion is continually growing and I know the best days are in front of us, the future belongs to those who never stop believing, this moment will fuel us. We will be back. Why not us? For the nation. For the flag."
© Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images
Life-changing run for Balogun.
Balogun, who led the U.S. in the World Cup with three goals, currently plays for Ligue 1's AS Monaco. It's possible he'll be on the move fairly soon though.
According to a report from Footmercato, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea all have interest in Balogun.
There's no question Balogun elevated his status in the World Cup. Now, it's all about him sustaining that level of play.
