The USMNT Suffered In Style

It is said, probably more often than is necessary, that a team that loses a player to a red card must be prepared to suffer.

This is particularly true when the team that has gone down a man has a lead to protect.

As soon as that card comes out, fans must prepare to watch their team hunker down, absorb constant pressure from the opponent, and pray to god that they can hold onto the lead.

It's not always like this, though.

Sometimes, the talent disparity between two teams is so vast that the superior squad can go down a man and still control the game, even dominate it in certain phases.

It's rare to see this happen, and when it does it serves as a reminder of how far talent, and each individual player's belief in their own talent, can go.

So imagine my surprise, my utter, worldview-altering shock, upon seeing the USMNT, the historically talent-deficient and swaggerless international soccer team I've loved but never expected much from, brush away Bosnia and Herzegovina in the knockout round, 2-0, despite being down a man for 36 minutes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a very good team, and the Dragons were proving it through the first 64 minutes of Wednesday night's game.

Folarin Balogun's goal in the 45th minute was the result of a sustained application of pressure from the Americans that could have produced another goal or two had a few breaks gone the other direction.

The USMNT was in control, and cruising towards the round of 16, until Balogun was banished from the field thanks to a VAR-induced red card.