Folarin Balogun ya gabatar da kansa a fagen duniya ta hanyar da ta fi burge kowa — da kwallo biyu ga ƙungiyar mai masaukin baki ta Amurka yayin da suka doke Paraguay a wasansu na farko na rukuni a Kofin Duniya. Duk da haka, labarin yadda wannan saurayi mai shekara 24 ya zo sanya rigar Amurka yana da ban mamaki kamar kwallayoyin kansu.

An haifi Balogun a Brooklyn, New York, a ranar 3 ga Yuli 2001, kuma shi ɗan ƙasar Amurka ne kawai saboda wani yunƙuri na ƙaddara da ba a zata ba. Iyayensa 'yan asalin Najeriya sun kasance a London suna zaune lokacin da suka tafi New York a lokacin rani na 2001. Sa'ad da lokacin tashi da jirgin sama ya zo, ma'aikatan kamfanin jirgi sun ki yarda da uwarsa — wadda tana da ciki mai zurfi — ta hau jirgin, don haka Balogun ya zo duniya ba a Ingila ba, sai dai a Brooklyn.

Muhawarar ɗan ƙasa ta haihuwa

Haihuwar Brooklyn ta ba Balogun ɗan ƙasar Amurka ta atomatik ƙarƙashin Gyara na 14 na Kundin Tsarin Mulki na Amurka — ginshiƙin doka na ɗan ƙasa ta haihuwa. Wannan ka'ida ce daidai wannan Farakensa Donald Trump ke nema ya tarwatsa ta hanyar umarninsa na zartarwa, yana nufin hana ɗan ƙasa ga yaran da aka haifa a Amurka ga iyaye da suke ƙasar ba tare da takardun hujja ko suna da bizar mafaka ta wucin gadi.

Gwamnatin Trump na da'awar cewa wannan manufar tana da matukar muhimmanci don magance abin da take kira "barazana mai mahimmanci ga tsaron ƙasa da amincin jama'a." Ana sa ran Kotun Koli ta Amurka za ta yanke hukunci kan umarnin zartarwa a cikin makonni kaɗan, wata hukunci da zai iya sake fasalin ma'anar ɗan ƙasar Amurka.

Masanin doka Ilya Somin, farfesa na doka ta tsarin mulki a George Mason University da shugaban karatun tsarin mulki a Cato Institute, yana gargadin cewa hukuncin na iya haifar da rudani mai yawa. "Alkawalin Trump da garantin Trump yawancin lokaci ba su da daraja sosai, amma ko da ya ci gaba da wannan shawarar, gwamnati ta gaba mai iya ta yi hakan," Somin ya ce.

Duk da haka, Somin ya yi imani cewa Kotun Koli — wadda tana da rinjaye na 6 akan 3 na masu ra'ayin mazan jiya — ba za ta yanke hukunci a kan gwamnatin ba, yana nuni da shakku da alƙalai suka bayyana a lokacin muhawara ta baka a Afrilu. Sa'ad da lauyoyin gwamnati suka yi jayayya cewa yanayin tafiya na zamani yana halalcewa sake fassara Kundin Tsarin Mulki, an ce Babban Alƙali John Roberts ya yi ɗan ba'a: "Sabon duniya ce. Kundin Tsarin Mulki ɗaya ne."

Ɗan wasa da Amurka ta yi yaƙi don lashe shi

Hanyar Balogun zuwa ƙungiyar ƙasa ta Amurka ba ta kasance mai sauƙi ba. Shi ne samfurin makarantar matasa ta Arsenal, kuma ya cancanci wakiltar Ingila ko Najeriya kafin ya ɗauki alkawari ga Amurka. A tsawon lokaci mai yawa, shi ne tsakiyar shirye-shiryen Lee Carsley na Ingila 'Yan Kasa da 21, inda ya ci kwallaye bakwai a wasanni 13 yayin da ƙungiyar ta ke shirya don Gasar Zakarun Turai 'Yan Kasa da 21 na 2023.

Lokacin aro mai albarka a Reims — inda kyawawan wasanninsa ya sa an sayi shi da £35 miliyan zuwa Monaco a Ligue 1 — ya jawo hankalin jami'an US Soccer da gaske. Ƙaruwar tallafin jama'a daga masoya Amurkawa, tare da abin da aka ce ya haɗa da tikiti na NBA, tafiye-tafiye zuwa Florida, da gayyata don kallo horon New York Yankees, ya taimaka matuka wajen karya ma'auni. An kuma ce wasu ƴan wasa ƴan ƙasar Amurka na tsofaffi sun kai shi cin abincin dare don shawo kansa.

"Da nake bayar da alkawari, da kuma a tsawon yanayin duka, da kuma tafiyar duka zuwa a wannan matakin, kullum ina cewa masoya sun ba ni ƙwarin guiwa da yawa kuma sun nuna min tallafi mai yawa," Balogun ya ce kafin wasan rukuni na biyu na Amurka kan Australia a Seattle a ranar Jumma'a. "Ina son kawai in ci gaba da nuna wa masoya cewa na yanke shawara ta daidai."

Abin da Balogun ke nufi ga ƙwallon ƙafa na Amurka

Dan tsakiya na AC Milan Christian Pulisic, wanda ya yi magana bayan cin nasara kan Paraguay, ya kasance mai bayyanar bayyane game da ƙimar Balogun ga ƙungiyar. "Yaron yana da ban mamaki," Pulisic ya ce. "Shi ne mai haɗari a gaban ragar yanzu. Bari mu fatan kawai zai ci gaba kamar haka."

Tsohon ɗan wasa na ƙungiyar ƙasar maza ta Amurka Kenny Cooper, yanzu jakadan kulob FC Dallas, ya shaida wa BBC cewa ya yi imani ƙungiyar za ta iya rubuta tarihi da Balogun a gaba. "Babu shakka shi ne ƙwarai mai hazaka kuma ya nuna haka da kwallaye biyu na musamman," Cooper ya ce. "Ya kasance mai ban sha'awa sosai."

Tommy Marcos, shugaban American Outlaws na New York — mafi girman rukunin masoya Amurka — ya amince da wannan ra'ayi. "Ba mu da wannan nau'in ɗan wasa — ɗan wasan gaba na ɗaya daga cikin manyan gasar biyar wanda za ka iya sa shi kuma ka sani zai ci kwallo," Marcos ya ce. "Muna sa'a da shi."

A cikin 10 daga cikin bugu 12 na baya na Kofin Duniya, kwallaye shida sun isa don lashe takalmin zinariya. Da kwallaye biyu da ya riga ya samu daga wasa ɗaya, Balogun ya riga ya yi kashi ɗaya bisa uku na hanya — kuma al'umma duka na fara taru a kusa da sabon talisman.