Amurka sun tsallake zuwa kusa-da-kusa na zagaye na takwas na Kofin Duniya, amma murnar nasarar da suka samu kan Bosnia-Herzegovina tana da cikas mai girma — dan wasan gaba Folarin Balogun an fitar da shi kuma yanzu yana fuskantar hukunci da zai iya hana shi fiye da wasa daya.

Nasarar zagaye na 16 a San Francisco Bay Area Stadium ranar Laraba ta gamsar da kowa, kuma ta bai wa ƙungiyar Mauricio Pochettino wasa mai ban sha'awa na zagaye na takwas da Belgium a Seattle dare na Litinin (01:00 BST Talata).

Dare na farinciki da baƙin ciki ga Balogun

Dan wasan gaba na tsohon Arsenal mai shekaru 24 shi ne mafi inganci a wasan kafin mala'ikarsa ta karye a minti na 61. Ya buɗe maki jim kaɗan kafin rabin lokaci don zira ƙwallon sa ta uku a gasar — adadi wanda ya sa shi dan wasan Amurka na uku kawai da ya kai wannan matakin a bugu ɗaya na Kofin Duniya.

Sai dai wannan nasara ta tarihi an rufe ta da sauri. Gwagwarmayar neman ƙwallon ta ɓangaren hagu ta ƙare da ƙafar Balogun ta sauka a idon sawun mai tsaron Bosnia Tarik Muharemovic yadda ya karkata da tsanani. Alkalin wasa na Brazil Raphael Claus ya duba lamarin a allo kuma bai sami wata hanyar ba face fitar da jan kati kai tsaye.

Korar ta sanya Balogun cikin kamfani na musamman: ya zama dan wasan karo na huɗu a tarihi da ya zira ƙwallo kuma aka fitar da shi a wasa ɗaya na zagaye na fitar da wanda ya yi nasara na Kofin Duniya, yana tare da Garrincha na Brazil (semi-final 1962), Ronaldinho na Brazil (quarter-final 2002 da England), da Zinedine Zidane na France (final 2006 da Italy).

Hukunci da zai iya wuce Belgium

Dakatar da kai tsaye na wasa ɗaya ya hana Balogun fitowa a wasan Belgium, amma jami'an FIFA na iya tsawaita hukuncin — mai yiwuwa ya hana shi quarter-final da semi-final idan Amurka ta ci gaba.

Ricardo Pepi, wanda Fulham suka daɗe suna son sa kuma yanzu yana PSV, shi ne mafi yiwuwa ya maye gurbinsa. Pepi bai zira ƙwallo a cikin mintuna 184 na wasa a wannan gasar ba, kuma ƙwallon sa ta ƙarshe ta kasa da kasa ta zo ne a wasan Nations League a watan Nuwamba 2024.

Ƙungiyar ta goyi bayan dan wasan gabanta

Mai tsaro na Crystal Palace da Amurka Chris Richards ya yi gaggawa don ƙarfafa abokan wasansa bayan dan wasan gaban da aka hukunta.