Sam’s Army Game 4 Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina in Elimination Round
Sam’s Army hoped to celebrate an elimination-round victory. They were the heavily-favored side, and they won this game 2-. Even though the United States was heavily favored, Bosnia and Herzegovina was not a pushover. They eliminated Italy and are extremely large and physical.
The United States disappointed Sam’s Army with a loss in the last game of the group stage. Although after winning the first two games in the group stage, the third game was meaningless. They made 9 changes to their lineup for the game to protect their injured players and those on yellow cards. Did you think the United States would advance in this game?
Sam’s Army Game 4 Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina
In the first twenty minutes of the game, United States goaltender Matt Freese was forced to make two good saves. That said, the United States possessed the ball more than 60% of the time. The flow of the game was clearly that Bosnia would allow the United States to possess the ball, but wouls attempt to use their size and physicality to muscle the United States and wear them down.
Another early theme is that Bosnia had several dangerous set pieces and was looking to counterattack. Ironically, in the group stage, both teams scored three goals off set pieces. To be successful, Bosnia uses its size. They have one defender who is 6 feet 7 inches tall. They also bring up their goaltender to initiate set pieces, as they did in the thirty-third minute. This was a clear threat to the happiness of Sam’s Army.
The United States had a goal from Florian Balogan because he was offside. However, he was much faster than the Bosnian defenders and kept being dangerous. Sam’s Army wanted him to score and wanted Cristian Pulisic, who did start, to be hyper-aggressive and to get a lot of touches. He did not have that many in the first half.
In the 45th minute of the first half, Florian Balogun scored, giving the United States a 1-0 lead. The Stadium went nuts. He was very dangerous and much faster than the defenders from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also the case that the United States is much quicker than the Bosnians, who were grabbing and fouling the American player who ran past them. 1-0 The United States is how the first half ended.
In the second half, the United States hoped to further please Sam’s Army by capitalizing on the momentum they had gathered in the first half. The second half started with a frenetic pace. At one point, there were two balls on the field. Both teams had chances early in the half, with the United States having more and Bosnia having the most dangerous chances.
The key question as the second half wore on was which substitutions both teams would bring in. There was some thought that the United States should substitute for Christian Pulisic. The game just changed. Florian Balogun received a red card, so the United States was going to have to play a man down for the rest of the match. They were in big trouble; it will be interesting to see how they play the rest of the way.
No substitutions for the United States at the second-half hydration break. The announcers are saying that the United States team is more mature than it has been. That maturity will now be tested. They got the best present they could have gotten in the 81st minute, Malik Timman scored on a free kick. 2-0 United States. Sam’s Army rejoices.
The United States had only one win in the knockout round in their last 7 World Cups. Until now. The United States won 2-0.
Conclusion
The winner of this game will play Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday night in Seattle. It was important that the United States took a 1-0 lead in the first half. They were able to take advantage of the momentum they had to roll to victory.
