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Before Folarin Balogun's night was shrouded by the controversy surrounding his red card, the United States men's national team striker was the center of attention for a different reason: his goal celebration.
In the 45th minute of the United States' round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Wednesday, Balogun scored to put the U.S. up 1-0 and celebrated by doing NBA star LeBron James' famous celebration, "The Silencer."
Balogun wasn't able to explain the celebration — or the reception — after Wednesday's match, so he gave our own Jenny Taft the inside scoop when they spoke at training on Friday.
"Everyone knows the impact LeBron has," Balogun said. "He’s an absolute megastar. I just wanted to just bridge the gap and bring everyone together: the basketball community, the soccer community.
"We’re all just athletes trying to do the same thing: create history for our country. So, that was a bit of backstory behind the celebration, and for him to reach out was crazy."
James, who is a free agent after he announced his decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, responded to our post of Balogun's goal celebration on X and shouted out the 25-year-old striker.
Balogun didn't believe it was real.
"I just saw the tweet like you guys," Balogun said. "It was just surreal. I didn’t even think it was real — you never know with AI. I got told it was real, and I was very proud."
Balogun will not be available for the United States' round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday at Seattle Stadium after FIFA confirmed on Friday that he will have to serve his automatic one-match suspension for his red card.
The referee's decision, which Balogun described as "unjust" on Friday, drew criticism from some of the biggest stars in the world, including Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki. For Balogun it's just a sign of the support the team has.
"Before this tournament, we wanted to set out and bring the country together, and I feel like we’re doing that," Balogun said.
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