Pochettino's pride after the Balogun red card

Mauricio Pochettino came out of the USA's 2-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina with a simple line that fitted the night. "So proud, so proud of all my players, all the staff," he said after the side held on with 10 men and reached the last 16.

USA will face Belgium in Seattle on Monday, July 6. For Pochettino, though, the point of the evening was the response after Folarin Balogun was sent off and the game threatened to tilt.

Pochettino's reaction

Pochettino told talkSPORT: "The players deserve everything, and the way that we compete… they are a very good team, a very difficult team. There's a lot to be proud, no? So proud, so proud of all my players, all the staff, and then these fans, they are amazing today again. It's amazing to live that experience."

That is the right tone for a match that could have gone badly after Balogun's dismissal. Instead, USA still found a way through, and Malik Tillman scored in the 82nd minute to seal the win while they were down to 10 men.

Tillman was the best-rated USA player in the match with a 7.9 rating, which fits the impact of a late winner in a knockout tie. The result was also the USA's first World Cup knockout win since 2002, a useful marker for why Pochettino sounded as pleased as he did.

Balogun's night of extremes

Balogun's evening swung hard. He scored the opening goal in the 45th minute, then was shown a red card in the 64th minute for serious foul play. Sue Smith told the Independent: "When it [the replay] stops like that you think one hundred per cent red card but I think when you watch it in real time it's really harsh. He's clearly just looking to protect the ball, get his body around and he's just planting his foot. It's just unfortunate where he plants it."

The minimum punishment is that Balogun is expected to miss Belgium. Sources disagree on whether the red card can be appealed, so that part is not settled.

His match rating was 6.5, which reflects the split nature of the performance. He finished with three World Cup goals in three appearances, from 232 minutes, but the red card ended up driving most of the post-match focus.

Pochettino's praise was not just manager-speak. The USA survived a messy, emotional knockout game, and they now head into Belgium on Monday with the hardest part of the night already behind them.