SANTA CLARA, Calif.— Blood pooled near Malik Tillman’s toes as he stood over a free kick Wednesday evening.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The U.S.
midfielder’s boot had been stepped on and split open during the World Cup’s round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.The puncture left a hole in his sock between his big and middle toes, where a red stain formed.But the 82nd minute of a knockout game, with the U.S.
clinging to a 1-0 lead and down to 10 men after a controversial red card sent off scoring star Folarin Balogun, was not the time for Tillman to focus on the pain.“I’ve been dreaming about this game,” Tillman said.
“I’ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick.” Surveying a wall of Bosnian players the height of NBA forwards, he and teammate Antonee Robinson discussed aiming the ball around the wall or under it.With a strike of his pained right foot, Tillman ultimately curved a high-arching shot over the heads of Bosnia’s defenders toward the goal’s near post, where it found the back of the net after deflecting off the goalkeeper’s glove.
A packed stadium here in California, awash in stars-and-stripes jerseys, erupted in relief.Malik Tillman celebrates with team mates after scoring the goal that sealed victory Wednesday.Charlotte Wilson / Getty ImagesTillman’s goal gave the U.S.the breathing room it needed to close out a 2-0 win that stands as its most important in a generation.
Not since 2002 had the U.S.men won a game in the knockout round at a World Cup.
To break that streak, the U.S.had to survive a whiplash of emotions and hold together to secure a matchup against Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday.“We were talking in the cooling break,” U.S.
coach Mauricio Pochettino said.“That was the moment to show to everyone, to show ourself that it’s not only empty words when we say we are a family.”Now, to keep its...