GREENFIELD — Another United States men’s national team viewing at the Greenfield Garden Cinema, another victory for the Americans. The United States soundly defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2-0, in Santa Clara, Calif., in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 on Wednesday night.
It was the first knockout round win since 2002.
Another healthy crowd converged at theater No. 2 to watch the match on the big screen with movie theater concession aromas percolating throughout the seating area.
There were a total of four vivacious and raucous outbursts from the Garden Cinema crowd. All four came when the Americans found the back of the net. Offsides negated two of the goals, but goals from Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman held up. The goals were more than enough to hold off Bosnia, as the Americans held a momentum edge almost the entire match.
Jay Merrill of Gill attended the viewing with family.
“I think they dug deep,” Merrill said. “I think they were faced with a real challenge there with the red card. I think now the momentum is in their favor.”
Only one moment in the match precipitated a clear negative reaction from the crowd. Balogun received a red card in the 64th minute. The red card issued an immediate ejection and an automatic suspension for the next match.
“I thought it was a little harsh,” Merrill said. “It was unintentional. Tough call that the ref made. Should have gone yellow I think.”
Balogun did not receive a card on the initial play. Officials pulled the red card after a VAR review show him making contact to the foot of Tarik Muharemovic.
Evan Galli of Deerfield also felt the red card was excessive given the play.
“I thought they played really well to start,” Galli said. “I thought the foul was complete baloney. I don’t think it was the right call at all. The defender came from behind and went in front of him. He didn’t even know the defender was going to be there at first. That was crazy.”
Only playing with 10 players, Tillman’s brilliant shot past a Bosnian wall on a free kick gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the 82nd minute.
“The way they played in the second half was really tough, resilient,” Galli said. “It was great.”
Fans at the Garden Cinemas did not enjoy having two goals wiped off the scoreboard on two occasions. But VAR reviews proved them to be the correct calls.
“They are the right calls,” Galli said. “VAR is made for that. Before VAR maybe we get away with some of those. But we have VAR for a reason. It was the right calls.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina went into the match ranked 61st in the world according to FIFA. The former part of Yugoslavia made its first appearance in the World Cup since 2014 this summer. The Americans advanced to the Round of 16 where they will play Belgium on Monday at Lumen Field in Seattle at 8 p.m.
“I think they have a really good chance against Belgium,” Merrill said. “Having watched Belgium today, they are strong. But after seeing that performance (against Bosnia), I think they are going to come out swinging hard.”
Matt Freese made some key saves for the United States. One punch out stopped a hooking corner kick from going into the goal. Freese made three saves in the victory, his second shutout of the tournament.
