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New United States men’s national team forward Folarin Balogun said that he was surprised when U.S. fans discovered his location in Orlando from an Instagram post back in March.
Folarin Balogun USMNT fans comment
Balogun on wanting anyone to know he was in Orlando from THAT pic:
“…I showed it to my agent to see if it was OK. From the pic I couldn’t make out that I was in . When the comments started coming in…I was just kinda surprised & overwhelmed.”Q from @HenryBushnell pic.twitter.com/m4n8grz5eq
— dis_possessed (@dis_possessed) June 9, 2023
Never underestimate the determination of USMNT fans @balogun pic.twitter.com/BNBWMGfdqq
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 10, 2023
Rewind three months and this was the situation:
Balogun hadn’t committed to the USMNT yet and had been called up for England’s U-21 squad for the international break. The 21-year-old didn’t attend the England camp, posted an Instagram story that said, “go where you’re appreciated” and then posted this photo.
View this post on Instagram
At first glance the photo looked entirely normal. Enter the super sleuths of USMNT Twitter who revealed that the picture was taken in Orlando. The same city that the U.S. was playing El Salvador in the Concacaf Nations League that week.
YO BALOGUN IS IN ORLANDO‼️‼️‼️
THIS IS NOT A DRILL ‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/hig0iV3ZDn— USMNT burner (@burnerusmnt) March 22, 2023
U.S. fans even went as far as inspecting the grass and temperatures from another one of Balogun’s post. The grass looked awfully similar to the fields that national team was training on.
View this post on Instagram
Balogun was 100% training at the same fields as the #USMNT today. Probably did some solo training. He’s here
Sources: Trust me bro, I know grassAlso it is pretty warm and sunny in a Orlando today☀️ pic.twitter.com/85zFQ927OZ
— Tim Chase (@Tim_Chase7) March 23, 2023
USMNT Twitter was spot-on with their detective work. Give yourselves a round of applause. Last month Balogun admitted that the persistence and love from USMNT fans on social media did play some part in his decision to represent the U.S. over England.
“I knew the U.S. was obviously a big country, but I didn’t realize how many people were involved in soccer, especially every time I went on social media I was seeing loads of comments with people saying I should choose to represent the U.S. It’s nice to feel that appreciation for sure,” Balogun said.
Here was the full interview with Balogun and Yunus Musah.
