Folarin Balogun felt the love from U.S. men’s national team fans.
Balogun traveled to Orlando in March to visit the USMNT as he considered his international future. Before any word of his location was announced, the striker posted a couple pictures on Instagram that eagle-eyed fans managed to identify as taking place in Orlando.
The forward’s comments and messages were subsequently flooded by fans urging him to pick the USMNT over England, and U.S. supporters again showed Balogun a ton of love at the match in Orlando against El Salvador.
All of that recruitment paid off on Tuesday, when the 21-year-old announced he had chosen to represent the USMNT moving forward. The striker, on loan at Reims from Arsenal, said in an interview with U.S. Soccer that all of the support from fans helped him make up his mind.
“I think that’s when I really saw the full force of the U.S. fans. I was there and I just posted a photo with my friends thinking that it was just a holiday picture. Before I knew it, I just saw loads of comments and people knew I was in America, and I just really felt the love from there,” Balogun said. “There’s been a lot of build-up, so I’ve obviously seen people saying that I should choose to represent the U.S. and it’s just something I’m really happy that I’ve decided to do.”
“To be honest I was a bit overwhelmed,” he continued. “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.”
Feeling wanted appears to be an important factor for Balogun, who in March posted on Instagram: “In life, go where your [sic] appreciated” — which many saw as a response to not being called up by the England senior team.
In addition to USMNT fans, Balogun said that his family influenced his decision as well.
“My decision to represent the United States, it came together with my family,” the New York-born forward added. “We decided it would be the right thing for me, to represent the country I was born in. In the end it became a no-brainer, but for sure, it’s just something I wanted to do and it feels like I’m at home here.”
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