What a week it has been to support the USA men's national team in the World Cup. Los Angeles Stadium was a great atmosphere last Friday night for the win over Paraguay, and I'm sure it'll be great this week on Friday afternoon in Seattle. I went from L.A. to Monterrey, Mexico, to call Sweden's win over Tunisia. I'll be on the call for Canada vs. Qatar on Thursday before heading down to Seattle for USA vs. Australia on Friday. Let's get to your questions this week, which ended up focusing on the starting striker. Who is going to be USMNT stand out player for the tournament? — andrew_fowler14 For me, it's Folarin Balogun. He almost scored a brace in the first game against Paraguay and almost had a hat trick. It was an awesome World Cup debut. I'm trying not to go overboard with my praise and expectations moving forward for him, but there are so many positives to take from that game against Paraguay. We have been screaming to have a No. 9 like Flo — someone who looks dangerous in front of goal and can occupy defenders the way he can. Now, we have him. I'm looking for him to continue a strong start to the tournament. Do you have Balogun winning the Golden Boot? — jax.vega16 I'm trying not to waver on my pre-tournament pick (Kylian Mbappé, who also scored twice in his World Cup opener), but hey, you never know. Balogun mounting a real run toward the Golden Boot is definitely possible under the right circumstances. Obviously, two goals in one game is a great start, but the main key is playing more games and being on a team that makes a deep run. Let's hope that Flo does play for a team that is capable of a deep run. How do you think the USA is gonna do vs Australia on Friday? — owenwinsor7 I think the USA will get its second win of the tournament. Will it be easy? No, it won't. Overall, I'm very encouraged by what I've seen so far on both sides of the ball from the USA. The style of play has been great and really positive, playing good soccer that is fun to watch. You also see little things from them, intangibles that generally lead to winning games. So, I'm expecting three more points from the matchup on Friday in Seattle, but I'm not expecting that it will be a walk in the park for us. International match you were most nervous for beforehand? — te61879 This goes back to Aug. 15, 2012, when I started for the USA against Mexico in Mexico City. It was a wild atmosphere and the first time the national team had ever won in that stadium. Not only did I start that game, but I did so out of position. I was starting at center back next to Geoff Cameron. That was a crazy atmosphere and an incredible occasion to be part of. I got booked in the 15th minute but lasted 90 minutes. Michael Orozco scored in the 80th minute, a scrappy goal that made history for us. It was an incredible atmosphere to be part of, but playing center back in that atmosphere definitely had me feeling differently before the match. The Slovenia game at the 2010 World Cup was another one that came to mind, but I actually came on at halftime. At that point, the game had already changed because Slovenia had taken a 2-0 lead. Who was your favorite player growing up? — romedanicekid Patrick Vieira. Obviously, I loved the attackers and big-name goalscorers, like Thierry Henry. I was a young midfielder, so I naturally gravitated toward Vieira as an Arsenal fan. I wanted to replicate Vieira's game. When I started, he was someone who I thought, "Maybe I could try to be like him," or be as tall as him, but I stopped growing a couple inches shy. He was definitely the player who I wanted to play like when I was growing up, though.
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