U.S. men’s national team forward Folarin Balogun will reportedly be on the sidelines until December after dislocating his shoulder this month, likely taking him out of the running for important upcoming matches for club and country.
Balogun injured his shoulder during Monaco’s 2-1 win at Rennes on Oct. 6, coming off in the 64th minute of a game in which he scored the winning goal. There were no specifics on the injury at the time, though he has since been diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, per L’Equipe.
The injury forced Balogun to pull out of the USMNT roster for this month’s friendlies against Panama and Mexico when new head coach Mauricio Pochettino made his debut on the sidelines. The U.S. went on to beat Panama 2-0 on Saturday thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi.
The timeline of Balogun’s injury likely rules him out of the USMNT’s Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals in November against a yet-to-be-determined opponent and could mean the forward will have to wait until March to play for Pochettino for the first time. Balogun, though, could also miss as many as four UEFA Champions League matches for Monaco in the meantime, including a clash at former club Arsenal on Dec. 11.
Balogun scored three goals in three successive Ligue 1 matches and was one of the USMNT’s most in-form players before dislocating his shoulder, and he was expected to play a sizable role in this month’s friendlies as a result. He became the first choice at center forward for Pochettino’s predecessor, Gregg Berhalter, and he was one of the team’s lone bright spots at last summer’s Copa America, scoring twice in three games.
In his absence on Saturday, Pochettino called upon another in-form striker – Josh Sargent. He took one shot in his 67-minute shift against Panama but has four goals and three assists in nine games for Norwich City this season and could compete with Balogun for a starting spot as long as both maintain their form.
Pepi is also an option for Pochettino, with the PSV forward making his minutes count on Saturday. He came on for Sargent and scored from his only shot of the game in stoppage time, marking his first international goal since November.
The USMNT return to play on Tuesday when they face Mexico in Pochettino’s second game on the touchline.
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