{"id":4983,"date":"2026-06-18T01:20:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4983"},"modified":"2026-06-18T01:20:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:20:03","slug":"how-folarin-balogun-nearly-missed-a-message-from-lifelong-mentor-thierry-henry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4983","title":{"rendered":"How Folarin Balogun Nearly Missed A Message From Lifelong Mentor Thierry Henry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>It ought to come as no surprise that Folarin Balogun was inundated with congratulatory texts and direct messages in the hours and days after the most magical night of his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The Brooklyn-born U.S. men\u2019s national team forward scored two spectacular goals last week in his World Cup debut, helping the USA to an emphatic 4-1 win over Paraguay in its first match at the 2026 event, which the country is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. It was a night that, by Balogun\u2019s own admission, exceeded his wildest dreams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The response that the 24-year-old striker has gotten from the friends and family who witnessed the feat in person last Friday at Los Angeles Stadium \u2014 Balogun told me that he &#8220;paid a pretty penny&#8221; to bring 15 of his loved ones to the match \u2014 has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>But one message in particular stood out, one he didn\u2019t even see until almost 72 hours later.<\/p>\n<p><span>Folarin Balogun has two goals so far at the tournament. (Photo by Alex Livesey &#8211; FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;No message from Thierry yet,&#8221; Balogun told me on Monday, referring to French former World Cup winner Thierry Henry, before quickly correcting the record. &#8220;Actually, no, I just looked on Instagram, and he did message me. I&#8217;ve just seen it now \u2014 that shows how many messages I&#8217;ve got.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;So happy for you man!,&#8221; Henry wrote to the former Arsenal academy product after the contest. &#8220;That\u2019s crazy,&#8221; a beaming Balogun said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Although Henry left the Gunners for Barcelona when the London-raised Balogun was just five years old, the pair go back a long way. Henry returned to his old club to complete his coaching badges after retiring from MLS club New York Red Bulls in 2014 and saw something in the youngster, who was in Arsenal\u2019s academy at the time.<\/p>\n<p><span>Thierry Henry has stayed in touch with Folarin Balogun throughout his career. (Photo by Richard Sellers\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Maybe it was a glimpse of himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Like Henry, Balogun was a winger before moving up top, where his goals quickly vaulted him up the ranks. He now stars for\u00a0Ligue 1 power Monaco, where Henry began his iconic career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The two stayed in touch over the years. \"Thierry is somebody that I have a personal relationship with,\" Balogun said. \"He\u2019s a great role model.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Henry has also been a crucial sounding board during the moments where Balogun needed guidance. With playing time hard to come by in the Premier League, the Gunners sent Balogun on a year-long loan to French side Reims in 2022. It was his first time living outside of England, and the adjustment period could\u2019ve been rough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"He was messaging me after every other game, just telling me to keep going, just giving me motivation,\" Balogun said of Henry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The then-21-year-old finished the year with 21 Ligue 1 goals for Reims \u2014 the first American to score that many in one of Europe\u2019s \"Big 5\" domestic leagues,<strong> <\/strong>and paid homage to Henry during a game that season by imitating his signature goal celebration. Soon he was off to Monaco on a transfer worth $43.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Now, Balogun is emulating his mentor on soccer\u2019s grandest stage. At Henry\u2019s maiden World Cup, in 1998, he scored three times as France claimed the biggest prize in sports for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Balogun is tied for second place in the Golden Boot race as the competition's top scorer with the likes of Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and Kai Havertz \u2014 with those players all trailing the incomparable Lionel Messi who had an otherworldly hat trick in Argentina's 3-0 victory over Algeria on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Balogun would love to win that award, of course. But he\u2019s got bigger ambitions in mind. \"It's only one game,\" he said of his breakout performance against Paraguay. \"The main priority is to win,\" starting with Australia on Friday in Seattle in the Stars and Stripes' second match in Group D.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"As I reflect on a wonderful evening, what I like seeing the most is just how the nation has come together to support our team,\" he said. \"I\u2019m seeing a lot more interest and togetherness, and I'm just happy I could be a part of making the nation proud. Everyone's looking to do that again.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Balogun knows Henry will be watching. If he checks his DMs, he\u2019ll probably find \"Titi\" encouraging him, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>\"He\u2019s somebody who's always been close to me in my career,\" Balogun said of Henry. \"And, obviously, he's a legend of the game. To have somebody like that who you can call upon is amazing.\"<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY It ought to come as no surprise that Folarin Balogun was inundated with congratulatory texts and direct messages in the hours and days after the most magical night of his life. The Brooklyn-born U.S. men\u2019s national team forward scored two spectacular goals last week in his World Cup debut, helping the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}