Interview | USMNT & Monaco forward Folarin Balogun: ‘If you score a lot of goals in the World Cup and you take your country far, it can change the direction of your career.’

Before he headed over to the US, Get French Football News spoke with AS Monaco and USMNT forward Folarin Balogun (24) ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

What does it mean for you to represent your country at the World Cup this summer?

It’s a big, big opportunity. There’s a great sense of pride. I’m really looking forward to representing America on home soil and making the country proud.

Would you say that you have a very pivotal role to play for the US this summer? Lots of people are kind of looking at you now, even maybe more so than, say, Pulisic , as almost the leader of the attack at this year’s World Cup…

Yeah, definitely. I think it’s an opportunity, as I said, but it’s also the biggest sporting event in the world. There are going to be millions, if not billions, of eyes watching it. This is a great opportunity for me to showcase my talent. It’s what you want as a child.

I think with great pressure also comes great responsibility. But overall, I’m very excited, and it’s important to take my club form into the international stage and be a pivotal player.

What do you do to ensure that this pressure a good feeling, a good pressure, not a bad pressure?

Yeah, I think it’s down to the work you do every day. I think if you train hard and you work hard when this opportunity comes, there’s nothing to be scared of. But if you’re not having maybe a good season and then you go into the World Cup, there’s going to be a lot of pressure. So this is why, at the beginning of the season, I said the most important thing is to focus on what I’m doing here in Monaco. And then, in the summer, when the World Cup comes, if I have a good season in Monaco (43 games, 19 goals, five assists), then it will be easier to go into the World Cup.