´His work ethic is amazing´ – United States salute Balogun after Ecuador equaliser

Mauricio Pochettino and Timothy Weah paid tribute to Folarin Balogun’s “amazing” work ethic for the United States, after his goal rescued a 1-1 draw against Ecuador.

The forward was on target in a second successive game for the Stars and Stripes, who came from behind to share the spoils with their in-form opponents in Austin.

Balogun, who struck in his nation’s 2-0 win over Japan last month, turned home Malik Tillman’s cross 19 minutes from time at Q2 Stadium, where the hosts failed to win for the first time in seven attempts.

Pochettino and Weah were full of praise for the way he led the line.

“His work ethic is amazing in the way that he is always available in every single aspect of the game, with and without the ball,” Pochettino said of Balogun after the match. “I’m so pleased with his performance.”

“We know he’s an amazing player. He can change a game for us by sticking his foot into the action,” Weah added.

“He’s running behind, fighting with defenders. I think it helps us. Hopefully, we can build on this performance, and we can feed him some more.”

Feel the Flo. pic.twitter.com/WLaN2jsmaE

— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) October 11, 2025

Weston McKennie was also complimentary of Balogun, believing his contribution also helped free up his team-mates.

“Whenever he’s able to use his speed and get in behind the line, he’s so hard to track,” the Juventus midfielder said.

“Today, he did very well with holding the ball as well. Any balls that we played, whenever we had trouble in the back and played up top, he held them up very well. Having a nine like that gives a lot of relief to the team. He did a brilliant job today.”

The game marked almost a year to the day since Pochettino took charge of the United States.

Ecuador are unbeaten in 12 matches and finished second behind Argentina in the recent CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying section, and the head coach believes the positive result demonstrates how far his team have come during his tenure.

“We are here talking about actions, concepts, formations,” he observed. “After one year, I am so happy that we don’t talk about other things like commitment, attitude. I think that is a massive step-up.”