INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The fate of a game — or of a tournament, a national team, or even a movement to change the place of a sport in a country — sometimes rests on the foot of one player.There is an old adage that goals change games. It undersells the impact. They are definitive. They write stories. An inch to the left or the right can make a legend or define a failure. It’s why goalscorers demand the highest fees and salaries, and why three years ago, a federation asked a handful of players to wine and dine a 21-year-old striker at a fancy dinner in Orlando.The hope was that one day Folarin Balogun would do what he did on Friday night in the USMNT’s 4-1 dismantling of Paraguay. That he would get a chance and take it; that with one strike of his left foot he would put the dagger into an opponent, and in doing so would infect his team with confidence.That his decisiveness would be the difference.Balogun was every bit of what the U.S. had hoped he would be, and of what has been missing from this pool for more than a decade: a No. 9 that can strike fear into opponents. He became the first American to score two goals in a World Cup game since 1930, and in doing so led the U.S. to the most dominant win in the tournament its history.“It’s a dream,” he said after. “It’s a dreamy night.”At the start of this potentially transformational World Cup, he is the player that has people around the country wondering just how far this U.S. team can go.“The kid is insane,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. “He’s lethal right now in front of goal — we’re really lucky to have him. And let’s just hope it keeps coming like this.”Three years ago, there was no guarantee Balogun would suit up for the U.S. — eligible to play for three countries, the New York-born striker was called in to play with England’s under-21 national team and had been mostly featuring in their youth setup. In the midst of a breakout season while on loan from Arsenal at Reims in France’s Ligue 1 in 2022-23, Balogun was at the center of the FA’s plans for that summer’s Under-21 European Championship. But with the U.S. circling, Balogun withdrew from camp and flew to Orlando, where he met U.S. Soccer officials.It was meant to be a quiet, secret rendezvous. Instead, fans used a picture on Balogun’s Instagram to track him to Orlando. They started spamming his Instagram with American flag emojis. Some who spotted the forward at his hotel urged him to commit to the Stars and Stripes. Meanwhile, U.S. Soccer did their best to woo him too. The Orlando Sports Commission supplied courtside tickets to an Orlando Magic game and a VIP pass to Universal.The New York Yankees invited Balogun to spring training. Players, including Weston McKennie, Matt Turner and Yunus Musah, took him to a dinner in Orlando, while federation execs dined with him at Bern’s Steak House in Tampa.