SEATTLE – Malik Tillman’s voice barely lifted above a whisper as he pondered what to say about his approach to the coming year.That is normal. The midfielder’s reserved personality has become somewhat of a running joke around the national team. He doesn’t project. He makes you listen closely. But when you do, you find that what he lacks in volume he makes up for in conviction.It was May 2025 and Tillman was sitting in the lobby of the Peninsula Chicago. The German-born son of an American soldier was thinking about his place in the U.S. men’s national team. He was considering what the summer might bring and thinking about past disappointments. About the pain of missing out on the 2022 World Cup.“I’ve been struggling a lot for the U.S. team,” said Tillman, who at 23 felt he still had something to prove.“It’s about showing the real me,” he told The Athletic at the time. “I know I’m a good player, but I haven’t shown it for this team yet. If it comes to scoring goals, giving assists, fighting for the team, showing the right mentality. Just all in. Showing myself.”It is hard to imagine just more than one year later how much has changed for him.Tillman took on a big role under Mauricio Pochettino at last summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup, tying for the team lead with three goals — he even missed a penalty kick in a win over Costa Rica, yet pushed on — and he carried that through a first season at German club Bayer Leverkusen and into the World Cup.His superb play has amplified his place on this national team, and on Wednesday night in the World Cup’s round of 32, his knuckling, dipping free kick against Bosnia and Herzegovina sealed his team’s place in the last 16 — and his spot in U.S. national team history.Malik Tillman (17) watches his free kick double the 10-man USMNT’s lead at a tense time late vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Michael Steele / Getty Images)Still, Tillman just smiled and glanced at the ground when asked if he could ever have imagined it one year ago. Then he spoke with that near-whisper voice.“Not really,” he said, as the media hoard craned their necks and reached their recorders closer to hear him in the mixed zone. “I think even yesterday I would (have said) no. But I’ve been dreaming about this game (as a kid). I’ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick. And then, like I said, I trained this in practices.”Tillman stood in that mixed zone with no shoes, his right sock ripped at the toe and bloodied. A Bosnian player stomped on his foot during the game, ripping through his cleat and socks.