Clint Dempsey is excited by Folarin Balogun's presence in the United States national team.

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Balogun chose to represent USMNTHas scored twice in five matchesUSA legend Dempsey impressedWHAT HAPPENED?

The striker opted to represent the USMNT at senior international level, rejecting the chance to play for England in the process.

Since getting his first senior cap in June, the 22-year-old has scored two goals in five matches for the national team.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The USMNT were eager to convince Balogun to represent the North American nation after his stunning season in Ligue 1 with Reims while on loan from Arsenal. He scored an awesome 21 times in 37 matches in the French top flight before opting to join Monaco in the summer. He has since netted three times in five games for Stade Louis-II team.

WHAT THEY SAID

Former USA star Dempsey has been happy with Balogun's performances so far as he highlighted the New York City native and fellow rising star Ricardo Pepi.

"From what I've been able to see from them playing on the national team, especially if you look at what happened in the Nations League, that was pretty impressive," he said to . "The performances they put in, and what I like most about Balogun is his ability to create chances for himself with the pace he has and the cut-throatiness he has in front of goal. I know there are going to be others that will come to the fray, but that's what you need to have if you want to have a top team, is to have competitions."

GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Balogun was substituted off without scoring against Germany on Saturday but the forward will hope to get another goal when Gregg Berhalter's team meet Ghana in their next friendly.