USMNT met the World Cup moment in dominant win over Paraguay
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Who said America wasn’t a soccer country?
For on this Star-Spangled night in front of a star-studded sellout here in Los Angeles, the U.S. men’s national team played the sort of football that is best associated with Brazil.
As long as they’ve known this World Cup will be played on home soil, the USMNT has talked about using it to inspire Americans. The 4-1 beatdown of Paraguay they produced Friday night, the beautiful, flowing, relentless soccer they played, is going to have kids all over the country kicking a ball around imitating them.
That is what this was, and that is why it mattered so far beyond three points in Group D.
From the game’s opening minutes, when Weston McKennie’s pass came off Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla and into La Albirroja’s net, the U.S. looked so ready for this moment.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side owned the ball. They came in waves, finding pockets of space, relentlessly finding gaps in a Paraguay defense that never, ever had an answer.
Christian Pulisic — whose club form and tepid quotes have been dissected endlessly — was the best player on the field before coming off at halftime for Sebastian Berhalter. Juan José Cáceres, the Paraguayan right back with the unfortunate job of attempting to contain him, never had a chance. In the buildup to the opener, Pulisic split Cáceres and Gustavo Gomez. A few minutes later, Cáceres was booked for bringing down the USA No. 10. The rest of the night was a continuation.
Pulisic, in space after Jedi Robinson played him in down the left wing, found Folarin Balogun with a cross to make it 2-0 on 31 minutes. The Brooklyn-born, England-raised striker ran to the bench to celebrate with the whole team, and the game got more lopsided from there.
Paraguay barely touched the ball for the rest of the first half, and conceded again in stoppage time after Malik Tillman played in Balogun, who promptly smashed it in with his left foot.
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The only concern came when Pulisic was subbed off at halftime for Berhalter, with a U.S. Soccer spokesman ominously saying the situation would be addressed by Pochettino after the game. Tyler Adams’ yellow card is a lingering concern as well given that a second would lead to a suspension.
Otherwise, it is hard to imagine how this night could have gone better. Even Gio Reyna, on as a substitute, added a flourish with an outside-of-the-boot finish in the 98th minute, covering his ears in a celebration that looked an obvious nod to all the noise surrounding him.
Everything about the U.S. setup was as expected, with the lineup nearly the exact same from the sendoff friendly against Germany, aside from Chris Richards replacing Miles Robinson. Matt Freese started in goal; Tillman was again in a midfield pivot with Adams.
There had been moments and flashes in which the U.S. reached this level during those two friendlies. Perhaps this was the value of facing elite sides in the buildup to the World Cup. Against Paraguay, the Americans found it easier to sustain, and the South American side looked as though it had been hit with a frying pan.
Antonee Robinson on the left wing, and Sergiño Dest on the right, were terrific. McKennie found pockets of space brilliantly. Balogun, the striker the U.S. recruited like he was a five-star quarterback, performed like someone worthy of the billing. Richards, having missed the last two friendlies with an ankle injury, was a calming force, though the back line did produce a typically brutal moment when Tim Ream failed to clear a bouncing ball in the buildup to Mauricio’s goal that pulled Paraguay to 3-1.
For all the negativity associated with the World Cup, for the ticket prices that charged a month’s rent to get into the building Friday and the borderline comical corruption of FIFA, the success of this tournament domestically is tied directly to the success of this USMNT.
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Like a rocketship at Cape Canaveral, it achieved liftoff on Friday.
One giant step for the US of A.
