LOS ANGELES — It was a red, white and blue blowout at SoFi Stadium Friday night.
The U.S. Men’s National Team, with high expectations resting on its collective slender shoulders, started its 2026 World Cup run in impressive and explosive fashion. They attacked early and often with Folarin Bologun a one-man wrecking crew. The forward from New York who plays in France for AS Monaco, scored twice in the first half as the Americans took a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
If you saw this coming, either you are drunk from drinking American Outlaws Kool-Aid or you must have figured the Paraguayans were a bunch of chumps (they’re not). But on a night where an entire nation was watching with a cynical eye, this group of soccer players deemed themselves worthy in the hearts of their countrymen and countrywomen.
“We have the ability to play and do things on the ball and score goals, but today, just the effort, everything was there,” said forward Christian Pulisic. “To me, not a huge surprise. But things were definitely clicking.”
We all know Pulisic is capable of dominating on the pitch. And in his own inimitable way, he did. His setup of Bologun’s first goal was a sweet cross across the box that was hit on the first time with the right foot past Orlando Gil, the lanky goalkeeper for Paraguay.
You know Paraguay was cognizant of Pulisic’s presence on the pitch and it tried to contain him to some extent. But Bologun is a dangerous player in his own right and Paraguay had no answer for him.
His second goal, coming seconds before halftime was a great move to elude the defense and a strong finish to put the ball past Gil, who had a rough go of it. The first USA goal went off a defender and past Gil as Pulisic attempted to connect with Weston McKennie only to see the ball carom off Damian Bobadilla and into the net. Immediately, I thought of Andres Escobar, the defender from Colombia whose similar World Cup gaffe against the U.S. ultimately resulted in him losing his life following the 1994 tournament.
Hopefully, Bobadilla doesn’t meet a similar fate upon his return to Paraguay.
There was no slow, deliberate buildup by this USA side Friday. They were in attack mode from the start, looking to pierce a Paraguay defense that turned out to be somewhat porous and a step behind when it came to defending deep in its own end. If this is what we can expect to see the rest of the way, we’re in store for some exciting soccer.
After all, when you’ve got the talent to play an attractive style, you should do so. It’s what gets people excited and you could see the players feed off the energy from the sellout crowd of 70,492. And when Gio Reyna ripped one from the top of the box and into the net in the final seconds of the match, the roar could be heard at nearby Los Angeles International Airport.
“Being in America, having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white and blue, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It really pushes us forward and we hope it continues, which I’m sure it will.”
There was fear from some prior to kickoff that the Americans might be vulnerable in goal. Matt Freese got the start and other than surrendering a goal to Mauricio in the 73rd minute, he was fine. The defense and midfield made sure Paraguay wouldn’t put Freese under duress and he had a relatively stress-free evening.
He’ll likely get tested down the road. But there’s little to find fault with his play Friday.
It was part of a near-perfect performance from a side that seems to keep close company with imperfection, much to the frustration of its ardent supporters. Soccer fans will analyze, criticize, pick every performance apart, both individually and collectively. They’ll commiserate over a pint or two. But when they gather at their favorite watering holes across America, perhaps they should raise a glass to the national team, which for this evening, provided nothing but joy and happiness to a country which can certainly use something to smile about.
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