Dallas, TX – The United States National Soccer team defeated the Bolivian National team 2-0 to open their COPA America series at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday.
The US team wanted to start their assault on Bolivia early. With an early strike, they aimed to challenge the South American team’s confidence.
In the third minute, American team captain Christian Pulisic scored, setting the tone for the match.
Pulisic put the U.S. ahead 2:23 in, the fastest American goal in 34 competitive matches against South American opponents. He played a short corner kick to Timothy Weah and ran toward the penalty area. Weah returned the ball to Pulisic, who took a touch and, from just inside the area, curled a right-foot shot off the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra and into the far upper corner for his 30th international goal.
Pulisic joined Clint Dempsey as the only U.S. players with a goal and an assist in a Copa América match. Pulisic also reached 30 goals in 69 international appearances, the fewest games needed to reach this mark among Americans.
Folarin Balogun also scored for the Americans in the 44th minute, adding insurance for the win.
Balogun doubled the lead when he received a pass from Pulisic, took several touches, and threaded a low, left-foot shot along the ground past defender Jesús Sagredo and inside Viscarra’s far post for his fourth goal in 13 appearances.
Balogun put the ball in the net again in the 53rd minute off a pass from Weah, but the Juventus winger was whistled for offside when he received the ball from Weston McKennie in the buildup, a decision confirmed in a video review.
Team USA cruised past Bolivia in this match.
“We came out flying with a lot of intensity. Obviously, that early goal helped us a lot,” Pulisic said. “All around, a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it away and had more goals there.”
The US leads Group C, which also consists of Panama and Uruguay. Bolivia is considered the weakest of the group.
After halftime, “U-S-A” chants began to chorus around JerryWorld, the 80,000-seat home of the Dallas Cowboys. The wave rolled counter-clockwise, enlivening an atmosphere that many feared would be stale.
The game had 47,873 fans filling the lower bowls of the colossal home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The U.S. had 18 touches inside the attacking penalty area in the first half, and Bolivia had none.
Bolivia lost its 13th straight Copa América match dating to 2015 and has one win in its past 31.
The 11th-ranked U.S. will play Panama on Thursday in Atlanta and will close the group against Uruguay on July 1 in Kansas City, Missouri. No. 84 Bolivia will meet Uruguay on Thursday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, then will face Panama on July 1 in Orlando, Florida.
The U.S. improved to 6-0 at AT&T Stadium as the Americans opened their fifth Copa América appearance, the first since reaching the semifinals as co-host in 2016.
—
