USA Impresses Nation With 4-1 Opening Victory against Paraguay
- Kobain Reid
- 13 hours ago
- 2 min read
Credit Reuters
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
LOS ANGELES, CA — The United States kicked off their first World Cup match on home soil in 32 years in style, dominating throughout and defeating Group D opponents Paraguay 4-1 Friday night.
The US starters started hot against Paraguay and opened the scoring in the seventh minute with an own goal from Damian Bobadilla created by Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie—showing shades of the USMNT 2014 World Cup opener against Ghana, when Clint Dempsey scored in the first minute.
Just eight minutes later, The United States broke through the Paraguayan defense again, with Balogun handing the ball beautifully off to Dest. His first touch pushed the ball into a wide angle leading to a poor shot, but won a corner. At this point, it really felt like a different USMNT. They broke through and created passes confidently and accurately that lead to real chances.
The United States would extend their lead after a brilliant assist from Pulisic one the left-hand side to Balogun in the middle of the 18, who placed his first-time strike into the bottom corner.
Credit: Reuters
The Paraguayan defense was their own kryptonite tonight. Right before the halfitme whistle, Balogun received the ball from midfield after a through run past his defender, and after a light trip he recovered and delivered an absolute screamer of a goal in the the top corner making the lead at half 3-0 for the United States.
In the second half, Paraguay looked more desperate to try and find a result. in the 49th minute, USMNT Captain Tim Ream gets booked a yellow card for a foul on Almiron that was reversed shortly after due to VAR Review, which showed Ream didn’t have enough contact to bring Almiron down—the referee would then reward the yellow card to Almiron instead for simulation.
The United States seemed to be tired and break down more towards the last 15 minutes of the game. In the 72nd minute, Mauricio for Paraguay sneaked into the box completely unguarded and put in a consolation goal into the corner.
The second half featured multiple yellow cards and increased physicality, however it was also rather uneventful with USMNT still mostly dominating the pitch. Seven minutes of extra time would be added and it seemed like the score was set with both teams content with 3-1 final. However, in the 97th minute, Gio Reyna for the US received the ball outside the box and shot with the outside of his foot, curving the ball around the defense and the keeper.
Credit: Reuters
With that, the referee blew for full time, and the US had showed a dominant victory that included a brace for striker Balogun and was the most impressive victory for the US since 1930.
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