The United States launched their home FIFA World Cup campaign with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Paraguay, delivering a dominant performance in front of a star-studded crowd that included former England captain David Beckham and Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side made an immediate statement as they overwhelmed the South Americans with pace, intensity and attacking quality. An own goal from Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla handed the hosts an early lead after he turned a Weston McKennie cross into his own net.
The US continued to press forward and nearly doubled their advantage when Folarin Balogun had an effort ruled out for offside. The Monaco striker was not denied for long, however, as he finished a flowing team move after Christian Pulisic squared the ball from the left.
Balogun struck again in first-half stoppage time to put the hosts firmly in control. Malik Tillman released the striker into the penalty area and the 24-year-old showed composure and skill to beat two defenders before finding the top corner with a precise left-footed finish.
Paraguay reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute when Brazil-born midfielder Mauricio found space inside the box and finished past the goalkeeper. Any hopes of a comeback were ended deep into stoppage time when substitute Giovanni Reyna curled a superb effort into the net with the outside of his right foot to restore the three-goal advantage.
The only concern for the Americans came when captain Christian Pulisic was replaced at half-time by Sebastian Berhalter because of a calf problem. Pochettino later expressed hope that the issue would not affect the forward’s availability for the remaining group-stage matches.
“The performance was really good, we are so happy, but that is only the start,” the Argentinian said.
“The team were amazing, but not only the starting XI – I need to stress today the principal actor was the fans and on behalf of the whole team, thank you, the energy they transmitted to us was amazing and we can do amazing things if they are in this as well.”
Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro acknowledged the superiority of the hosts after the defeat.
“The US won this match very fairly and clearly. We knew they were a complex rival, we knew they had good attacks and that if we were not ready on the defensive side it would be painful.
“They dominated tactically, technically, and physically. There are many details we need to fine-tune.”
The victory gives the United States an ideal start to their World Cup campaign and underlines their ambitions of making a deep run on home soil.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
