Christian Pulisic leads the U.S. to victory over Bolivia in Copa América opener

The Hershey native scored a pretty goal and assisted Folarin Balogun’s tidy strike, and the Americans were rarely troubled against the worst team they'll play in the tournament.

Christian Pulisic celebrates his goal in the U.S. men's soccer team's win over Bolivia.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published June 23, 2024, 8:34 p.m. ET

The U.S. men’s soccer team kicked off its run at the Copa América on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Bolivia, and its best player was the biggest reason.

Christian Pulisic scored a pretty goal in the third minute and assisted on Folarin Balogun’s tidy strike in the 44th before a pro-U. S. crowd of 47,873 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Bolivia is the worst team the U.S. will play in the tournament, and that showed in the box score. The Americans had a 20-6 edge in shots — 7-2 in the first half and 13-4 in the second — even though they stepped off the gas pedal for a while in the first. The expected-goals statistic, which measures the quality of shots taken, was 2.40-0.18 in the U.S.’ favor.

“We came out flying with a lot of intensity,” Pulisic said on the Fox telecast afterward. “Obviously, the early goal helped us a lot, and all around a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it away and had a couple more goals there, but definitely a really good start from the guys.”

Midfielder Tyler Adams was a notable starter, since he isn’t in full-game shape yet after coming back from an injury late in the spring. U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter subbed Adams out at halftime for Yunus Musah, the first of five subs allowed per team.

“Of course he wants to stay on the field, and that’s Tyler,” Berhalter said in his postgame news conference. “You see how much he means to the team, you see his attitude and his intensity, and he’s a guy that we want on the field. But we just have to be careful. The plan from the get-go was 45 minutes — we stuck to the plan.”

In the 65th, Johnny Cardoso replaced Giovanni Reyna to take the defensive midfield role and send Musah farther forward; Ricardo Pepi replaced Balogun at striker.

Pepi tallied six shots in his shift after Balogun tallied three, and Pepi really should have scored at least one of them. Maybe two, since he slammed a shot at Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra in the 79th and couldn’t convert a double-chance on the doorstep in the 90th.

“To me, he had an excellent game, and it was certainly, for him, something to build on,” Berhalter said. “I know he was a little bit disappointed after the game, but when you get that many chances in that short period of time against an aggressive team, you’re doing something right, and we’re confident that the finishing will come.”

Luca de la Torre replaced Weston McKennie in midfield in the 78th, and Medford’s Brenden Aaronson replaced Timothy Weah at right wing in the 86th.

Pulisic was the player of the game. The Hershey native recorded 65 touches, four shots, 34-of-38 passing, two tackles, and five defensive recoveries. Among his highlight plays beyond the goals was a blast toward Viscarra that forced a big save in the 60th minute.

Up next is Panama, a very familiar foe from Concacaf World Cup qualifiers and tournaments, on Thursday in Atlanta (6 p.m., Fox29, Univision 62, TUDN, ViX).

The Canaleros have three players from MLS teams, including dynamic Houston playmaker Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla. There’s also a well-known former New York Red Bull in right back Michael Amir Murillo, now of France’s Marseille.

That familiarity will likely breed ample contempt and a more defensive contest. So it might feel different if the U.S. beats Panama by this same score. The question will be how many goals the Americans have to tally to go into the July 1 group stage finale vs. Uruguay needing only a tie to win the group.

“Going from a disappointing result against Colombia and then a better performance against Brazil, we were just itching to start this process,” left back Antonee Robinson said on Fox, referring to the Americans’ two pre-Copa warmup games.

“Getting off to a win to start with [is] massive for us, builds the confidence, shows we’re here to win, here to play, and it puts us in good stead for the next game,” Robinson said. “I was happy with how we played as a team. I think if we were being picky we could have been a lot more clinical, we could have put another two or three goals away. So we’ll take the positives from this and move on.”