The U.S. men’s national team were able to gain their first three points of the 2024 Copa América after defeating Bolivia 2-0 in AT&T Stadium on Sunday.
USMNT defeat Bolivia in 2024 Copa América opener
Arlington, Texas were witness of the USMNT’s highly-anticipated return to the South American tournament since their hosting in 2016, with the United States taking practically no time to open the scoring after eight long years of waiting. There was only one person worthy of doing the honors.
It took no more than three minutes for captain and star AC Milan player Christian Pulisic to score the USMNT’s first 2024 Copa America goal, with none other than a worldie to make the American crowd erupt.
Christian Pulisic goal vs. Bolivia
A quick corner kick, given to Pulisic outside the box, was deemed to easy for the in-form winger to place the ball into the upper 90 of Bolivia’s goal. Insane stuff from the No. 10.
PULISIC WHAT A GOAL
WHAT A START FOR THE @USMNT pic.twitter.com/PaXw3NleF3— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2024
This was Pulisic’s 30th goal for the United States, becoming only the sixth USMNT player to do so.
Christian Pulisic continues to move up the record books
With that STRIKE Christian Pulisic just became the 6th @USMNT player to score 30+ goals pic.twitter.com/8mvXZnqg2I— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2024
The early goal ultimately set the tempo for the Stars and Stripes, with the squad managed by Gregg Berhalter taking advantage of the lead and resorting to quick breakaways through Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic that continuously hurt the Bolivian defense. The USMNT’s second goal was just that.
In the 43rd minute, Folarin Balogun found himself inside the box and struck the ball home with a very confident weak-footed shot to the bottom left corner, ending his recent goalscoring and performance drought with the United States.
BALLLLLOGUN!!!!
The @USMNT striker places it perfectly ✨ pic.twitter.com/W2uYYEjFkJ— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2024
The USMNT was cruising.
Amidst the comfortable lead and Bolivia’s clear struggles to attack the American defense, Berhalter was to make a halftime switch that saw Tyler Adams — who came into the game with fitness problems following an injury — take the bench for Yunus Musah.
Halftime change...
On: Musah
Off: Adams pic.twitter.com/xBf5JdYRZH— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 23, 2024
The restart saw the USMNT continue to push for another goal, with Bolivia’s Guillermo Viscera coming up with multiple key saves to keep the United States from increasing their lead.
Substitute Ricardo Pepi and Pulisic were close to scoring the third.
SOOO CLOSE FOR THE USMNT AGAIN
Scally connects with Pulisic and nearly finds his second of the night pic.twitter.com/xmiwA9dXcM— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2024
PEPI DENIED OH NO
Guillermo Viscarra with an impressive save for Bolivia pic.twitter.com/LFR9d7HKrV— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2024
The U.S. men’s national team will now prepare their upcoming Group C match against Concacaf-colleague Panama on Thursday, with another victory potentially sealing the USMNT’s qualification to the next round.
