Key events
The negatives would be the lax possession through parts of the first half and some wasteful finishing.
The positives would be everything else.
Thanks for following along today. We’ll have much more over the next month as this tournament evolves.
Clint Dempsey: “At the same time, this Bolivia side was poor.”
That’s apt. The US men occasionally play some lower-tier opponents in Concacaf play and in some experimental friendlies, but this Bolivian team was as punchless as advertised.
USA open Copa America with 2-0 win over Bolivia
That seemed routine, in the best possible sense. The USA came out flying and got an early goal. After hitting the doldrums in the first half, they revved it back up again and got a second. In the second half, they simply kept the ball and fired at will – a mix of bad luck, bad finishing and some strong play by Bolivian keeper Viscarra kept it at 2-0.
90 min +2: Replay shows Pepi actually had two chances there. Viscarra makes the save, and it bounces back into Pepi, who can’t direct it past the sprawled keeper.
Now adding injury to insult, Pepi suffers a hard foul. Yellow card and free kick from a wide area.
90 min: Not sure how Pepi didn’t score that time. The ball fizzes into a perfect spot for him, but Viscarra makes the point-blank save.
86 min: Weah is the player who makes way for Aaronson.
85 min: The fifth and final sub will be Brendan Aaronson, who has taken up a niche career in trying to help European clubs avoid relegation.
Bolivia look beaten.
82 min: Robinson and Scally are both joining the fun from the back line, Scally earns a corner kick. Pulisic sends it over everyone, and it’s cleared.
Now Antonee Robinson is down – probably took a small knock in all of that. Oh – replay shows that he got kicked in the face. Ouch. But he’s back up and ready to go.
81 min: Bad giveaway for the USA, and two Bolivian attackers are bearing down on Richards. All of a sudden, the 2-on-1 becomes a 2-on-8, as Bolivia’s front lines are simply not engaging.
Quickly taken back the other way, and it’s another Pepi shot and a good save, albeit with a dangerous rebound.
79 min: Bolivia finally get into the US third, but not for long.
Free kick, direct play to Pulisic, he fights off a defender and lays it over to Pepi, who lashes a hard shot at the keeper. Maybe that shot could’ve gone a foot or two in either direction and gone in, but that’s better from Pepi.
77 min: So many half-chances, so little time to sum them up.
NOW Luca de la Torre enters, and it’s McKennie who departs.
76 min: Ramiro Vaca is entering the game. I thought he was listed as a starter. In fact, I’m pretty sure he was. But Fernandez is down for Bolivia, so maybe they’re going to change it up. Indeed they are – Fernandez is the one who comes out.
Luca de la Torre is coming in for … someone.
Pulisic seems irritated with the time-wasting, but surely that only hurts Bolivia’s cause.
And it’s not hurting the USA’s rhythm – a quick combination results in a Weah shot just over the bar.
72 min: Pulisic and Pepi combine, but Pepi’s touch is once again a little off.
Ball ends up back in the US half, and Ream plays it up for Weah. His run is cut off, but the US maintain possession still. Bolivia aren’t getting a sniff of anything.
70 min: CHANCE, and it’s another one for Pepi on a through ball from Weah. A sliding defender gets it out for a corner.
69 min: Another chance for Pulisic, but this one doesn’t get BOLD CAPITALS because it was a bit awkward and bounced high over the bar.
But the bottom line is that the USA are continuing to boss this game, giving Bolivia no chance to get the ball and get back into it.
67 min: CHANCE, and it’s the excellent Antonee Robinson on the left. His cross just glances off Pepi’s foot, and the striker grimaces as the shot goes wide.
65 min: We will soon see Cardoso and Pepi. By “soon,” I apparently mean “now.” Balogun is out, as is Reyna, whose last act on the field is to earn another free kick.
63 min: Incoherence reigns on the field at the moment.
Fitzhugh Yeatman writes: “New respect for you – regarding Annabeth Gish – you’re the first person who went to Duke who has ever mentioned something about your college without telling everyone you went to Duke! But then I’m biased – Wahoowa!”
(For those who don’t know, that’s a reference to the University of Virginia – which, for my money, can be even snootier than Duke. But I’m teasing my dad’s alma mater. And in fairness, I have often mentioned Duke a lot more than I should. Not like I’d have a chance of getting in today. I think they’d prefer that I not mention I went there. I surely drag down the average alumni income.)
61 min: Scally makes a foray forward and gets a hip check for his trouble. Free kick, maybe 30 yards out and off center.
60 min: CHANCE for Pulisic, who beats a couple of defenders at the top of the penalty area and fires. Viscarra, who maybe could’ve done better against the early shot that put the USA up 1-0, responds well this time.
58 min: Solid move down the left this time for the USA, with a little bit of possession in the Bolivian penalty area. Played back, but the USA retain the ball.
56 min: Stoppage to deal with an injury to Tim Ream. He stands and seems OK.
55 min: Bolivia are turning up the intensity now, and they’ve won their first corner of the game.
53 min: The ball’s in the net, but this is called offside, pending VAR. Back heel from Weah to McKennie, and McKennie provides a return pass to Weah – who’s a good yard offside. But Weah plays to Balogun, who emphatically thumps the ball into the net, so after the recent misplay, that’s progress.
51 min: A giveaway in the US midfield, and Fernandez has a shot from 22. Matt Turner easily saves it but spills it. No Bolivian players in the area, though, and Turner crawls to collect the ball.
50 min: Menacho was the other player subbed out. That leaves two players, Villamil and the captain Haquin, sitting on yellows.
Weah finds space on the right and drills it hard toward the far post – unfortunately too hard and too far ahead of Balogun.
48 min: Pulisic nearly conjured up one of the finest US highlights in recent memory, calmly taking the ball down the line on the left with defenders draping themselves on him. After shrugging both of them off, he cut in toward the middle and shot, but he drilled it right at a defender.
Back the other way, McKennie slides from behind and gets a yellow card. Free kick, headed away by Ream.
47 min: Another good start to a half for the US, pressing a bit to unnerve the Bolivian defense.
Hey – there’s Musah. And Adams is indeed out.
Bolivia making a bunch of changes. Cuellar, born in the Barcelona area and developed for part of his youth at the Catalan colossus, is in. Terceros, who moved to Brazil as a teenager but remained a Bolivian national, is in. Ramallo, a veteran who spent a brief time in Brazil, is in. Medina is off. So is Justiniano, who had a yellow card.
Kurt Perleberg asks: “Do Americans even care about the Copa America?”
Yes.
Anything else?
The commentary crew mentioned that Tyler Adams would likely have his playing time “managed” – in other words, limited. So will we see a halftime sub? Maybe Pulisic’s Milan teammate, Yunus Musah?
Joe Pearson notes that the surface looks fine. I saw one moment in which Weah lost his footing, but he was trying a bit too hard to make something happen.
Peter Oh: “I’d like to see the USMNT play Turkiye. Why? To unite their respective right backs Müldür and Scally, thus lighting a fire under the X-Files reboot. The truth is out there.”
I went to college with Annabeth Gish, who was on the show at one time, but I wasn’t cool enough to meet her. Probably still the case.
OK, to the mailbag …
Rick McGahey: “USA is the better side out there in terms of skill and conditioning , but they are slow to the ball and much of their passing is inaccurate. Bolivia back four disciplined and packed back tightly into the box not allowing much room to go through on the ground. Reyna moving all over the field but not in a coherent fashion, attack seems opportunistic without much design.”
And a short time later: “Well, I sent the critical email and they scored. I’ll have to do more of that!”
Halftime: USA 2-0 Bolivia
The first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes were every bit as good as anyone could hope from the US team, and they got a goal in each of those spells. In between, things were a tad belabored. Let’s not speak of that.
Pulisic has a superb goal and a fine assist. Balogun has been erratic but dangerous, and his goal was sublime. Reyna is now fully in Bolivia’s heads and has made a couple of their players pick up yellow cards.
45 min +1: Reyna tries a backheel but forgets to have a teammate on the receiving end of it. Maybe the first mistake he has made this half.
45 min: We’ll have two minutes of stoppage time. Or maybe a hair more because Pulisic is shaking off the effects of a clattering near the benches. Free kick.
Goal! USA 2-0 Bolivia (Balogun 44)
Balogun and Pulisic trade places, with Balogun going left to take a pass from the captain. He takes a couple of touches, then threads a perfectly placed shot through a few Bolivian defenders’ legs and just inside the far post.
42 min: Weah tries to find away around his defender and cannot.
Instead, the USA try the left side, with some nifty work by Pulisic and Robinson to earn a throw-in.
40 min: I just got an email with the subject line “USA slow and inaccurate.” That’s fair to say. The funny thing is that the slower they go, the less accurate they are.
38 min: Scally makes a solid move on the right, and the USA are off. But it bogs down with Balogun, who has no creative ideas on the edge of the box.
36 min: Adams plays it diagonally across to Weah, who has timed his run and is behind the defense. He tries to center to Balogun, but two Bolivian defenders have sandwiched the US center forward.
Another diagonal ball to Weah, who plays it back. A through ball sails high.
34 min: Mildly dangerous cross for Bolivia, but Reyna has tracked back and cuts out the danger.
The USA play the other way, and Reyna’s already there, trying a backheel to free a player on the flank.
US fans are undoubtedly grateful that Reyna and coach Gregg Berhalter worked out their differences. He’s the best player on the field at the moment.
