Pulisic and Balogun Lift U.S. Men’s National Team to Dominant 2-0 Victory Against Bolivia in 2024 Copa América Opener
Pulisic Scores 30th Career Goal to tie Brian McBride for Fifth on USMNT Scoring Chart; Balogun Records Fourth Career Goal and First of 2024; USA Faces Panama in Second Group Match on Thursday, June 27 in Atlanta
ARLINGTON, Texas (June 23, 2024) -- A sensational third-minute goal from captain Christian Pulisic helped fuel the U.S. Men’s National Team to a 2-0 shutout victory against Bolivia and a rousing start to the 2024 Copa América on Sunday evening at AT&T Stadium. The USA was in full control during its Group C debut at AT&T Stadium and Pulisic was the catalyst. He opened the scoring after just 141 seconds had elapsed and then orchestrated a late first-half goal by Folarin Balogun that effectively put the match out of reach.
A crowd of 47,873 saw the USMNT kick off its fifth participation in the prestigious competition, which was launched in 1916 and is being played in the United States for the second time. Pulisic, the only member of the current squad to appear in that tournament, looked appropriately comfortable at kickoff on Sunday.
The USA won an early corner kick and instead of playing it toward the six-yard box, Pulisic touched it short to Tim Weah and then jogged toward the upper left corner of the penalty area. Weah returned the ball and Pulisic took a touch to his right before lashing an inch-perfect, curling blast that flew just out of reach of Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra. As a 17-year-old, Pulisic scored his debut USMNT goal against the same netminder during a 2016 friendly. On Sunday, Pulisic tallied his 30th goal, pulling him alongside Brian McBride at fifth on the all-time list.
Now 25 and coming off a career season at AC Milan, Pulisic has reached 30 goals in a USMNT-record 69 caps. He’s the second-youngest player to hit that milestone, behind only Landon Donovan.
The Americans remained in command as the match settled down and as Bolivia, ranked 84th in the world, bent but refused to break. As halftime approached, the USA’s dominance in possession finally paid off. Pulisic was the instigator again in the 44th minute, drifting centrally and dropping a bit deeper to receive a feed from Gio Reyna, who put in an effective two-way performance. Pulisic turned and dribbled through the heart of the Bolivian half, drawing several defenders toward him before feeding an open Balogun on the left. The AS Monaco striker’s left-footed finish, on his third shot of the period, marked his fourth goal in a U.S. jersey and first of 2024.
A third goal seemed likely as the USA remained on the front foot after halftime, but Viscarra made several excellent saves. He denied Pulisic in the 60th and substitute striker Ricardo Pepi in the 79th and 80th minutes, and then again on the doorstep in the closing seconds.
That third goal wasn’t needed, however, as the Americans never let Bolivia establish any sort of rhythm going forward. The U.S. back four of Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Joe Scally—starting together for the third straight game—looked comfortable. Bolivia took only a single touch all game inside the U.S. penalty area and goalie Matt Turner had only three relatively routine saves to make on the way to another shutout. Celebrating his 30th birthday one day early, Turner notched his 25th clean sheet in only 42 appearances, breaking the program record for fastest to reach that milestone set by Kasey Keller (53 caps).
The USA is now 3-2-4 all-time against Bolivia and 1-1-0 at the Copa América, avenging a group-stage loss back in 1995. Uruguay and Panama, the other nations in Group C were scheduled to meet later Sunday in Miami. The USMNT (1-0-0) will continue its group stage journey on Thursday, June 27 when it faces Panama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (6 p.m. ET; FOX, Univision, TUDN, FDP Radio).
USA — Christian Pulisic (Tim Weah), 3rd minute: Pulisic tapped a short corner kick to Weah and then drifted to the left corner of the penalty area, where he received the ball in return. The U.S. captain took a touch toward the 18-yard box then ripped a curling, right-footed shot that skimmed the fingertips of the diving Bolivian goalkeeper, glanced off the underside of the crossbar and over the line. USA 1, BOL 0
USA — Folarin Balogun (Christian Pulisic), 44th minute: Pulisic ended the half as a creator, shifting centrally to receive the ball from a deep-lying Gio Reyna and then turning and dribbling up field. The captain attracted several Bolivia defenders before slipping a pass left to Balogun. The striker carved out a bit of space with a touch to his left then fired the ball back across his body, past goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra and inside the right post. USA 2, BOL 0 FINAL.
Christian Pulisic’s third minute goal was the 30th of his international career, a total that put him level with Brian McBride for fifth on the USMNT's all-time scoring list.
Pulisic joined Eric Wynalda and Clint Dempsey as the third player to score for the USMNT in five different competitions. With his assist, he also became the first USMNT player to provide assists in five different competitions.
Pulisic’s goal – officially tallied at 2:23 – was the fastest the USMNT has ever scored against a CONMEBOL opponent in a competitive match, as well as the USMNT’s fastest goal scored in Copa América play.
Pulisic became the second USMNT player to record a goal and an assist in a single Copa América match alongside Clint Dempsey, who accomplished the feat twice in 2016.
Folarin Balogun scored the fourth goal of his international career to put the USMNT ahead 2-0 in the 44th minute. It was Balogun’s first goal of 2024 in his 13th appearance for the U.S.
Tim Weah recorded his fifth career assist on Pulisic’s opener.
Matt Turner made three saves to his 25th career shutout, moving him past Brad Friedel into sole possession of fourth all-time among USMNT goalkeepers. Turner also earned his 32nd cap in official competition, tying him with Friedel for fourth.
Today’s Starting XI had an average age of 25 years, 339 days. It was the second-oldest lineup deployed by Gregg Berhalter in a tournament group-stage match behind the XI that faced Haiti in the opening match of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup (25 years, 360 days).
The Starting XI averaged 37.3 caps overall and 22 in official competition.
Berhalter made two lineup changes from the 1-1 draw against Brazil on June 12, inserting midfielder Tyler Adams and forward Folarin Balogun. Adams last started for the USMNT at AT&T Stadium when he provided the game-winning goal in the 2-0 win against Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League Final on March 24, while Balogun returns to the lineup after playing a substitute role against Brazil.
Today’s win broke the deadlock in the USMNT’s all-time series with Bolivia, pushing their record to 3W-2L-4D. It was additionally the USMNT’s third-straight victory against their South American counterparts.
Pulisic captained the team for the 24th time tonight, tying Kasey Keller for seventh on the USMNT’s all-time captains list. The USA is 17W-3L-4D when Pulisic wears the armband.
At 36 years, 261 days, center back Tim Ream became the oldest field player to appear for the USA in Copa América. The previous oldest was Fernando Clavijo who was 36 years, 150 days when he appeared in the 3-3 draw with Venezuela on June 22, 1993 in Quito, Ecuador.
The USMNT is unbeaten in its last 19 matches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, holding a 14W-1L-5D all-time record in the DFW. The USA is also a perfect 6-0-0 at AT&T Stadium.
The win was Berhalter's 44th win in his 72nd match as USMNT head coach, moving him past Bob Bradley into sole possession of third all-time. He trails only Bruce Arena (81 wins/148 games) and Jurgen Klinsmann (55 wins/98 games).
Berhalter’s overall record as USMNT head coach is 44W-15L-13D, with a 29W-7L-7D record in 43 matches in official competition.
-U.S. MEN’s National team match report-
Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Bolivia Date: June 23, 2024 Competition: 2024 Copa América – Group C Venue: AT&T Stadium; Arlington, Texas. Attendance: 47,873 Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. ET Weather: 72 degrees (indoors)
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