Yankee doodle dandy of a World Cup opener for the United States
It was only one match in a tournament that has another five weeks to play out. But for the United States, its stirring 4-1 domination of Paraguay on Friday night was a World Cup opener to dream on.
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Any victory would have been cause for confetti for the Americans. Since they returned to this quadrennial footwork festival three dozen years ago they’d only won their first match twice and had to sweat mightily to do it.
What they pulled off in front of more than 70,000 exuberant followers in Inglewood, Calif., was nothing short of a master stroke. Three goals in the first half, two of them by hitman Folarin Balogun after Paraguay had given the co-hosts an own-goal gift by Damián Bobadilla in the 7th minute.
No American squad ever had done that in the global tournament. And scoring four against La Albirroja, which only conceded 10 goals in 18 South American qualifying matches, was a startling coup.
What was most important about their triumph was that the Yanks, who’ll face Australia in Seattle Friday, did what they were expected to do.
They’re ranked 17th on the planet; Paraguay is 41st. Half of their players were on the team that reached the second round four years ago. Paraguay hadn’t played a Cup match in 16 years.
So the Americans did what they’ve rarely done in an opener. They attacked in numbers and kept attacking. They weren’t worried about getting caught in transition and giving up a goal.
After Balogun took a lovely feed from Christian Pulisic to put his mates ahead, 2-0, after 31 minutes, the United States kept coming, kept pressuring, kept creating.
When Balogun tallied again on the final kick of the first half, Paraguay was finished. La Albirroja didn’t produce more than two goals in any of its qualifiers. Scoring four was beyond unrealistic.
This was the kind of overpowering display that the American Outlaws, the national team’s fervent but long-frustrated followers, have been craving for decades.
How often has the United States settled for one point when three were available? How often have the Yanks taken a lead and been unable to close out a match? How often have they had to scramble to salvage a draw?
“Why not really play?” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in 2014 after the United States went out to Belgium in extra time in the second round.
Settling for an opening draw, which the US had done three times since 1990, no longer is enough. That’s what the Americans did when they last hosted, coming from behind to tie Switzerland, 1-1. And they weren’t happy about it.
“We felt it was a game we should have won,” said John Harkes. “We came in thinking we should get three points. We played badly and got a point.”
Time was when one point in a Cup opener was just fine. Italy drew all three of its preliminary outings in 1982 and still went on to lift the trophy.
That was when a victory earned only two points. These days, you’ve got to beat somebody to advance. So why wait?
The Americans knew that Paraguay would do whatever it could to shut them down. They were prepared for 90 minutes of close quarters, of shoulders and elbows, and cleats at their ankles. That’s how November’s friendly in Philadelphia went, ending in an all-hands scuffle on the sideline.
What the Paraguayans weren’t expecting was to be backed up in their own end all night, to see the ball moving around faster than they could get to it, to see the Yanquis keep coming at them even after victory was assured.
What was significant about this US performance was the stoppage-time goals by Balogun and Gio Reyna in the 90th+8. The Americans rarely have been in a position to go for a knockout in a Cup match. This time they did it twice.
As important as the 3 points are, so is the plus-3 in the Americans’ favor. If teams are equal in points in group play, goal differential is a key tiebreaker. That could determine who stays in the tournament and who goes home or playing a group winner or a third-place finisher in the second round.
The side benefit to Friday’s breakout is that Paraguay now becomes Uncle Sam’s best friend. La Albirroja at least has to tie Turkey in Friday’s encounter or else could be looking at a quick return home. And if the Turks and Australians draw late Saturday night, that helps the United States, too.
That said, winning the Cup opener guarantees nothing. After the Americans stunned Portugal in 2002 and tied host South Korea, they were flattened by Poland and needed help from the Koreans to stay alive.
And in 2014 after beating Ghana and tying Portugal, the United States had to rely on goal differential to advance after being blanked by Germany.
Still, the Yanks never have had a Cup debut like this one. Two and through? Why not for a change?
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