The discourse surrounding the U.S. men’s national team heading into Sunday’s Copa America group-stage debut revolved around the equilibrium between performance and outcome.
The consensus settled on this: during a competition, the outcomes are paramount.
The aspiration is for performance to align with that, and against Bolivia, there were encouraging signs in both aspects. The U.S. controlled possession and created numerous opportunities. They restricted Bolivia to minimal goal threats. And they clinched that crucial result: a 2-0 triumph.
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The United States will now progress to the middle group match against Panama, aware that a victory would effectively secure their passage to the knockout stage. Nevertheless, they must trust that the subtlety of this initial result, instead of a three- or four-goal win, doesn’t become the deciding factor at the conclusion of the group stage in a competition where goal difference is the primary tiebreaker.
Post-match near Dallas, the team emphasized that they were less concerned about the scoreline and more focused on the bottom line.
“Goal differential is significant, but the most crucial thing is to secure the win,” winger Tim Weah remarked. “Once you’re winning, you don’t have to worry about goal differential.”
The evening kicked off as favorably as the U.S. could have hoped for. In under three minutes, Christian Pulisic bent a shot from the edge of the box into the far corner to give them the lead. Just before halftime, Folarin Balogun doubled their advantage.
Pulisic and Robinson celebrate the opener (Aric Becker/AFP via Getty Images)
In the second half, the U.S. consistently found space to attack a Bolivia side trying to claw their way back into the match. However, they failed to capitalize on the created chances.
Pulisic tested Guillermo Viscarra with a shot in the 60th minute. Ricardo Pepi managed to record six shots despite only entering the game in the 65th minute — the most by a USMNT substitute in a single match since Opta began comprehensive data collection of all U.S. matches in 2010.
“It’s about winning tournament fixtures,” head coach Gregg Berhalter stated. “We evaluate the final outcomes. If you delve into the specific data, we probably had over three expected goals in the game (2.51). They had 0.18. That’s a thorough domination.
“There might be a perspective, maybe from you (the media), that suggests, ‘Okay, they should have scored more goals, should have generated more opportunities.’ But it’s a 90-minute encounter, and over the course of a 90-minute match, we created adequate chances, we restricted their chances. We’re content with the result. We progress.”
Berhalter acknowledged that Pepi, in particular, was disheartened. As a former FC Dallas youth player, he was performing in front of a local crowd that cheered his introduction just after the hour mark.
Pepi has proven to be an effective impact player. He scored all seven of his goals for PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch top division last season (2023-24) coming off the bench, and ahead of Nations League action back in March, he had scored five times in his previous nine appearances for his country, all five as a substitute.
On Sunday, the opportunities didn’t go his way. Pepi had an opportunity in the box with his initial touch of the game in the 67th minute, but couldn’t redirect Antonee Robinson’s cross. Then he forced a save from Viscarra with a shot in the 79th minute.
| Group C | MP | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Uruguay |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
USA |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
Panama |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-2 |
0 |
|
Bolivia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-2 |
0 |
In the 90th minute, it appeared that Pepi would surely score the U.S.’s third goal when Robinson’s cross found him once again at the top of the six-yard box, but his close-range attempt was denied by Viscarra. As the rebound deflected off Pepi towards the goal, Viscarra again thwarted him.
Post-match, Weah mentioned that he advised Pepi to “just stay focused, keep his head up”.
“There are days where you score a hat-trick, there are days where you don’t; I think that’s what comes with being a striker,” Weah elaborated. “As we see, even with (Belgium’s 85-goal record-scorer Romelu) Lukaku and the Euros, he’s having a tough time.
Berhalter was satisfied with the 2-0 win — despite the missed chances (Aric Becker/AFP via Getty Images)
“The best of the best know how to just keep it together and we have another game, so he’s (Pepi) gonna have plenty of other chances to get it in the back of the net. And obviously, we have confidence in his ability in front of goal.”
Berhalter also expressed his support for Pepi.
“I thought he had a great impact on the game,” Berhalter remarked. “In that short period of time, to have that many goal-scoring opportunities, to be that relentless with his running, with his pressing, with his hold-up play, he had an excellent game.
“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.”
A few hours following Sunday’s victory, Uruguay defeated Panama 3-1 to draw level on points and goal difference but ahead on goals scored. The U.S. face CONCACAF rivals Panama next, in Atlanta on Thursday.
“There’s plenty of soccer left to play in this group,” Berhalter emphasized. “And it’s not over. We have two more matches. We’ll always consider chance creation as a performance indicator, and we generated enough opportunities today. Most days, those opportunities will convert into goals, and today they didn’t but that’s okay. We’re content with the result. The outcome was never in doubt.
“It’s a solid foundation on which to progress throughout this tournament.”
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(Top photo: Robinson chats with Pepi at the end of the match. Aric Becker/AFP via Getty Images)