Associated Press
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Folarin Balogun fired his second goal into the top far corner of Paraguay’s net and then led his American teammates to the corner of their home stadium, reveling in the frenzy created by their historic first half at their World Cup opener.
The world’s biggest soccer tournament finally returned to the U.S. on Friday night after a generation of anticipation.
With this phenomenal match, the Americans also look like they’ve arrived.
Balogun scored twice in the Americans’ three-goal barrage before halftime, and the U.S. opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with its biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their Southern California fans with an aggressive attack while streaking to a 3-0 lead — the team’s largest in any World Cup game.
“It meant everything for us,” Pulisic said. “A half like that, for it to go as it did, and have the fans excited about our performance, it felt amazing.”
Gio Reyna ripped another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time in their tournament history dating to 1930.
