6/23/2024 - USMNT vs Bolivia - Upon Further Review
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Summary The USMNT drew CONEMBOL's weakest side in Bolivia to start their Copa America group stage campaign, looking to make an early statement to the rest of the group and build momentum. The US came out hot with a Balogun half-chance 30 seconds into the match, followed by a Pulisic screamer several minutes later to grab an early lead and force Bolivia out of their shell. The USMNT did little to take advantage of this, wasting possession until a great Reyna-Pulisic-Balogun play ended in a tidy left-footed finish by Balogun right before half time. The second half would be more of the same, with Bolivia doing very little to threaten the US goal despite several careless giveaways by Ream and Richards. Pepi came on for Balogun and proceeded to miss at least 2 clear cut chances to strengthen the lead. In the end, the 2-0 performance felt lackluster and clearly did not represent the US's best, but was enough to get the job done. Improvement will be needed in the upcoming matches if t...