A very young and exciting side took the field in Philadelphia to take on Bolivia and the American’s took control of the game from the beginning. USMNT fans everywhere can take joy from this performance as these baby nats gave them with a lot to look forward to for the future of US Soccer.
First Half:
The United States came out on top of the ball for nearly all of the opening 15 minutes but the final ball could not be found by any American player. Tim Weah, in particular, looked nervous throughout this period and even had an injury scare in the 17th minute. After going down the second time it appeared Weah asked to come off but he tested it out and stayed on. Weah and Josh Sargent connected time after time in the first half and really tore the Bolivian defense apart with some great one-touch passes in and around the box. Despite multiple great efforts throughout the half, the opener came off a Joe Corona corner kick that found the towering head of Walker Zimmerman. The United States would continue to press into the end of the first half.
Second Half:
The USMNT started the second half right where they left off the first half with attacking control. In the 52nd minute, Sargent found his debut goal off a bad mistake from Bolivian goalkeeper Carlos Lempe. Lempe tried lifting the ball out to his right back but did not put enough power behind it, Sargent brought it down perfectly with his first touch and put enough power on it to blaze it past Lempe for the two-goal lead. Just a few minutes late Antonee Robinson used his skill and speed to work down the left side to place a perfect cross that found the run of Weah to seal the lead at three goals. The young American side continued to press the attack heavily which was aided by the addition of Keaton Parks in the midfield, his calm and controlled passing made the transition from midfield to attack nearly seamless.
This match saw senior debuts for six players, Antonee Robinson, Josh Sargent, Matthew Olosunde, Erik Palmer-Brown, Keaton Parks, and Alex Bono as well as three first time scorers with goals scored from Walker Zimmermann, Josh Sargent, and Tim Weah.