ARLINGTON: Christian Pulisic scored one goal and set up another as the United States launched their Copa America campaign with a clinical 2-0 victory over Bolivia on Sunday. Also in Group C, Darwin Nunez was on target as 15-time Copa winners Uruguay beat Panama 3-1 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, offering a reminder of their status among the favorites. US captain Pulisic curled in a superb early goal before teeing up a second for striker Folarin Balogun just before half-time at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“We came out flying with a lot of intensity,” Pulisic said. “Obviously an early goal helped us a lot, but all around a pretty dominant performance.” US coach Gregg Berhalter had warned his team against complacency against a Bolivia side who had won only one game in nine previous editions of the Copa America since 1999.
Pulisic was clearly in no mood to let the South Americans improve that record, firing the hosts into the lead after only three minutes. Receiving the ball from a corner on the left, Pulisic darted towards the edge of the area and whipped a rasping shot goalwards. Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra got a hand to it but could not stop the ball flying into the roof of the net.
Despite that early breakthrough the US struggled to convert their dominance into chances and were frustrated by a combative Bolivian team who had three players booked in the first 31 minutes. Leonel Justiniano, Gabriel Villamil and Luis Haquin were all shown yellow cards.
