Paraguay & Australia

PARAGUAY

The first thing I must mention about this match is the atmosphere inside SoFi Stadium was absolutely electric.  From the national anthem until the final goal in the 90+8 it literally never let up.  I was in the American Outlaws supporter section and was on my feet the entire time.  Such an amazing time for my first cap, I could not have asked for anything better.

Along those lines, many are saying this was best performance the USMNT has ever put on in the World Cup.  The top before last Friday was a 3-2 victory over Portugal’s golden generation in 2002. That was a little different though, since the USMNT raced out to a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes only to hold on for dear life and prevail 3-2.

This was an utter domination from start to finish.  The first time the USMNT ever scored four goals in a World Cup match.  Major kudos are due to coach Mauricio Pochettino (Poch) for getting his tactical plan exactly right. Our boys knew where the spaces would be on offense and exploited them repeatedly.  On the other side of the ball, La Albirroja could not break our pressing defense.  Any time we lost the ball, but especially in the first half, our counter-press was absolutely all over them, causing several quick turnovers. 

Believe it or not, this was the first time this starting XI had played together under Poch.  When we trot out a starting attack or Folarin Balogun, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman and Sergiño Dest that is a very dangerous five.  Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro called this the “pentagon.”  I like it!  Then we can sub in Ricardo Pepi, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna off the bench. That’s eight quality players from four of Europe’s top six leagues. 

The goal we gave up was a comedy of errors rather than one individual mistake.  After a hydration break the Paraguayan keeper took a free kick deep in his own end. Tyler Adams wins the initial duel for the header, but the ball goes backwards.  Then Chris Richards misplays the ensuing bounce.  The ball falls to Tim Ream who takes an awful touch and basically passes it right to Julio Enciso.  Enciso plays the ball to Mauricio in space and neither Alex Freeman nor Weah could get there in time.

PLAYERS

Matt Freese – Didn’t have much to do.  His distribution with his feet was shaky at times and there wasn’t much he could do on the goal.

Ream – Culpability in the goal aside, he played a decent match and was not beaten for speed.

Richards – Aside from his part in the goal, he was 83 for 83 on passes.  This was the highest number of passes with 100% accuracy in the World Cup since 1966.  Definitely good to have him back.

Freeman – Had a few poor moments in possession, including a bad giveaway that could have led to a goal.  Did get the assist on the fourth goal though.  As our youngest player making his World Cup debut at 21, he should get better as the tournament progresses.

Antonee Robinson – A typically solid performance from Jedi.

Adams – Played well outside of a ridiculously unnecessary yellow card.  For some reason he decided to step on the heel of a guy playing a backwards pass deep in his own half.  There was absolutely no danger present at all.  He will be suspended for one match if he picks up another yellow in the group stage.  If that happens, we will all be wishing that Poch named Tanner Tessmann to the roster.

Tillman – An unbelievable performance that included the assist on the third goal.  He squandered a few great chances to score though.

Dest – Dangerous and crafty as always.  Was a heavy touch away from scoring a goal.

Pulisic – Looked very lively throughout.  Created the own goal by bursting through a double team like it wasn’t there.  Had the assist on the second goal too.  Was taken off at halftime after a knock he sustained to his left calf in training was reaggravated.  Hopefully he will be good to go on Friday.

McKennie – Made several marauding runs from deep in the midfield that opened up the offense.  Might have flown under radar a little, but he was immense.

Balogun – Two goals and a Man of the Match performance.  His second goal was a thing of beauty using his left foot to finish in the top corner.  First USMNT player since 1930 to score two or more goals in a World Cup match.

Sebastian Berhalter – Came on for CP at halftime and put in a workmanlike performance on defense.  He’s just not the same level as our other players in terms of quickness of thought and technical ability in tight spaces.  Unlike…say…Tessmann.

Pepi – Had a good chance to score that was deflected out, but a decent shift overall.

Weah – Had a nice shot from distance that was going in saved.  Maybe should have been tighter to Mauricio on the conceded goal.

Reyna – Was kind of just floating around out there until his amazing “trivela” goal at the death.

AUSTRALIA

I watched their match against Türkiye and surprisingly the Socceroos didn’t take a bunch of aggressive fouls like I assumed they would.  The reason I mention this is because when we beat them 2-1 in Commerce City, CO on 10/14/25 they made a point of hunting Pulisic and kicking him hard whenever they could.  So much so that CP had to be subbed off in the 30^th minute…of a friendly.  I watched that match as well, and it was decidedly unfriendly.

What the Aussies did do to Türkiye is sit in a 5-4-1 low block and look to hit them on the counterattack quickly with Nestory Irankunda and Mohamed Touré (Jordan Bos and Connor Metcalfe also looked dangerous).  The Turks had 72% of the possession but were never able to figure how to break through the compact defense.

Scoring first is going to be critical for us. Because once the Socceroos score they really and truly “park the bus.”  Just like last match, the more wide-open play becomes the more it benefits us.  I’m hopeful that Poch and his staff have the answers to unlock Australia in their tactical plan just like they did against Paraguay.

I’m expecting the Aussies to kick Pulisic and Balogun every chance they get.  The referees for this match are a German crew headed by Felix Zwayer.  In theory, they should be able to keep things under control.  I didn’t even think was allowed under FIFA rules, but somehow the fourth official is from Mexico. The VAR is from Morocco, so hopefully there is no bias there. In another shocker though, the support VAR is Australian.  How is that sanctioned?

Australia is ranked 23^rd in ELO compared to 27^th for us.  Despite this, we clearly have the most talent “on paper” once again.  Barring an injury, Poch will likely keep the same starting XI.  I wouldn’t be sad if he benched Ream for Auston Trusty though.  More speed on our backline could be crucial in this match.

We currently sit in first place of Group D with three points and a +3 goal differential.  There is a scenario where we could clinch first place after just two matches.  Beat the Socceroos and Türkiye loses or draws with Paraguay.  Best not get ahead of ourselves though since this match has major shit the bed potential.  Conceding an early goal, then struggling to break them down is certainly within the realm of possibilities.

I’m choosing to remain positive though.  I’ll be there in person again and am expecting the crowd to be even louder in Seattle.  I’ll predict another early goal for us, and we eventually hang on to get the three points.  A result like this will be fantastic for everything except my wallet.  Round of 32 tickets in Santa Clara are already insane!