United States boss Gregg Berhalter hailed captain Christian Pulisic as a “selfless leader” after he scored and assisted in the 2-0 Copa America win over Bolivia last night.
The Milan midfielder got the ball rolling in the third minute with a goal from a clever corner routine and played a key role in the second by picking out Folarin Balogun to double the home side’s lead.
Although the USMNT ought to have scored more goals in a lop-sided second half, Berhalter was happy with the outcome and with Pulisic in particular.
He said: “He’s a selfless leader.
“He goes out and he just competes and works really hard, and that helps the team. And then you add to the fact that he’s highly skilled and he can make plays on the offensive end, it’s a great combination.
“To me, it was an outstanding performance tonight.”
America’s Team.
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Happy despite missed chances
Bolivia offered little to trouble the US and Berhalter was pleased his team offered so much going forward even if they were wasteful in front of goal.
He added: “We’ll always look at chance creation as a marker of performance, and I think we created enough chances today.
“On most days, those chances are going to go in – and today they didn’t, and that’s fine.
“I think we’re pleased with the result. The game was never in doubt, and I think it’s a good starting point on which to build throughout this tournament.
“I talked about one of our objectives throughout this tournament was to keep trying to get better. I like the performance for an opening game against a difficult opponent. We’re in a good position.”
Uruguay saw off Panama 3-1 in the other Group C fixture with Marcelo Bielsa’s side and the US heavy favourites to advance to the knockout stages.
Next up for the USMNT is a clash with Panama in Atlanta on Thursday before they round off their pool games against Uruguay on July 1.
