'Proud to be American' - Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun deliver World Cup statement night fans dreamed of: USMNT winners and losers vs Paraguay

It's hard not to think back to Orlando in 2023. It was during that trip that Balogun's USMNT career began. The team needed him and they needed his goals. He provided them on Friday in his first World Cup match.

Balogun scored two in the first half and, in truth, was a step offside for what could have been a third. Overall, the USMNT striker was nothing short of deadly, and there was nothing Paraguay could do to limit him.

His first was a first-time finish, a composed shot placed into the back of the net from a Christian Pulisic assist. His second? Something much more. After receiving the ball in space, Balogun drove on goal, cut back and smashed a shot top bins to make it 3-0. The USMNT's bench emptied, chasing the striker into the corner as the Los Angeles crowd went wild. Balogun deserved all of that applause and more.

"I visualized my debut in the World Cup scoring," Balogun said, "but the reality did surpass that with scoring two goals. The second goal was a fantastic goal as well. It was a very dreamy, dreamy night."

This was his moment, the one he'd been dreaming about. In the end, it went even better than he dreamed it up, too, as Balogun dominated his first real moment at this stage.

There aren't many worse ways to start a World Cup than with an own goal. In truth, though, there was little Bobadilla could have done, but that won't make him feel much better.

This was Paraguay's first World Cup since 2010. It took just seven minutes for it to turn sour. From the moment Bobadilla turned Weston McKennie' pass into the back of his own net, Paraguay never really recovered. The USMNT, meanwhile, benefitted from that shot in the arm, riding the momentum from the home crowd all the way through a dominant first half.

Bobadilla was the unfortunate start to that dominance and the 24-year-old Paraguayan's World Cup dream began with every player's worst nightmare.

After the game, Pulisic gave everyone a reason to exhale. Just a knock, he said. He wasn't worried, he continued. Phew. Back to the soccer, then.

The soccer was fantastic, and for his 45 minutes on the field, Pulisic was the one leading that charge. He started hot and never really slowed down, routinely beating defenders and putting the ball into dangerous areas. He did that on the first goal, finding Weston McKennie to set up the own goal. He then did it on the second, playing a pass right to Balogun for a first-time finish.

The U.S. attack turned the game into a circus, and Pulisic was the ringleader.

"It's pretty special to watch," he said. "It's fun to look around and know that there are different guys who can pull off these different skills. It's great, but it's more than just that. I feel there's such a good connection between us right now. Balogun, everyone will look at the goals, but the way he's fighting against the center backs, holding the ball up, getting fouls. Serg [ino Dest], all these guys, Malik [Tillman] had a really good performance as well. They all deserve a lot of credit."

So, too, does Pulisic, though. As the face of this team, he had a lot of weight on his shoulders. He made Friday look effortless, though.

"Being in America, having this crowd around us, seeing the Red, White, and Blue striped shirts in the crowd, it's awesome," he said. "Hearing the USA chants, it's really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that, and I'm sure it will."

This will feel deflating. In a group where everything seems up for grabs, Paraguay were thoroughly beaten in a way that is so, so tough to recover from.

From a coaching standpoint, Gustavo Alfaro will surely work to help his players turn the page. This one is over, he'll say, and there are two more to go. Burn the tape, learn a lesson or two and move on.

That's not easy in a World Cup, though. In addition to the pressure of it all, there's also the reality of it. Their goal will help, sure, but Paraguay have still dug themselves a hole with zero points and a minus-three goal difference after their opener. You can't win the World Cup in your first game, but you can lose it, and Paraguay might just have done that.

When he's at his best, Dest tries stuff. That might be putting it lightly. Dest is a throwback player, one who takes so, so much joy from providing entertainment and, boy, did he entertain on Friday night.

Which sequence do you even start with? Is it one of the countless ones where he simply blew past his defender to create danger? How about the moments where he cut with a touch few would have the nerve to try? You could even point to one sequence late in the first half where he beat a defender and then seemingly slowed down to let him catch up just so he can beat him again.

Dest was having fun out there. He hopes people had fun watching,too.

"It's really nice," he said. "We always want to play like that. Obviously, playing like that shows we're dominant because you can only do these things, most of the time, when you're dominating a game. Hopefully, we can keep that same level in these next games."

Maybe it was a message to the rest of the group. Dest hopes it was. He hopes everyone watching realized that the U.S. can play. At the very least, anyone who saw the game certainly knows Dest can.

"We showed the world what we're able to do," he said. "It's really important to win the first game of a tournament and we did it in a dominant way. I think the other teams in the group, they already know what's up."