After scoring a pair of goals—a one-timer off a beautiful Christian Pulisic pass, and a stunning 62 mph left-footed fastball from eight feet out, drilled into the top corner of the net—in the first half of Team USA’s rousing 4-1 win over Paraguay in its World Cup opener on Friday night, the 24-year-old striker was the toast of the 70,492 charged fans in Los Angeles Stadium, as well as millions of Americans who combusted in their homes and at watch parties in Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and elsewhere across the country.
Balogun’s second goal put the U.S. up 3-0 before the break. “It was a real statement,” says Balogun. “It’s a dream. It’s a dreamy night.”
George Lucas, Tom Cruise, Hilary Duff, David Beckham, Katy Perry, and Jamie Foxx were among the celebrities in the stands Friday. Since the last U.S. World Cup, in 1994, soccer has grown into a mainstream spectator sport: This was the largest crowd to watch the U.S. men’s team play since ‘94. Why shouldn't the sport’s ascendance spark a memorable moment? America’s 250th birthday, the USMNT clicking: It’s shaping up to be a fun summer.
The team looked inspired, and cohesive, from the start. The opening salvo, a Paraguay own-goal that resulted from the fancy attacking footwork of the team’s two brightest international lights, Pulisic, of AC Milan, and McKennie, of Juventus, happened within the first seven minutes of the game. American players came out with flair, an approach they need to continue in their second game against Australia in Seattle on June 19. Pulisic split a double team. Malik Tillman tried a back-heel pass, because why not? Former U.S. standout Alexi Lalas, often a tough critic of the men’s team, on Fox Sports called the first 45 minutes plus stoppage time “the greatest half of group play from a men’s team at a World Cup in history.”
The game wasn’t all roses. Before the World Cup, Pulisic grew frustrated with all the talk about his goal-scoring slump, for both club and country. “Such bad questions,” Pulisic told TIME in an April interview about this drought. “I'm not concerned about it, man.”
That potential setback shouldn’t overshadow the team’s accomplishment, or its promise. Defender Chris Richards, the reigning U.S. Soccer men’s player of the year, returned to action from a May ankle injury: All he did was complete all 83 of his passes, the most passes with 100% accuracy by any player in a World Cup match since 1966, according to ESPN Insights. Remember Gio Reyna, whose alleged lack of effort nearly got him sent home by former coach Gregg Berhalter at the last World Cup, and led to a stunning public feud between the Reyna and Berhalter families? Reyna, a reserve on Friday, chipped a shot into the net right before the final whistle, making his case for a super sub role. “He deserves it,” says Pulisic, of Reyna’s goal. “We see stuff from him like that every day."
Meanwhile, Balogun’s effort has fans praising birthright citizenship. His mother, seven months pregnant with him, was deemed unfit to fly back to London from a family visit in New York City. So she gave birth in Brooklyn before the family returned to England.
“Why not us?” says Balogun.
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