Copa América: USMNT cruises to businesslike win over Bolivia on goals from Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun

Well, that was... fine. Passable. Uninspiring at times, somewhat dynamic at others, sufficient in the end.

It was the corollary of the U.S.-Jamaica game in March. On that night, and on many others, the U.S. has struggled to break down low blocks. On this night, Pulisic made that conversation moot less than three minutes in, and the U.S. cruised without really being challenged. Might the game have looked different if Pulisic hadn't curled a beauty into the top corner? Who knows.

The positive takeaways:

• Pulisic is the guy. He's in form. He loves the responsibility that the captain's armband gives him. He is ready to drive this team as far as he can.

• Folarin Balogun got his first goal in six U.S. games. Could it boost his confidence, which seemed to be in the basement for the game's first 40 minutes? We'll see.

• Tyler Adams started and came away unscathed.

The negatives?

• Ricardo Pepi didn't get his confidence-boosting goal, despite a flurry of chances.

• The U.S. was somewhat sloppy and ragged in possession. A better team would've taken advantage.

All in all, though, this is a game that we will forget. The next two, three or more will define the USMNT's Copa América.

Berhalter shutting up shop

Ream appears to be struggling with something, though it's unclear what.

Matt Turner just tossed the ball out of bounds so that he Ream could figure it out. Ream dropped into a crouch. Athletic trainers never came to check on him, so it looks like he'll continue. But we'll see if that concern lingers, and we'll see if Ream lasts 90 minutes.

Yunus Musah enters for Tyler Adams.

Adams is surely on some sort of minutes limit. Whether the pre-determined limit was 45, or whether it was more but Berhalter decided the game was in control, we don't (yet) know.

"Balo" has been struggling for club and country. He had a pretty rough first 43 minutes tonight. His confidence seemed to be on the basement floor.

Perhaps the goal will ignite him. If so, it would be a massive development for the USMNT at this Copa América.

Just as it seemed the first half was petering out, and familiar problems were plaguing the U.S. in the final third ... Folarin Balogun peels off the back shoulder of his Bolivian defender, takes a pass from Christian Pulisic, shifts the ball onto his left foot, and finishes across Bolivian keeper Guillermo Viscarra.

That's 2-0 and, probably, game over. (Bolivia has offered nothing going forward.)

... the USMNT fan base would be on edge right now. Over the past 30 minutes, it's been a B-minus performance, at best. And all the momentum of the opening 10 minutes has fizzled. Crowd has quieted. Possession has been neither progressive nor clean.

Still 1-0. And if it stays that way until halftime, honestly, from an American perspective, that'd be a bit disappointing.

And this one was all about a clever U.S. buildup.

The American defenders swung the ball right to left, to Antonee Robinson. He found a line-skipping passing lane into Folarin Balogun's feet. Balogun laid the ball off to Gio Reyna, who skipped past Bolivia's Luis Haquin. Haquin's only option was to take Reyna down.

He's back up, and it looks like he'll be fine. But it was a somewhat nasty tackle from Bolivia's Leonel Justiniano. Earns a yellow card.

This is not at all the game many expected it to be — Bolivia bunkering, U.S. cautiously possessing, slow pace.

Instead, the U.S. has been relatively eager to play forward. Its possession game has been a bit ragged. But chances are coming freely, because the American players are simply better and making plays. Bolivia is trying (but mostly failing) to stand up to the U.S.

Of course, we'll never know how much the early goal influenced this rhythm. But my guess is not much.

The USMNT has been on the front foot since the very first minute.

Tim Weah had a chance to make it 2-0, and forced a good save from Bolivian keeper Guillermo Viscarra.

The only worry, now, is that the U.S. might take its foot off the proverbial gas. A couple players have gotten caught on the ball over the past few minutes. Bolivia, though, didn't have the quality to take advantage in transition.

Boom. 1-0 to the U.S. in the third minute. Excellent goal.

The Americans have come to play

Even with Tyler Adams back in the lineup, Pulisic will wear the armband.

When he first wore it over five years ago, he was an introvert somewhat ill-prepared for the role. But he has absolutely grown into it, and takes pride in the responsibility. Teammates listen to him. They follow him. He is, in a way, finally "Captain America."

AT&T Stadium will not be anywhere close to full, especially at the 400 level. But fears that it would be alarmingly empty seem to be unfounded.

And this will be a pro-U.S. crowd, for three main reasons:

1. There are far fewer Bolivian Americans than, say, Colombian Americans or Peruvian Americans — less than 200,000, per U.S. government data.

2. Soccer, generally, is not quite as central to Bolivian national identity as it is in, say, Argentina or Uruguay.

3. Related to No. 2, the men's national team hasn't been all that good. Not many fans would travel all the way here from Bolivia for the Copa América. And not many have come from within the U.S., especially given the exorbitant ticket prices.

All of that said ... never doubt the ability of Latino soccer fans to be loud.

This is an opener. No opener can make or break any team in a three-game group stage. That being said, though ...

Bolivia is bad. Bad enough that it's necessary to explain why they're bad. Anything less than a win for the U.S. today would be a massive letdown. Even a draw would put extreme pressure on the players and head coach Gregg Berhalter entering their second match against Panama on Thursday in Atlanta.

(They'd still be comfortably favored to advance from the group, but the vibes would be, uh, quite bad.)

Once upon a time, every USMNT lineup release was suspenseful.

Nowadays, they're pretty straightforward. Today's starting 11 is exactly what you'd expect:

The only question mark coming into today was whether Tyler Adams was fit enough to start. He is. The question now becomes whether Adams can go 60, 75 or even 90 minutes.

Here's the official team sheet from CONMEBOL, the tournament organizers: