A Hollywood spectacle with elements of a western

Mexico celebrated easily against modest South Africa, Canada barely managed to score a point against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on the third day of the World Cup, the strongest message came from one of the three World Cup hosts.

The United States of America defeated Paraguay (4:1) under the closed roof of the magnificent "SoFi Arena" in Los Angeles, in a true Hollywood spectacle that, especially in the first half, had elements of a western.

The "Yankees" won a bronze medal at the first ever World Cup back in 1930. In football terms, that World Cup belongs to prehistoric times, their greatest success in the modern era came in 2002 in Korea and Japan, when they reached the quarterfinals.

The opening of the championship on home soil, and all the excitement surrounding Mauricio Pochettino's obviously brilliantly coordinated team, suggests that the Americans could repeat 2002 at home, but it's just the beginning...

And the beginning was like a dream, just a few minutes after music star Katy Perry made the American version of the opening of the 23rd World Cup official, the American show began in Los Angeles.

Christian Pulisic was elusive for the Paraguayans, Malik Tillman from Leverkusen and especially Folarin Balogun from Monaco showed extraordinary class and talent, and the Paraguayans could not find their way in that vortex.

Combinations of speed, off-ball play and passing in small spaces: in the 7th minute it was 1:0, after half an hour 2:0, and at halftime 3:0.

Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, David Beckham, Halle Berry, Sofia Vergara and numerous other "celebrities" in the stands in Los Angeles enjoyed the American spectacle, just like the remaining 80 thousand fans.

Reuters journalists tried to investigate the popularity of "soccer" in America ahead of the opening of the World Cup., and whatever it is, it has certainly risen at least a little on the scale after a half like this...

Pulisic broke through in the 7th minute down the left side and forced Bobadilja to score an own goal.

Balogun's goal in the 28th minute was disallowed due to offside, but that's why it wasn't in the 31st minute, nor in the fifth minute of added time in the first half.

The 24-year-old striker demonstrated tremendous potential and promoted himself to the top star of the 23rd World Cup.

Pulisic's pass didn't leave Paraguayan goalkeeper Hill with a single ounce of hope, and even less so after Tillman's assist and fantastic breakthrough.

The home team had plenty of chances in the first half, it could have been 5:0.

Pochettino left Pulisic in the locker room at half-time - to give him a rest, I guess. The World Cup had just started, so the pace dropped in the second half, quite expectedly.

Paraguay pulled one back with 17 minutes to go through reserve and debutant Mauricio, only for Giuseppe Reyna to put the Americans ahead with a brilliant outside-foot strike to make it 4-1 in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

The Americans have taken a big step, not only towards qualifying for the knockout stage, but also towards first place in the group, which is very important for them due to the location arrangement. Their next match will be on June 19th against Australia in Seattle, while the Paraguayans will try to pull themselves out of the group the day after against Turkey in Santa Clara.