Gyasi Zardes, Christian Pulisic lead United States to win over Bolivia

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:58 am

Gyasi Zardes scored twice and 17-year-old Christian Pulisic added his first international goal as the United States completed their final warm-up for the Copa America with a 4-0 win over Bolivia on Saturday.

John Brooks also scored as Jurgen Klinsmann's men will enter next Friday's Copa opener against Colombia on the backs of two victories in friendlies over South American sides this week.

Klinsmann made five changes to his lineup from Wednesday's 1-0 win over Ecuador, inserting right-back Michael Orozco, left-back Matt Besler and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya for the game in Kansas City, Kansas.

Geoff Cameron started in the center of defense and Bobby Wood was up top as DeAndre Yedlin, Steve Birnbaum and Fabian Johnson moved to the bench along with midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Graham Zusi.

The game featured very few chances before Clint Dempsey's long shot from distance was easily handled in the 20th minute.

But the U.S. broke the deadlock five minutes later as Alejandro Bedoya played through Zardes with a first-touch pass over the top, and Zardes also only needed a single touch himself to slide the ball under goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra.

The U.S. caught Bolivia napping during a free kick in the 37th minute to take a 2-0 lead.

Michael Bradley slipped the ball through to Bedoya rushing down the right side, and the Nantes player secured his second assist by sending the ball across for Brooks to slide into an empty net.

Bolivia's best chance came just before the break, as Nelson Cabrera's pass across the box did not find anyone and Carmelo Algaranaz's shot at the far post flew well over.

Alejandro Bedoya recorded two assists as the U.S. dominated Bolivia on Saturday.
Kyle Rivas/Getty Images

Alejandro Bedoya recorded two assists as the U.S. dominated Bolivia on Saturday.
Kyle Rivas/Getty Images

Johnson and Yedlin came on for Besler and Orozco in the second half as Klinsmann opted to get a longer look at his center-back pairing of Cameron and Brooks.

Zardes scored his second of the game in the 52nd minute after Wood cut the ball back from the endline for the LA Galaxy playmaker to tap home.

Pulisic replaced Zardes 10 minutes later, while Darlington Nagbe came on for Bedoya, and the two newcomers linked up for the U.S.' fourth goal in the 69th minute.

Nagbe held the ball at the top of the box and played it off for Pulisic to slot in a low shot at the far post.

Pulisic, who gained attention by breaking into Borussia Dortmund's team in the German Bundesliga this year, became the youngest American to score an international goal in the modern era, breaking Juan Agudelo's record by 106 days.

With the result in hand, Chris Wondolowski and Zusi then came on for stars Dempsey and Bradley and the U.S. cruised to the win.