US primed to plant flag in ‘home’ World Cup opener vs. Paraguay

IRVINE: The long-awaited World Cup opener on home soil Friday promises to contain deep shades of red, white and ‌blue for the United States men’s national team.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino might be from Argentina and goal-producing forward Folarin Balogun grew up in England after he was born in New York City, but star playmaker Christian Pulisic does hail from the All-American chocolate bar-producing town of Hershey, Pennsylvania
The home fans are ready to embrace all of it when the USMNT takes on Paraguay to ​kick off Group D play Friday night in search of a sweet result. It will be the first World Cup match on US soil in 32 years, when the 1994 Final was played just up the road in Pasadena.
It was another eight years of waiting after the joint hosting bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico was accepted.
The 26-man USMNT squad selected by Pochettino is evenly divided between 13 players with previous World Cup experience and 13 first-timers. And yet even those who have been there before know this one will be different.
“You say it’s not our first rodeo, but it’s our first one on home soil.

So it kind of is our first rodeo,” captain Tim Ream said. .”.. I’ve tried to tell guys and convey the message in the media that this is a once-in-a-career opportunity.

With that comes more expectation, more pressure, but at the same time, we have to enjoy it. There’s nobody putting more ‌expectation, more pressure on us ‌than ourselves. That’s the way that it should be.”
Ream, 38, is the only member of the ​team ‌who ⁠remembers the ​1994 ⁠World Cup.