Here are some of my notes on the individual players:

• Balogun was of course excellent. To really unlock his ability, the US team needs to continue to give him through balls/crosses to run onto and get him the ball near the box facing the goal. It'll be interesting to see if Poch can get him in those positions when they're playing Australia's ultra deep, compact, defensive formation. It's a game where space will be hard to find. I expect Turkey will come out to play and, as long as Turkey isn't dominating possession, Balogun should be able to find those spots that allow him to show his quality.
• Pulisic was in his best form. Just so dynamic, direct. One thing I tell my kids is when you're around the box, just try things. Try to cut through 2 defenders, try that killer pass, try the unexpected early low cross—yes, you'll turn the ball over when you do those things, but sometimes it'll work cleanly and then you have a knife edge scoring chance and, not only that, sometimes it'll partially work and cause havoc in the box that will then result in a poor defensive play, a goalkeeper, error, etc… that then leads to a goal scoring opportunity. Pulisic embodied that mentality in the game against Paraguay. He took it on himself to attack the goal, take chances, and make things happen.
• Dest/Robinson were excellent. They might be the best wingback combo in the World Cup. Robinson does it more with his pure athleticism and work rate. Dest does it with his creativity and technique. Poch's formation continues to bring out the best in both of them.
• McKennie might've had the best game I've seen him play. His close touch, creativity, defensive work rate, dynamic runs, were superlative. I don't think he had a poor touch all game. He wasn't great in the warm-up games, but that's the beauty of McKennie—he's one of those players that always shows up to the big games and sometimes goes to another level in the big moments.
• The same can be said of Tillman. Didn't put a foot wrong the entire game. His short space creativity, little feints, 1-touch passes, to break pressure is so important for this team. So many of the attacking moments for the US were started by Tillman.
• Adams/Richards/Freeman were all very good. What stood out to me regarding their performances was just how much ground they cover with their athleticism and work rate. Freeman did make his 1 or 2 terrible passes in the build up that we've come to expect from the warm-up games. It didn't hurt them in this game, but it's something to keep an eye on. Could be the difference in a tight game in the knockout rounds.
• Ream was very good. He had several strong defensive plays. There were one or two times where he ended up in a foot race with a Paraguay attacker and he was able to win it. Just something to keep an eye on. I fear that if he ends up in that situation against a better winger/striker, like Yan Diomande in the round of 32 for example, the US will get punished. Again, something to look out for.
• It has to be said that Pepi was poor in his appearance. He should've taken his chance at the top of the box when the US had the 2v1. His decision to pass back led me to believe that he was a little tight/tentative. I thought he had a few other poor plays as well.
• Reyna was excellent. He brings that Tillman-like creativity and ability to hold up the ball in the build up play. Really rooting for that kid. It'd be a great arc to see him go from spoiled kid with work ethic/personality issues to a gritty contributor off the bench. Hopefully another strong appearance or two will help him with his club situation as well.
• I thought Berhalter also looked good in his minutes. He continues to get so much hate from the USMNT blog/online personalities and I'm just not sure why. He was good. Huge work rate, excellent set pieces, had some great moments in the build-up play. Not sure what there is to hate on, to be honest.

General World Cup/USMNT thoughts:

• I have to say, I was skeptical about the expanded teams format. I was worried the group stage would be watered down. I was worried the games would be poorly attended. I was worried the intensity would be a notch lower than an old-format WC. So far, it's been fantastic. Attendance has been strong, games have been ultra-competitive, and the intensity has been there in every game. I think part of that is there's just more parity in international soccer than there's been historically.
• Just warning the US fans, don't be fooled by the Turkey v Australia outcome. Turkey absolutely dominated that game and 9/10 times would win that game 3-1. That Turkey team is really good and I really think it's going to be a battle when they play. The really interesting wrinkle, though, is whether the teams will actually want to be 1st in the group, or if they'd actually prefer playing the 2nd place team from the weakest group in the tournament.
• After watching about half of the teams play their 1st group stage game, I'm relieved I picked the US to make it to the quarterfinals and am somewhat regretting not picking them to go to the semifinals. They looked better than Belgium, Brazil, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain. Obviously it's only one game for those teams and some of them played strong teams, we still haven't seen England, France, Argentina, Portugal, and some of the 3rd tier teams looked really good (Sweden, Japan, Ivory Coast), but in general I'm more bullish on Team USA after watching the competition. USMNT's team continuity, home field advantage, and acclimation to the climate all look like real advantages to me and could help this team make a historic run.