So, the ideal tune-up for Friday’s game against Colombia. USA were much the better side, scored four good goals, and saw vibrant second-half displays from Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic. Bolivia were dross, I’m afraid, but there we go. Thanks for reading. Bye!
Full-time: USA 4-0 Bolivia
That’s it.
90 min +1: Oh, what an excellent stop from Viscarra to prevent Wondolowski getting a fifth. Wondo should have scored – he was free six yards out – but that’s a superb reaction save.
90 min: Two minutes of stoppage time, as if there is any point of adding it.
88 min: A rare foray into USA’s half from the Bolivians, but nothing comes of it.
87 min: This is petering out. USA are happy with four, I think.
85 min: Good position for USA, but Yedlin miscontrols and it’s out for a throw-in. Julio César Baldivieso, the Bolivia coach, looks thoroughly pissed off.
83 min: More good play from the speedy Yedlin, who’s improved loads this season with Sunderland. Johnson plays it back in from the left, but it’s just beyond everyone, and Bolivia win the goal kick.
82 min: Decent crossing position for Bejarano on the right side, but it’s dreadful, and out of play for a goal kick. Bolivia have been really poor in this second half.
80 min: Jones took a whack, but he’s a tough cookie, and he’ll be OK.
79 min: Yedlin and Pulisic combine on the right side, but it’s out for a goal kick.
76 min: Headed clear, but Bolivia have so few players in attacking positions that even when they win it back, there’s nowhere for them to go.
75 min: Unfortunately, this contest has been a bit of a dud. Bolivia have been terrible. Free-kick on the right side, and USA, like the assembly-line workers at the toy soldier factory, can load men into the box.
Updated
73 min: And now a Bolivian change: Edward Zenteno on for Smedberg-Dalence.
72 min: Two more changes for USA: Wondolowski and Zusi on for Bradley and Dempsey.
70 min: This could become embarrassing for Bolivia. Marvin Bejarano is on for Luis Gutierrez.
69 min: That’s a superb goal. A decisive burst from Nagbe, and he went past two, delayed his pass, fed Pulisic, who waited for the keeper to go down, and just pushed it past him. He’s USA’s youngest scorer in the modern era!
GOAL! USA 4-0 Bolivia (Pulisic 69)
Pulisic gets his first USA goal!
67 min: Oh, Ramallo should have scored! Suddenly, the USA defence went missing, and it opened up for Ramallo, the substitute, who was clean through, with only Guzan to beat …and he flubbed it! His first touch was poor, and his second wasn’t much better. Guzan saved comfortably. But where was the USA defence?
66 min: More good play from Bobby Wood on the left side, but he can’t quite find the cross, and Viscarra collects. Bolivia attack, Gutierrez crosses, and Guzan plucks it out of the air.
64 min: Not much happening for Bolivia. They’ve barely attacked in this second half.
62 min: Zardes gets a round of applause as he departs, as does Bedoya. But some excitement in their places: Pulisic and Nagbe are on. I should also point out that Rodrigo Ramallo replaced Alejandro Meleán.
61 min: Just about cleared, and Miranda leads the breakaway, but Jermaine Jones does well to stop Bolivia’s momentum.
60 min: Bradley’s ball in, and Gutierrez concedes another corner. This time it’s deep, and Bolivia again put it behind for yet another corner.
59 min: There’s much more space in the game now, and USA are hungry for more goals. Corner for the hosts.
57 min: Bedoya looks for Bobby Wood with an extravagant pass through the middle, but Viscarra is out quickly to collect.
55 min: Bolivia look down. They’ve been decidedly second best.
53 min: Great long pass from Bradley – another one – and the control from Bobby Wood was excellent: he took it down on his chest, slammed a left-footed cross beyond the reach of the keeper, and Zardes just slotted home from six yards. That’s now five international goals for the LA man.
GOAL! USA 3-0 Bolivia (Zardes 52)
Another one for Zardes!
52 min: Much chatter on Fox to suggest this is now Klinsmann’s first-choice back four: Yedlin, Brooks, Cameron, Johnson. I think they might be right.
Updated
50 min: Another corner for USA, and Viscarra punches Bradley’s kick. Bolivia do well to get this one clear.
48 min: Cameron goes up, and Dempsey wanted a penalty, but Bolivia just about hustle it clear. Algaranaz, Saucedo and Jhasmani Campos the players to make way for Bolivia.
Updated
47 min: Early pressure from USA, and Johnson forces a corner.
We're back!
46 min: Bruno Miranda, Raul Castro (no, not that one), and Pedro Azogue are on for Bolivia. Changes galore.
Updated
Two changes imminent for USA: Fabian Johnson and DeAndre Yedlin to come in, for Orozco and Besler.
If you like basketball, the Western Conference finals Game 6 between the Thunder and the Warriors is about to start. Follow it here!
USA have been much the better side; Bolivia have been pretty ropey. But we shouldn’t quibble too much: Wood, Zardes, Bedoya and Bradley have been impressive.
Half-time: USA 2-0 Bolivia
That’s the whistle, a minute and a half later than it should have been. USA well on top, and Klinsmann should be very happy.
45 min +1: Crude foul in first half stoppage time from Saucedo, and is that a yellow? Maybe not! It should have been.
45 min: Now Zardes with a strike! Beaten away by Viscarra. Good save, was that: he got firm hands and sent it clear of danger.
44 min: Oh, great chance for Bolivia! Excellent play down the right flank, where Bolivia had a two-on-one, and Bejarano fizzed one across the six-yard box, but no one attacked it! Could Duk have made a better effort to reach it?
43 min: Just looking back at the first goal, I think Viscarra was reckless in charging out like that. It made Zardes’s task much easier than it should have been.
41 min: Klinsi should be delighted with this half’s work. Keep in mind, however, that Bolivia have completely folded after a decent 20 minutes or so.
39 min: Two assists now for Bedoya! Does that book his place in Friday’s starting lineup?
38 min: That’s a great goal, actually. Bradley was standing over a free kick 35 yards from goal, but instead of just chipping it in, he played a delicious flat through-ball, completing slicing the Bolivian defence. Bedoya read it perfectly, slid it across the six-yard box, and Brooks prodded home. Very nicely worked from the hosts.
GOAL! USA 2-0 Bolivia (Brooks 37)
Too easy. Two nil!
Updated
36 min: USA are well in control, and the fans are enjoying it. So far, Bolivia’s attack is more of a polite reproach.
34 min: Jones is tackled cleanly in midfield, but Bolivia don’t have the pace or the skill to quite make it count on the break. USA are back quickly to recover, and they can start again.
32 min: USA with 65% of possession. They’re on top.
31 min: Nice work from Wood on the left to win a corner. He’s giving Bejarano something to think about. Taken short, and it’s easily read by Bolivia. A waste. Now Bedoya slings it in, and it’s hacked clear.
30 min: Crude foul by Campos on Besler, and it’s a deserved yellow.
29 min: Well, that livened things up somewhat. The Bolivian defence parted rather like the Red Sea in that light comic novel also known as the Bible, but Zardes took it well. That’s his fourth goal for USA.
Updated
27 min: The first real moment of quality. Nice combination on the right side, and Bedoya released Zardes, who ran beyond, and slotted past Viscarra as he rushed intemperately out of his goal. It came from nothing, but Zardes’s pace was telling there.
GOAL! USA 1-0 Bolivia (Zardes 26)
From nowhere, USA lead!
25 min: A couple of niggly fouls, and the game’s rhythm is disrupted. Now Melean is offisde Another whistle. Grr.
23 min: Nice play from USA, and Besler is free on the left, but that’s a very good low catch from Viscarra as several players looked to pounce.
22 min: You can tell that Bolivia don’t possess the quality of Ecuador, USA’s opponents on Wednesday. The Ecuadorians were much slicker in possession and cut the hosts open several times in the first half. But Bolivia are game, and they’ve hung in there pretty impressively so far.
21 min: Wood fires one across from the left, and it’s cleared as far as Bradley, but he can’t quite collect it, and the chance is lost.
18 min: It’s pretty loud at Sporting Park. Lots of noise from the home supporters. Good for them, because they haven’t had anything to cheer about on the field. Dempsey hits one from 20 yards, but it’s straight down the throat of Viscarra.
16 min: Campos, playing inside out on the right flank, so to speak, floats one in with his left foot, and it’s behind for a corner. Good stuff, this, from the visitors. Swung in by Campos, and Algaranaz heads well wide.
14 min: Swung in from the right side, and Duk was nearly there! Actually, he was offside, so it wouldn’t have counted anyway, but he lost his marker.
13 min: Bolivia have been fine so far. No alarms for them. They’re in Group D for the Copa, along with Argentina, Chile and Panama.
11 min: It’s been a low-key first 10 minutes, but Dempsey is crunched from behind, and it’s a free kick. Good claim by Viscarra, the goalie.
10 min: Smedberg-Dalence, the midfielder who has Swedish and Bolivian roots, with it, but it doesn’t beat the first man, and it’s easily cleared.
9 min: Campos looks for Duk through the middle, and it’s overhit, but Bedoya touched it, and it’s behind for a corner.
6 min: USA on top here; Bolivia haven’t gotten going. But no looks at goal just yet.
4 min: Wood is bumped from behind, and it’s a free kick 40 yards out, but it’s wasted. Stuart Holden on commentary reckons Bobby Wood has put on “10-15lbs of solid muscle” in the past year.
2 min: USA start in Klinsmann’s preferred 4-3-3, but it looks like Wood through the middle, with Dempsey on the left? Nope, now they’ve switched back! This is Total Football right here.
And we're off!
1 min: USA get us going. They’re in white; Bolivia are in red. No green for La Verde! Typical.
Updated
Now USA. Dempsey doesn’t sing, but Zardes does, and so does Alejandro Melean of Bolivia, who was born in Miami to Bolivian parents, and played in the Patriot League Conference before heading south to play professionally.
Time for the anthems. Bolivia first.
The teams have just emerged from the tunnel. It’s a lovely balmy evening in KC, and Children’s Mercy Park is already a good sight more atmospheric than the half-full Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Wednesday.
An emotional plea to US Soccer: let’s kick off on time, and not have 17 minutes of faffing about. Some of us have plans later!
Bolivia are not as good as Ecuador, and they’re ranked 79 in the world, betwixt Zambia and Cyprus. But USA have never beaten the Bolivians: they’re 0-4-2 in six all-time meetings with them. Time to make history, etc etc.
So we think Klinsi could be going with Geoff Cameron and John Brooks as his No1 centre-back pairing this summer. No room for Darlington Nagbe or Christian Pulisic, which is maybe a bit strange. But, of course, Jürgen knows.
Confirmation of these teams:
USA: Guzan; Besler, Brooks, Cameron, Orozco; Jones, Bradley, Bedoya; Wood, Dempsey, Zardes.
Bolivia: Viscarra, Bejarano, Eguino, Cabrera, Gutierrez, Saucedo, Smedberg-Dalence, Melean, Campos, Anez, Duk.
Team news
Here is the #USMNT Starting XI for #USAvBOL at 7 p.m. CT on @FS1 & @UniMas. pic.twitter.com/S1P88BpX8y
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) May 28, 2016
Hello and welcome
It’s Saturday night, it’s Memorial weekend, and USA are playing Bolivia in a white-hot pre-Copa America in Kansas City. Party time!
Kick off is at 8pm ET, 7pm local time.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Real pipped Atléti to an 11th European Cup final:
