Folarin Balogun (20) and defender Kristoffer Lund (23) celebrated after Balogun scored against Bolivia in a Copa America match. (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
Like Diogenes, who searched the streets of a city for an honest man, Gregg Berhalter is continuing his quest to find an honest striker, someone who can score consistently, stand give the U.S. men's national team another player who can strike some fear into the opposition besides Christian Pulisic.
We were reminded about that on Sunday night, when the Americans had some fabulous opportunities to score against Bolivia but failed to do so against the lowest ranked team in the competition.
The bottom line is that the USA recorded a 2-0 win and a vital three points in its Copa America opener.
No one needs to remind me how difficult it is to score in soccer, especially at the international level.
Some 20 years or so ago, former USMNT and MLS forward Ante Razov said that if scoring goals was easy, then everyone would be doing it.
Indeed.
Among the striker position, who does the Americans have on this Copa America roster?
Is there anyone who can establish himself as No. 1 in the No. 9 spot?
* Flo Balogun, who after a marvelous 20-23 French Ligue 1 season, in which he struck for an impressive 22 goals across all competitions, dropped to only eight for Monaco this past season. He has four goals in 13 international appearances.
* Haji Wright, who connected for 18 goals across all competitions for Coventry City (English Championship), has four goals in 10 USMNT contests (two off the bench in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals vs. Jamaica. He also found the net at the 2022 World Cup (in the 2-1 loss to the Netherlands).
* Josh Sargent, who was sidelined with a bad ankle injury during the early part of Norwich City's 2023-24 English Championship season, came on like gangbusters to finish with 16 goals in 26 games. He has celebrated five goals in 23 matches for the USA.
* Ricardo Pepi, who established himself as a super-sub for PSV Eindhoven, came off the bench in the 2-0 win over Bolivia on Sunday, June 23 and failed to bury several of his opportunities against a hot goalkeeper. He has struck for 10 goals in 25 games. Essentially a late-match substitute, Pepi notched seven goals over 459 minutes and 27 appearances in the Dutch Eredivisie. That comes out to a goal every 66 minutes. That is an absurd pace, even for the likes of Lionel Messi.
BTW, Brendon Aaronson, Tim Weah and Pulisic are listed as forwards, but they essentially play on the flanks, and do not man the No. 9 position.
In the long run, it doesn't matter where a team gets its goal from, but having one or two players you can rely on, can go a long way to success.
Let's face it. We were spoiled by the D&D guys. I mean that dynamic duo of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. They formed a lethal one-two punch and combination on the USMNT for years. They could play off of one another, and if one of those players was struggling, the other would pick him up.
Donovan finished his international career with 57 goals and 58 assists, while Dempsey also had 57 goals, with 19 assists. And Jozy Altidore chipped in with 41 goals during that period.
Trying to find someone who can score on a consistent basis isn't anything new to the national side or for any national or club team, for that matter. So many are dying to find the right man or woman to rely on.
The U.S. women always had the likes of Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Tiffeny Milbrett, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Kristine Lilly to do the damage, with plenty of help from their friends.
During the 40 years in the World Cup desert (1950-90), the U.S. men had one player - Willy Roy, who could score at the international level on a team that was mediocre at best.
A new era started in 1990, when Eric Wynalda joined the USMNT, and went on to score 34 goals in his international career.
Until someone steps forward for either club and/or country and shows that he can put the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis, Berhalter might be forced to continue to use striker by committee concept.
Of course, any of those aforementioned players could change that over the next few weeks.
It certainly won't be easy.
Scoring goals at any level isn't.