Christian Pulisic felt the United States made a flying start to the Copa America with their impressive victory over Bolivia in Texas.
Milan star Pulisic stole the show with an eye-catching strike into the top corner, and he added an assist for Folarin Balogun as the USA opened their campaign with a 2-0 win on home soil on Sunday.
Pulisic became only the second USA player after Clint Dempsey to register a goal and an assist in a Copa America match, while he is also now the country's quickest player to reach 30 goals, doing so in his 69th game.
An inspired performance from the captain also ended a woeful run for the USA against CONMEBOL sides at this tournament, given Gregg Berhalter's side had previously lost eight of 10 such games.
Pulisic felt that USA could easily have won by a greater margin, with the strong performance making a statement ahead of their next group games against Panama and Uruguay.
"We should build some confidence from this and feel good," Pulisic said after the game.
"We came out flying with a lot of intensity and obviously that early goal helped us a lot.
"It's Copa America, it's a big tournament. I feel like I'm always pretty excited after I score, but it's a big moment, it's a major tournament.
"All around, it was a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it away and had more goals there.
"The games are just going to get tougher and tougher as the tournament goes on, so we have got to be ready."
Defender Antonee Robinson also felt USA could easily have won by more.
"If we were being picky, we could have been a lot more clinical," the Fulham player said. "We could have put another two or three goals away, but getting off to a win to start with is massive for us.
"Build the confidence, show we are here to win, here to play and it puts us in good stead for the next game."
USA head coach Berhalter was delighted with the impact made by Pulisic, whose opening strike had an expected goals (xG) tally of just 0.037.
The tournament hosts racked up 20 shots, finding the target with eight, compared to tallies of six and three respectively for Bolivia.
As part of an all-action display, Pulisic created three chances, sent in 10 crosses and superbly completed 21 of the game-high 22 passes he attempted in the final third.
"He is a selfless leader," said Berhalter. "He goes out and competes and works really hard. That helps the team.
"Then you add to the fact that he is highly skilled and can make plays on the offensive end and create chances. It is a great combination, and what you see is him supporting his teammates, him backing guys, him pushing guys.
"To me, it was an outstanding performance. He got coach's man of the match and it was much deserved.
"We will always look at chance creation as a marker of performance, and I think we created enough chances.
"I like the performance for an opening game against a difficult opponent. We are in a good position."
Bolivia, meanwhile, have now lost their last four international outings by a concerning margin of 9-1, having suffered defeats against Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and USA.
They face Uruguay, who won their opener 3-1 against Panama, on Thursday.
USA will play Panama earlier on the same day before concluding their Group C campaign against Uruguay on July 1.
Sainz hat-trick at Derby makes it three wins in four for Norwich
Norwich City climbed to within one place of the Championship play-off spots following a 3-2 victory away at Derby County and a hat-trick from Borja Sainz.
The result ended a run of nine straight home wins in the league for Derby, and it was the first time they have been beaten at Pride Park since February. Norwich, meanwhile, have now won three of their last four matches.
Norwich took the lead in the first half through Sainz in controversial circumstances, with the ball looking as if it had gone out of play during the build-up to the goal.
But Derby would not go down without a fight, equalising through Craig Forsyth on his 300th career appearance, as he fired past Angus Gunn from eight yards.
Just five minutes later, Norwich were back in front with Sainz hitting a bouncing ball from outside of the box and the Spaniard secured his hat-trick with another three minutes from time.
Derby got one back in stoppage time through Corey Blackett-Taylor, but were unable to force an equaliser.
Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday beat league leaders West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Hillsborough to win for the first time in the league since the opening day.
Danny Rohl’s side were one up after nine minutes, with Darnell Furlong deflecting Marvin Johnson's effort past his goalkeeper. Josh Windass doubled their lead in the 23rd minute.
The Baggies got back into it after the hour, with Josh Maja heading in from a deep cross for his seventh goal of the season, and substitute Alex Mowatt dragged them level in the 84th minute.
But two minutes later, Anthony Musaba put Wednesday back in front for a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the match. The hosts climb to 16th, two points above the bottom three.
Blackburn Rovers maintained their 100% home record in the league with a 2-0 victory over QPR, who had Jonathan Varane, the half-brother of former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, sent off in first-half stoppage time for a late lunge on Danny Batth.
John Eustace's side struck twice in the second half to ensure their strong form rolled on.
Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City: Gordon penalty snatches point against leaders
Anthony Gordon's second-half penalty saw Newcastle United come from behind to frustrate Premier League leaders Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at St James' Park.
Gordon, who has been at the centre of media speculation over his future this week, levelled the scores from 12 yards in the 58th minute, converting a spot-kick that he won after being tripped by Ederson.
Josko Gvardiol had nosed City ahead with a neat close-range finish in the 35th minute on Saturday.
Both sides saw chances go begging as they pushed for a winner, with Erling Haaland heading at Nick Pope late on as the Norway international fired a blank for the first time in the league this season.
Pep Guardiola's side sit top of the standings on 14 points, though they could be overtaken by Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal this weekend, with Newcastle rising to fifth.
Data Debrief: City struggle for goals
City may have extended their Premier League unbeaten run to 29 games in all competitions, but it is the first time they have drawn back-to-back league games since March.
Haaland, who has 10 goals already this season, failed to hit the back of the net despite having five shots (more than any of his team-mates), as he created 0.36 expected goals.
Gordon's spot-kick sealed the all-important point for Newcastle. He has won seven penalties in the Premier League since the beginning of last season, at least four more than any other player.
Meanwhile, Ederson has conceded more penalties in the competition than any other goalkeeper (six), and has failed to keep any of those out.
Ancelotti out for derby day revenge, but wary of improved Atletico
Carlo Ancelotti is aiming to avenge Real Madrid's two defeats to rivals Atletico Madrid last season when they travel to the Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday.
On their way to a 15th LaLiga crown, Madrid lost their only game of the league season in a 3-1 defeat to Diego Simeone's side in September.
Atletico also knocked Los Blancos out of the Copa Del Ray in the last 16, while their reverse fixture later in LaLiga ended in a 1-1 draw.
This weekend's hosts have won two of their last three home derbies against Madrid in the league (L1), while also entering the upcoming derby in impressive form.
Atletico have not lost any of their last eight league matches (W5 D3), their best unbeaten run in LaLiga since a 13-match run at the start of last year.
During Simeone's Atletico tenure, he has 12 wins in his 43 derbies as their head coach against Madrid in all competitions (D15 L16), the same as the number of wins they achieved in their previous 77 meetings with Los Blancos before his arrival.
Ancelotti also has a poor record against his opposite number, losing nine of his 24 matches against Simeone across all competitions (W9 D6).
Only against Luciano Spalletti (11) has he suffered more defeats in his entire managerial career, and Ancelotti is expecting another difficult test for his side.
"It's obvious that we have to avoid the mistakes of last year. That learning could be useful for tomorrow's game. It is a difficult stadium," Ancelotti told reporters.
"I think Atletico have improved a lot, they've signed good players and I think they'll fight until the end for this League with us and with Barcelona."
Madrid, however, will be without their leading marksman Kylian Mbappe, who has been ruled out for three weeks with a hamstring injury.
Mbappe has seven goals in his first nine appearances for Los Blancos in all competitions, racking up more shots (39) than any other player in LaLiga, while also recording a division-high expected goals (xG) total of 6.97.
But Ancelotti insisted nothing changes for his players in the Frenchman's absence as they aim to keep the pressure on league leaders Barcelona.
"Without Mbappe it changes a little, but not much. It's a shame that he's not here but we can make up for him well," the Italian coach added.
"Camavinga has recovered well, he is in good condition. If a player is available, he can play 90 minutes or none at all."
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