SAN DIEGO — The United States did not play soccer Friday the way it had in many other high-profile matches over the years.

The Americans were crisp and connected, not wooden and dull.

They played like American men do in basketball and American football.

We’re good, and we know it — that was the vibe of this stunning red-white-and-blue show that swept the U.S. to a 4-1 victory in its World Cup opener against an overwhelmed Paraguay.

Like the young child for whom the penny finally drops, enabling him or her to pedal the bicycle away after much wobbling, the Americans showed they can do justice to the beautiful game while on the global stage.

Was I hallucinating this Yankee tribute to the world’s sport?

I reached out by email to Brian Quinn, local soccer guru.

What most impressed Quinn about the U.S. display?

“Everything!” he replied from Ireland, where he’d watched the rout in the wee hours.

Once the match began on a grass field inside the Kroenke Dome in Inglewood, Calif., it was clear that U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino had prepared his team well for the South American club.

The Americans let it rip.

“They started the game with intensity but more important — tempo,” said Quinn, a former playmaker with the San Diego Sockers who appeared in 48 matches with the U.S. national team and is the longtime coach of the University of San Diego’s men’s team.

“They were sharp, quick and very, very confident on the ball from the get-go — great balance throughout the first half,” he added.

“And,” said Quinn, “the system suited the players to a T.”

The U.S. Soccer Federation hasn’t often inspired great confidence over the decades, but the hire 21 months ago of Pochettino, an Argentine who managed top European clubs in England and France, looked astute throughout the half’s 45 minutes.

On this night, the Paraguayans had little success against Christian Pulisic, a 5-foot-10 attacking midfielder from Hershey, Pa., appearing in his 87th match with Team USA.

“Pulisic was unstoppable — direct and dangerous every time he touched the ball,” Quinn said of the 27-year-old Pulisic, who in a few other high-profile matches has appeared to feel the weight of expectations.

Folarin Balogun’s two goals introduced him to the American sports world.

Known in Europe, the Brooklyn-born, England-reared forward was 20 when he got a taste of the Premier League with Arsenal, which signed him at age 16.

In France’s top league, he scored 24 goals with Monaco in the past three seasons.

Balogun, hunting from atop Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 scheme, finished twice in the first half in adding to Paraguay’s eighth-minute own goal influenced by U.S. pressure.

Malik Tillman, another European-trained 24-year-old, gave the Americans a lift from his defensive midfielder spot and supported Pulisic on the left side. Tillman stuffed his stat line with an assist, two shots on target, two interceptions and four fouls drawn in 81 minutes.

Next: The U.S. plays Australia on Friday in Seattle.

Many eyes will be on Pulisic, who took a kick to the calf and sat out Friday’s second half, perhaps due to the big lead.

“Paraguay responded in the second half,” Quinn said, “but I thought Pulisic leaving unbalanced the team a little bit, and the subs struggled until (Gio) Reyna’s great finish.”

When a few hiccups in an entertaining, lopsided win account for a World Cup match’s only blemish, that’s a leap forward for the American men.

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