LOS ANGELES – The US men’s national team’s World Cup opening game had all the pomp and circumstance expected for such an occasion, complete with opening sets by Katy Perry, Future, and LISA from BLACKPINK, as well as a parade of flags from the participating nations. Movie and sports stars like Tom Cruise, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were among the euphoric 70,500 fans clad in red & white stripes at Los Angeles Stadium.Yet with all that, the USMNT’s 4-1 win over Paraguay felt like it was just another game for Malik Tillman.“I haven’t quite realized what we did tonight,” Tillman told SBI. “I talked with my family and friends after the game, and for some reason it doesn’t feel like a World Cup. It’s strange, but what can I say? I guess it’s because we’re here in the USA and I’m always here when I’m with the national team. Sure, the game felt a bit different, but not like I expected.”The German-born Bayer Leverkusen playmaker might not have felt like he was at a World Cup, which could explain why he looked so at ease in midfield next to Tyler Adams, rather than further forward as he normally plays for club and country.From heading a dangerous cross out of his on box one minute, to making a penetrating run into the opposing box and back-heeling a pass to Weston McKennie the next, the 24-year-old was involved in almost every notable play in the first half. That included his 30-yard through-ball down the right flank to Folarin Balogun, whose curling left-footed shot in the far corner put the Americans up 3-0 at the break.Photo by LISANDRO SALAZAR/SBI Soccer“I have to admit that everything went particularly well in the first half,” Tillman said. “Our buildup out of the back was good, our counter-pressing was good. We created many chances and scored three goals. We deserved to win.”Standing 6-foot-1, the Nuremberg native combines physical presence with excellent peripheral vision. He distributes the ball with a sure sense of space and timing, engages in duels with high energy, and accelerates play with his uncanny understanding of the game. That is why he commanded a transfer fee of 35 million Euros, paid to PSV Eindhoven, when he joined the “Werkself” as their marquee signing last summer.Yet, during the past Bundesliga season, the 24-year-old’s potential only flashed sporadically. However, that wasn’t the case with the USMNT. During the 2025 Gold Cup, he was one of the tournament’s brightest stars, scoring three goals and providing two assists, even though he felt as if he were playing abroad rather than on home soil.“We had a couple of questions about the turnout last summer during the Gold Cup in the quarterfinal against Guatemala, and it felt like the entire stadium was against us,” Tillman said. “Today it didn’t feel like that, but I have to admit this is also one of the only times it didn’t feel like that.”After coming up through the ranks at FC Bayern, Tillman moved to Glasgow Rangers in 2022 to learn “the gritty side of the game,” as he once put it. With the 2026 World Cup in North America beckoning as a long-term goal, and being the son of a German mother and an American father, his decision four years ago to opt for the US federation, having previously played 21 matches for German youth national teams ranging from the U15 to the U21 level, is clearly paying off, both for him and his national team.