Over-exuberant? Sure, but the young United States men’s national team who dispatched with Paraguay 1-0 at Sahlen’s Stadium in Cary, North Carolina provided passion in spades for an American fan base begging for life from their USMNT.
Bobby Wood converted a penalty kick for his 11th international goal to give Dave Sarachan his first win in three tries (two draws) as interim boss of the squad.
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Dave Sarachan capped only three of his five uncapped players, handing a start to Marky Delgado and substitute appearances to Andriya Novakovich and Tim Weah.
The first of the new millennium.@TimWeah steps on and paves the way for the Y2K generation » https://t.co/ZS4q6qxv5V pic.twitter.com/vLhLWHawZy
— U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) March 28, 2018
The USMNT does not have another match scheduled until a May 28 visit from Bolivia in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Jorge Villafana was an unabashed bright spot in the first quarter hour, and Wil Trapp found him with a tremendous through ball to cue up a blocked Kenny Saief chance.
Zack Steffen had to deal with a risky back pass and a fairly routine header off a free kick as the first half hour wasn’t a busy one.
The Yanks won a penalty kick attempt when Marky Delgado sprung Tyler Adams on goal, who hit the floor after trying to dribble around Gatito Fernandez.
Wood’s slow run-up ended with calm low finish and the Yanks led 1-0 heading into the break.
Here’s Adams absolutely roasting the Paraguay high press. It looked even more impressive in person. The speed is obviously stunning, but it’s the acceleration that really makes it pop https://t.co/gAC7s712QF
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) March 28, 2018
Paraguay improved in the second half, but the Americans remained the more dangerous side and with most of the possession.
The match had its chippy moments, with Matt Miazga coming to the aid of Delgado and Yedlin picking up a yellow card after being jostled on the sideline.
Cameron Carter-Vickers gave away a dangerous free kick for what should’ve been seen as a routine shoulder barge, but the wall blocked Paraguay’s shot.
Substitute Rubio Rubin showed great cutback and vision with his 89th minute set-up of Weah for what became a dangerous free kick. Darlington Nagbe couldn’t get his 23-yard effort to dip under the bar.
Weah did well on debut, winning a dangerous free kick and then stealing another ball to set up Novakovich for what could’ve been a goal on debut.