CARY, N.C. – There was no guarantee that a youth-focused friendly between two teams who failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup would feature a hard edge of competitiveness and intensity. But Tuesday’s duel between the US national team and Paraguay turned out to be “a big-boy game,” in the words of USMNT head coach Dave Sarachan, and thus a useful exercise for his team.
“We started out really well, and sharp,” Sarachan said after a 1-0 US win that featured some full-blooded challenges and bad blood from the visiting side. “On the night, I thought each man competed great. There was some good soccer played. Defensively, we were real rock-solid. We limited [Atlanta United's Paraguayan star Miguel] Almiron on the night, which was an important piece to make sure we kept a clean sheet.”
Starting five of the seven MLS players called into camp for this match, including a USMNT debut for Toronto FC’s Marky Delgado, the hosts showed flashes of aggression and fluidity in the first half, particularly playing out of the back through the midfield. However, they found it difficult to make the final connection in the attacking third, directing just three shots on goal.
The match’s lone goal came in the latter stages of the opening stanza. Delgado delivered a delightful through ball to a streaking Tyler Adams in the 43rd minute, and Paraguay goalkeeper Roberto “Gatito” Fernandez tripped up Adams, provoking a penalty kick and booking.
“We emphasized deep runs out of the midfield tonight because we knew Paraguay played a high back line,” Adams said. “Marky found me on a good ball, and obviously I had to do the rest. I was looking to tuck it back post, but the keeper took a good angle on it, So, I just tried to drag [the ball] across my body, and he caught my leg.”
Darlington Nagbe works in traffic vs. Paraguay | USA Today Sports Images
Bobby Wood calmly converted his kick from the spot to give the US a 1-0 advantage that held up despite La Albirroja’s spirited second-half response.
“Marky is a good passer and has good feet,” Sarachan said. “Tyler has an incredible engine; his feet were good, not great, but he still got out of trouble. The combination of a good passer and a guy who can run could be deadly. In our scouting, we felt Paraguay might play a high line, and we talked about breaking that line from a deeper role, and Tyler’s timing of his run was excellent. Each utilized their strengths on that [play].”
Sarachan said in advance of Tuesday’s friendly that he hoped to use all six of his allotted substitutions in order to evaluate many of the youngsters called into this March camp. However, Sarachan ended up making only four subs during the match, two of them beyond the 85th minute. Nonetheless, three players earned their debut USMNT cap: Delgado, Tim Weah and Andrija Novakovich.
“You don’t just make changes for changes sake,” Sarachan explained. “We did want to make [more than] three or four subs, but the game sort of evolved in a way that we felt the players on the field needed to be rewarded for a great effort.”
A capacity crowd of 9,895 crammed into Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park to cheer the USMNT on to victory.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” Adams said. “Anytime you get the chance to play in the US, it’s an honor to have the fans behind you. The energy tonight was unbelievable.”
