The U.S. Men’s National Team scored early through Clint Dempsey and held on late after DeAndre Yedlin was sent off to defeat Paraguay 1-0 in front of a raucous crowd of 51,041 at Lincoln Financial Field. Following Costa Rica’s 3-2 win against Colombia, the U.S. also clinched first place in the group and will return to action against a to-be-determined Group B team on Thursday, June 16 in Seattle for a Quarterfinal match-up.
After John Brooks made a brilliant defensive play in the opening stanza to deny Paraguay a clear cut shot at goal, the USA settled into the match and began to take control. Near the half-hour mark, Gyasi Zardes fed Dempsey for what proved to be the game winner.
In the second half the U.S. team pulled together to record its second consecutive clean sheet in tournament play after Yedlin was ejected two minutes after the break for two bookable offenses in less than two minutes.
The USA (2-1-0, 6pts) is now guaranteed of advancing to the knockout stage and temporarily moves atop Group A based on goal differential. The U.S. would retain that position should Colombia (2-0-0, 6pts) lose to Costa Rica (0-1-1, 1pt) by five or fewer goals in the day’s late game. Paraguay (0-2-1, 1pt) drops to the bottom of the group standings pending the result of the Colombia-Costa Rica match.
Thursday’s game will be broadcast live on FS1, UniMas and UDN. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter @ussoccer and @ussoccer_esp.
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