

The USMNT played their third and final match of this Copa America Centenario group stage, they needed a victory in order to secure the second spot behind a powerful Colombia and keep dreaming of fighting for the trophy. They had Paraguay in front of them, which was a very complicated foe for anyone, however, they managed to handle them without any problems. The USA would get ahead in the score sheet during the first half after Gyasi Zardes saw Clint Dempsey on the box and sent him an incisive cross.
The inclusion of Zardes on the left wing was the major trump card that gave Jurgen Klinsmann the edge throughout the whole first half, but that didn't take away their concern about Paraguay probably scoring an equalizer. With this momentary victory, the players went to rest for fifteen minutes with the game still opened up for anyone. Right after half time, Yedlin did another nasty foul which gave him a second yellow card and got sent-off. This placed the US in a delicate situation with a whole second half still to go.
After Yedlin's red card, Klinsmann thought it best to take off Clint Dempsey in order to give a chance to Michael Orozco to reinforce the back line. From that moment on, Paraguay came dangerously close to score the equalizer, but the USMNT was able to hold its own throughout the whole 45 minutes remaining in the game. Klinsmann's boys managed to hold the result until the very end, and managed to win three golden points which gave them the ticket to the next round. It took them the world to win, but they achieved it.
Photo credit: US Soccer