photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The quality of play from the U.S. men's national team was much improved against Paraguay than it was three days prior versus Argentina, but that didn't translate into a victory for the Americans.
Paraguay defeated the United States, 1-0, at LP Field on Tuesday night through an Oscar Cardozo goal in the first half. Cardozo blasted a shot into the net after Jay DeMerit failed to clear a corner kick from Victor Hugo Mareco.
The result was a disappointing one for the United States, which put forth a much stronger performance than it did at New Meadowlands Stadium on Saturday. From the opening whistle, the United States was able to dictate much of the game's flow with much-improved passing, but the team had trouble finding that final ball in Paraguay's final third.
"We hurt ourselves because when we got in good positions, whether those positions were on the flanks, our ability to play a good ball in early (was lacking), the kind of balls that give opportunities in the front." said head coach Bob Bradley. "In some cases when we had advantages more in the center, the timing of plays or the slipping of the final pass or just the ability for a player under tough pressure to make a play in that part of the field, those would be the areas in an overall good performance let us down and you end up with a tough 1-0 loss."
Paraguay's defending provided a stiff challenge for the Americans, allowing them room down the flanks but closing down the center with a narrow back four. Fullbacks Timmy Chandler and Jonathan Bornstein constantly made runs down the sidelines, but when their finals balls weren't lacking pace or accuracy, they were cleared out by Marcos Caceres and the physical Enrique Vera.
What also hurt the United States was set piece delivery. On a night when Juan Agudelo and Jozy Altidore drew several fouls as a result of Paraguay's physical marking, Landon Donovan struggled to place his free kicks.
Donovan did have good service on a couple of kicks, including on one that DeMerit almost put away towards the end of the first half, but the majority of them were off the mark.
"Attacking set pieces, deliveries weren't as good as they needed to be," said Bradley. "Paraguay is also physically a big team and when you're now getting these opportunities, the timing of runs, the mixing up of the deliveries, but at the end the fact that you're getting balls into dangerous spots with guys arriving at that time, we didn't do a good enough job of that."
The lack of execution almost saw the Americans go down 2-0 as in the 77th minute Marcelo Estigarribia ripped a shot from way out that beat debutant David Yelldell and stung off the far post. Yelldell entered the game at halftime for Marcus Hahnemann, who earned his first start for the U.S. team since Oct. 17, 2007.
Trailing by just a goal, the United States nearly came close to finding an equalizer on two separate occasions in the waning moments of the match. Michael Bradley blasted a shot from distance that looked destined for the upper corner, but goalkeeper Justo Villar made a full-stretch dive to swat the shot away with his fingertips, leaving Bradley on his knees with his hands over his face and the record crowd of 29,059 in awe.
"On another day, the keeper doesn't take Mikey's shot out of the top bin," said Maurice Edu, who started but was replaced at halftime by Jermaine Jones.
Jones almost equalized in the final seconds of the game, as a cleared ball fell to him. His ensuing shot, a powerful one-timed volley, was too close to Villar, however.
Following that play, Honduran referee Jose Benigno blew the final whistle, leaving the United States with a disappoiting defeat despite an improved performance.
"In the second half we have lots of chances to make the goal but we don't make the goal," said Jones. "Paraguay have in the first half, I think, one chance to make the goal."
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What do you think of the United States' 1-0 loss to Paraguay? Who were you impressed by? Were you encouraged by the performance or does the loss overshadow that?
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