USA defeats Paraguay on a spring night in Carolina
A 1–0 win for the USMNT provided a new look at the future of US Soccer.
If you spend more than a few days in North Carolina, you’ll find out quickly that our weather is completely unpredictable. I’ve seen weeks where snow comes one day and temperatures are in the mid-70's on another.
When the USMNT came to town to play Paraguay, the weather didn’t swing in our favor. Temperatures in the mid-40's, overcast skies and light drizzle met the 9,895 fans who came to watch the game.
But nevertheless, the crowd was fired up and the home team prevailed 1–0 thanks to a Bobby Wood penalty kick.
Afterward, USMNT coach Dave Sarachan said that not every venue provides the USMNT with the feeling of a home venue but that this one certainly did, and that the crowd sounded about double its size.
Both of those things speak to the passion for the sport that the Triangle has. I think as a region, we really made the most out of our first USMNT game since 2006. Let’s take a look at how Tuesday night went down on the pitch.
Coach Sarachan appreciated the setting for Tuesday night’s friendly, but he made some interesting decisions on the night. To start with, his 4-1-4-1 formation was not really designed for creative production. Trapp made sense in the defensive midfielder role, and his play there was one of the highlights of the night. But between him, Adams, and Delgado, there was no one who was primarily a creator in the center of the pitch. Not surprisingly, a lot of our buildup play came down the wings.
And yet there were flashes of brilliance as well. Case in point: Tyler Adams. This guy is going to be very good … look at not only the speed here but also the awareness to sidestep the keeper and draw the game-deciding penalty:
I will also note that in the big picture, not having a creative player in the central midfield does not bother me a bit right now. In the USMNT player pool, we have Christian Pulisic, and when called upon, he will fill that role at an elite level.
The outside players in the bank of four behind Bobby Wood were Darlington Nagbe and Kenny Saief. I was not surprised when Nagbe drifted inside because he simply isn’t a natural wide player. Nevertheless, his ball carrying skills were on full display and he gave us the pleasure of this piece of skill:
In the immediate aftermath, I’ve seen some outlets who were less than impressed with Saief’s performance on the night, but I just don’t see that at all. Whereas Nagbe’s tendency to drift inside left Deandre Yedlin out of the buildup for most of the night, Saief’s play on the outside lifted the level of Villafaña tremendously.
The USMNT’s best attacking play, especially in the first half, was almost entirely on the left hand side. Saief also gave us this tremendous highlight:
But there were lowlights to the performance as well. One player who did not cover himself in glory was Bobby Wood. Wood received some of the largest applause when his name was announced before the match, but he was downright abysmal, especially early on.
One sequence in particular that stands out was a perfect long ball played by Steffen that started a break into Wood. Bobby took a few dribbles and then his mind just seemed to blank and lose track of his feet as the defender easily picked it away. Bad touches and miscues were the story of his night.
I know he scored the penalty, but Bobby played about as poorly as possible for a goalscorer. He has had a rough club season as well.
Dave Sarachan, when asked about it after the game, could only say that Bobby needs to “just keep working, his club is having a rough year and it’s been hard for him to find a rhythm.”
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen was an unsung hero on the night, commanding his box well and making a crucial win-saving deflection right at the final whistle. Every indication he gave suggests he could be the US number one for a long time.
From the substitutes, the most notable entry was Tim Weah making his debut. It was readily apparent that Weah plies his trade at PSG, as every touch seemed filled with imagination and potential.
I think he’ll be a really good player for this national team for a long time.
Unfortunately, Dave Sarachan gave us very little time to appreciate Weah’s talents, and in general did not seem interested in his substitutes. He only used four of the six available, and two of them (including Weah) came after the 80th minute. With so much youth at his disposal, you would think that Sarachan would give them the opportunity to show what they could do.
After the game, the coach said that the players on the pitch “deserved a win” and that he was trying to preserve that, but honestly this felt more like a manager who wanted to pad his record with wins in what he knows will be a limited stint at the helm of this program.
All in all, it was a great night for soccer in the Triangle, and it was a wonderful experience to have been there. I can’t wait to get out to WakeMed for another game, and hopefully the success of the USMNT here will inspire more folks to come out and support North Carolina FC and the NC Courage on the weekends.
