The midnight green of Lincoln Financial Field turned red, white and blue for an evening.
And the U.S. men’s national team delivered with an emphatic 1-0 win over Paraguay in front of 51,041 fans the Linc on Saturday, booking passage into the quarterfinals of Copa America Centenario.
The U.S. - lost to Colombia and trounced Costa Rica in their first two games of the tournament that features the top national teams from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean - rode a first-half Clint Dempsey goal and some big-time saves by goalkeeper Brad Guzan before and after going down a man to assure themselves a top-two finish in Group A.
The crowd erupted in the 27th minute when Gyasi Zardes made a nice move along the sideline before playing a low-driven cross across the box to Dempsey, whose left-footed strike slid underneath goalie Justo Villar and put the US up 1-0.
That lead held up throughout but not without plenty of nervous moments.
While clinging to that tenuous 1-0 advantage, the U.S. was dealt a big blow when DeAndre Yedlin was called for two yellow cards in a one-minute span and was sent off in the 48th minute.
Michael Orozco - a former Union defender who played in the first-ever MLS game at Lincoln Financial Field back in 2010 - was called upon two minutes later to help the Americans preserve their lead.
Despite being down a man, the U.S. actually had the best chance at the game’s second goal. But Zardes, who’s been criticized throughout his USMNT tenure for a poor first touch, couldn’t put a shot on net after being left open and sprung free in front of the goal by Bobby Wood.
The game turned chippy for long stretches after that with Wood, especially, getting heated after getting tackled from behind a couple of times, only one of which resulted in a yellow card. Wood was then booked with a yellow of his own for arguing.
But Guzan made sure the U.S. would at least get to the quarters of the historic tourney when he came up with a clutch double-save in the 82nd minute as U.S. players on the bench jumped off their feet to celebrate.
And when Paraguay looked like they finally found their equalizer in the 89th minute, the goal was waved off thanks to an offside call.
Earlier in the contest, the U.S. was back on thier heels and needed a terrific slide tackle from John Brooks to save a potential Paraguay goal in the 11th minute. That defensive play, complete with an emotional fist pump from the center back who scored a famous goal in the 2014 World Cup, was preceded by a nice Guzan save eight minutes later on a close-range Dario Lezcano header.
Guzan then made the save of the game - also on Lezcano - right before halftime, putting out his foot to deny the Paraguayan forward on a breakaway.
The Americans’ best first-half chance came in the 23rd minute when, after Paraguay was whistled for a handball right in front of the box, Clint Dempsey pushed a free kick just high.
But the veteran striker made up for it four minutes later with his 51st goal in a U.S. jersey, keeping the USMNT’s hopes of winning a major international trophy alive.
Saturday’s game was the second of three Copa games being held in Philly. Venezuela upset Uruguay 1-0 at the Linc on Thursday and Chile will face Panama in the Eagles’ stadium Tuesday.
