Copa America: U.S. advances to quarter-finals after beating Paraguay
Americans take top seed in group after Colombia loses to Costa Rica
The United States advanced to the quarter-finals of the Copa America, getting a first-half goal from Clint Dempsey and surviving DeAndre Yedlin's early second-half ejection to beat Paraguay 1-0 on Saturday.
Dempsey scored his 51st international goal in the 27th minute, but the Americans' defence was upended just three minutes into the second half.
"I think that we could possibly do something special here," Dempsey said.
Yedlin got his first yellow in the 47th for a slide tackle from the side into Miguel Almiron near the centre circle. When play resumed, he raised a foot and charged into Miguel Samudio near the sideline, prompting Chilean referee Julio Bascunan to immediately give him another yellow card.
"He got caught emotionally," Klinsmann said. "He just lost his head for a second."
Michael Orozco entered to play right back in the 50th and Dempsey came off as the U.S. prepared to survive an onslaught. With Paraguay applying pressure, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann repeatedly turned to try to spur on the crowd of 51,041.
American goalkeeper Brad Guzan made an outstanding body stop on a short-range shot in the 82nd minute, then made a kick save on an attempt off the rebound. Gustavo Gomez put the ball past Guzan in the 89th but whistled for offside.
Hosting a special 100th anniversary of South America's championship, the U.S. (2-1) finished first in Group A depending after Colombia lost to Costa Rica later Saturday.
Paraguay (0-2-1), which lost to Argentina in the semifinals of last year's Copa America, was eliminated.
Colombia falls to Costa Rica
Johan Venegas and Celso Borges each scored and Costa Rica benefited from an own goal by Colombia in a 3-2 upset victory to wrap up Group A play in the Copa America on Saturday night.
The match was largely inconsequential to these teams because Colombia earned a berth in the quarter-finals with a win over Paraguay on Tuesday and Costa Rica was eliminated from contention with the United States' 1-0 victory over Paraguay earlier on Saturday.
But the United States did benefit from Costa Rica's upset, with Colombia's loss giving the team first place in Group A.
Frank Fabra and Marlos Moreno scored Colombia's two goals. Fabra scored Colombia's own-goal in the first half to give Costa Rica a lead it would not relinquish.