The Shocking Twist That Quietly Saved Team USA

A quiet match that changed everything

Sometimes the most important moment of a tournament happens when the team in question is not even on the field. For the United States in Group D of the World Cup, that moment arrived in a tense, scrappy contest between Paraguay and Turkey that ended with a slim one goal result and a huge consequence.

By the final whistle, Paraguay had clung to a one nil win while playing with ten men for more than half the match. That single goal and that stubborn defensive stand did something the U.S. could not do on its own schedule. It handed the Amer…