Mauricio Pochettino wanted to see more fight from his United States men’s national team, and Paraguay was happy to face the USMNT late in a 2-1 American victory Saturday in Philadelphia.
Paraguayan Omar Alderete, a Sunderland player unable to take part in the match due to concussion, was shown a red card in a wild stoppage-time brawl.
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It all started when Paraguayan Gustavo Gomez attempted to take a loose ball from USMNT’s Alex Freeman on a play that was supposed to be an American throw-in.
Freeman did not relinquish possession of the ball and Gomez put Freeman in a headlock. As the fourth official attempted to intervene, USMNT sub Sebastian Berhalter rushed to help his teammate while Alderete did the same, throwing Berhalter backwards.
All the members were out from there, and Alderete finally kicked Freeman out of the pile and threw a punch in the back for good measure. Freeman responded by pushing a member of Paraguay with both hands.
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