WATCH: USMNT vs Paraguay fight video — Sunderland’s Omar Alderete sent off for punch in friendly
Mauricio Pochettino wanted to see more fight from his United States men’s national team, and Paraguay was happy to engage the USMNT late in a 2-1 American win on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Paraguay’s Omar Alderete, a Sunderland player unable to feature in this match due to a concussion, was shown a red card as part of a wild fracas in stoppage time.
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It started when Paraguay’s Gustavo Gomez tried to take a loose ball from the USMNT’s Alex Freeman on a play that was set to be an American throw-in.
Freeman would not relinquish possession of the ball and Gomez put Freeman in a headlock. As the fourth official tried to step in, USMNT sub Sebastian Berhalter raced in to the aid of his teammate while Alderete did the same, throwing Berhalter backward.
It was all limbs from there, and Alderete eventually drove Freeman from the pile and tossed a punch into the player’s back for good measure. Freeman responded with a two-handed shove to a Paraguay member.
WATCH: Sunderland’s Omar Alderete sent off as USMNT vs Paraguay friendly ends in fight
