ROSARIO, Argentina (Oct. 25, 2006) - After a scoreless draw through 90 minutes of play, the U.S. defeated Paraguay 4-3 in a penalty shootout this afternoon in Rosario, Argentina. With the penalty kick victory, the U.S. finished tied atop the four-team Copa Cuidad de Rosario Tournament with five points, but ended up in third place with a lower goal differential.

Paraguay ended up in first place despite losing two games in penalty kicks. The South American international squad defeated Rosario Central in their first match 3-0, before falling in penalties to Newell's Old Boys and the U.S. in their next two matches, but still ended up with a plus-3 goal differential to win the tournament. (The losing team in the penalty kick shootout was rewarded one point, while the winning team was given two points.)

Newell's Old Boys fell to Rosario Central in the final match of the tournament, 3-1, and ended up with a plus-1 goal differential, while the U.S. ended up with a minus-1 goal differential. Rosario Central ended up in last place with just one victory and two losses, giving the club team three points overall.

With Newell's Old Boys falling to Rosario Central in the second match, the U.S. would have been able to win the tournament had they been able to score on one of the 18 shots they had against Paraguay. The match was a back and forth affair as Paraguay also had a number of opportunities with 11 shots, but U.S. goalkeeper Zac MacMath was able to earn his second international clean sheet.

In the penalty shootout, Jared Jeffrey and Brandon Zimmerman made the USA's first two spot kick before Greg Garza missed wide. Ellis McLoughlin and Danny Wenzel made the fourth and fifth kicks for the U.S., which gave them the victory as two Paraguay shooters missed.

U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team Game Report

Match-up: USA vs. Paraguay
Date: October 25, 2006
Competition: Copa Cuidad de Rosario
Venue: Estadio Gabino Sosa; Rosario, Argentina
Attendance: 300
Weather: Crisp, 55 degrees

Scoring Summary:   
                          1    2    PK      F
USA                  0    0      4       0
Paraguay        0     0      3       0

Penalty Summary:
USA: Jeffrey (made), Zimmerman (made), Garza (miss), McLoughlin (made), Wenzel (made)
Paraguay: n/a

Lineups:
USA: 18-Zac MacMath; 16-Brandon Zimmerman, 3-Mykell Bates, 4-Howard Turk, 5-Matthew Uy; 6-Danny Wenzel, 8-Jared Jeffrey (capt.), 15-Greg Garza, 23-Jose Altamirano (19-Brendan King, 90); 19-Jesse Paredes (12-Ryan Finley, 60), 9-Ellis McLoughlin
Head Coach: John Hackworth

PAR: 12-Martin Cabrera; 3-Jorge Aguero, 5-Francisco Silva, 13-Cristian Ojeda (15-Jorge Sanabria, 46), 14-Juan Baez (4-Diego Ayala, 46); 2-Ruben Pizurno, 6-Nestor Ramirez (17-Miguel Zaracho, 79), 8-Carlos Martines, 10-Aldo Snead; 11-Juan Jose Lopez (9-Dario Lezcano, 46), 19-William Santacruz (19-Oscar Gimenez, 46).

Stats Summary:     
                                  USA     PAR
 Shots                        18        11
 Saves                        5          2
 Corner Kicks            9         7
 Fouls                        15        14
 Offside                       1         0

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Danny Wenzel (caution)               12th minute
PAR – Juan Baez (caution)                      33.
PAR – William Santacruz (caution)        33.
PAR – Cristian Ojeda (caution)              44.
USA – Mykell Bates (caution)                  63.

Copa Cuidad de Rosario - Final Standings
Teams                           GP      W      L      T    PKW    GF      GA    GD    Pts.
Paraguay                        3         1      0      2       0          4        1      +3       5
Newell's Old Boys        3         1       1      1       1         6        5      +1       5    
USA                                 3         1       1      1       1         4        6       -2       5
Rosario Central            3         1       2      0       0         5        7       -2       3       

Monday, Oct. 23
Newell's Old Boys 4, USA 1
Paraguay 3, Rosario Central 0

Tuesday, Oct. 24
USA 3, Rosario Central 2
Newell's Old Boys 1, Paraguay 1 (NOB wins in PKs)

Wednesday, Oct. 25
USA 0, Paraguay 0 (USA wins in PKs)
Rosario Central 3, Newell's Old Boys 1