(John Glennon, The Tennessean, 03.30.11)

NASHVILLE — In the long road leading to the 2014 World Cup, the U.S. national team is looking for two things when it plays international friendlies such as Tuesday’s game against Paraguay; a good result and the continued development of players.

The Americans saw their share of the latter at LP Field, as youngsters like Tim Chandler, Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream and Eric Lichaj flashed potential.

But that wasn’t enough for the U.S. as the Americans lost 1-0 in front of 29,059 fans, the largest crowd to see a soccer game in Tennessee. 

The U.S. coming off a 1-1 tie against Argentina, controlled possession and spent the majority of the contest in Paraguay’s end. But the Americans were never able to crack a physical Paraguay defense despite some good chances.

Landon Donovan had a great chance to tie the game in the 75th minute, when he found himself with a point-blank opportunity about five yards from the Paraguay net. But he hammered a rocket of a shot into the side netting and then grimaced in frustration.

Paraguay scored against the run of play in the game’s 18th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

Forward Hernan Perez launched a corner into the U.S. penalty box and U.S. defender Jay DeMerit seemed to slip as he tried to meet the ball with his foot. The ball slid directly to forward Oscar Cardozo, who beat helpless U.S. goalie Marcus Hahnemann from close range.

The U.S. had more quality scoring chances in the first half than Paraguay. 

One of the American’s best opportunities came in the 20th minute, when Clint Dempsey rose at the 6-yard box to meet Chandler’s cross, but headed the ball high and wide.

But the top U.S. scoring chance in the opening half came in the 42nd minute, when DeMerit found himself some space for a backdoor header, but missed the net. DeMerit suffered a right groin strain on the play and was replaced by Carlos Bocanegra in the closing minutes of the first half.

The U.S. made a few changes at the half, as Jermaine Jones came on for Maurice Edu in the midfield and David Yelldell replaced Hahnemann in goal. It was Yelldell’s first appearance for the national team.

Another change came early in the second half, as defender Eric Lichaj replaced forward Jozy Altidore, pushing Chandler to midfield and Dempsey to forward. The final two U.S. substitutions were midfield Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Spector, who replaced defenders Jonathan Bornstein and Chandler.

First starts: Two U.S. players — Agudelo and Chandler — made their first starts for the national team. Agudelo had scored twice in his first three games for the U.S. but had been a substitute in each of those contests.

Another round?: The current U.S. roster features a number of multiple-World Cup veterans — such as Tim Howard, Bocanegra, and midfielders Donovan and Dempsey.

It remains to be seen how many of the vets will play in the 2014 World Cup.

“We’ll see — I’m taking it year by year,” said Bocanegra, 31. “I want to play as long as I can, and as long as I’m playing on a high level at a club team, hopefully I’ll get selected here.”

Hall class named:  Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2011 on the player ballot. 

Jones is the U.S. men’s national team all-time leading cap winner, Pope anchored the U.S. defense for nearly a decade and Stewart played in three World Cups for the U.S.

Kansas City Wizards coach Bob Gansler was elected as a builder and Bruce Murray was picked on the veterans ballot.