The United States beat Paraguay, 1-0, on Tuesday thanks to Bobby Wood's first-half penalty, ending a three-match winless run for the U.S.

Hamburg forward Wood was the hero for the United States – breaking a personal drought by calmly converting his penalty on the stroke of half-time after Tyler Adams was brought down inside the area.

It was the first win under Interim Head Coach Dave Sarachan, who stepped in for Bruce Arena in October after the USA sensationally failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia – the former assistant previously overseeing draws against Portugal and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It was a youthful look for USA – who drew against Bosnia in January – with nine of their starting XI aged 25 or younger – Jorge Villafana and Darlington Nagbe the oldest players in the line-up.

Paris Saint-Germain teenager Timothy Weah – the son of legendary AC Milan striker and now Liberian president George – also made his debut late on for the victorious United States.

Also earning their first caps were Toronto FC midfielder Marky Delgado, who started, and forward Andrija Novakovich of Reading FC who is on loan at Dutch club SC Telstar.

Paraguay, who like USA did not qualify for the World Cup, were headlined by Cristian Riveros in his 100th international appearance, out-of-favour AC Milan defender Gustavo Gomez, and Atlanta United star Miguel Almiron.

The opening 45 minutes proved to be a scrappy affair, with attempted combinations ruined by sloppy passes and poor control as the vocal crowd slowly lost their enthusiasm.

But they had plenty to cheer about when USA were awarded a penalty approaching half-time after Tyler Adams was brought down by Paraguay goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez – Wood making no mistake from the spot for his 12th international goal.

USA cut through Paraguay with ease as Adams latched on to a simple throughball from Marco Delgado, outpacing the visitor's defence and attempting to round the keeper before he was taken down in a one-on-one situation.

The Americans emerged from the break full of confidence and on the front foot against a frustrated Paraguay side as tempers threatened to boil over.

Paraguay had a decent opportunity to equalise after USA cheaply surrendered possession just outside of the penalty area but captain Will Trapp managed to block Miguel Almiron's goal-bound shot past the hour-mark.

The Paraguayans came close again with 16 minutes remaining. This time substitute Hernan Perez's towering header bounced just wide of the far post.