The USA will have to play to survive in the Olympics when it battles New Zealand in the second match of the men’s tournament in Paris. After falling to France in their opener, they are last in the group. A loss to the Kiwis would all but ensure a group-stage exit. A win, however, would keep their chances of advancing alive heading into the final game of group play.
Entering Saturday’s contests, France is at the top of Group A with three points and a positive goal differential. New Zealand picked up a win in their opening game as well, but that was a one-goal triumph. Following such a major loss, the United States fell to the bottom of the group. That signals that there is such staunch work to do for head coach Marko Mitrović and the United States Olympic team.
France recap
The opening loss to the French was always going to have severe consequences on the chances of the United States. Over a million people tuned in and saw that the game started well enough for the US. They held their own defensively and had one or two chances at the attacking end.
The second half came, and Djordje Mihailovic hit the crossbar from 30 yards out. Just two minutes later, though, France roared down and scored two minutes later. The US responded well and had a litany of chances in front of the French goal. They were not able to convert any of them and France duly made them pay with a second goal.
At 2-0, the matter was pretty much decided. But the French were still able to get one more goal to run out 3-0 winners. Many in the US camp will be hoping that conceding the third goal does not become important down the line in a potential goal-difference tiebreaker.
The challenge of New Zealand for the USA at the Olympics
The opponents for the US’ do-or-die game got their Olympic campaign off to a good start.
New Zealand defeated Guinea 2-1 in their opening game, but it was hardly a cakewalk. The Kiwis took the lead in the 25th minute through their captain, Matthew Garbet. They gave up an equalizer in the second half, but Ben Waine of Plymouth Argyle responded just four minutes later with what proved to be the winning goal.
Their manager, Darren Bazeley, was at one point in time an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids to former USMNT head coach Anthony Hudson. The roster that Bazeley has called in features mostly domestic players but does have two MLS guys on it as well: defender Michael Boxall of Minnesota United and forward Jay Herdman. He is the son of current Toronto FC head coach John Herdman.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 3 p.m. ET. Viewers in the US can watch on the USA Network in English and on Telemundo in Spanish. Coverage is also available for those in the United States on Peacock. NBC’s streaming service has coverage of each of the events throughout the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
