U.S. men’s soccer tops New Zealand, 4-1, to take back destiny

It took just a half-hour at Stade Vélodrome to settle nerves and lift spirits.

Djordje Mihailovic, Walker Zimmerman and Gianluca Busio scored early goals and Paxten Aaronson added one in the second half as the Americans cruised to a 4-1 victory over New Zealand, substantially brightening their quarterfinal prospects.

The scoring haul set a U.S. Olympic men’s record and came three days after a 3-0 loss to France, a gold medal contender.

“The team was able to forget about France very quickly and move on,” Mihailovic said, “and we have to do that again.”

A victory, or perhaps even a draw, against Guinea on Tuesday in Saint-Étienne would accomplish something the U.S. men have not achieved since 2000: reaching the Olympic knockout stage.

Group A favorite France (2-0-0, six points) defeated Guinea (0-2-0) later Saturday, 1-0, leaving the United States second (1-1-0, three), ahead of New Zealand (1-1-0, three) on goal differential. The Americans are even, while the Kiwis are minus-2. New Zealand will close Tuesday against France in Marseille. Two teams will advance.

The U.S. men are in the Olympics for the first time since 2008. The competition is for players 23 and under, with three exceptions per team, but several U.S. players are on the national team radar as the World Cup nears.

Despite the loss to France, the Americans said they felt good about their performance and optimistic about winning the next two matches against opponents that, on paper, were not in their class. They had created a number of high-quality chances against the French, only to falter with their finishing touches.

U.S. Coach Marko Mitrovic was so comfortable with the performance, he did not make any lineup changes Saturday.

“The vibe was kind of a sense of calmness,” said Aaronson, whose older brother, Brenden, was on the 2022 World Cup squad. “Everybody handled the so-called pressure really well. You saw that in the way we started. We were hungry and motivated.”

The scoring parade began in the eighth minute when Mihailovic converted a penalty kick after Nathan Harriel was tripped in the box. Four minutes later, Mihailovic drove a free kick into the penalty area, prompting a scramble that ended when Zimmerman, the only U.S. player with World Cup experience, poked the ball into the net from inside the six-yard box.

“When you get to 2-0 at the very beginning, it’s a much, much easier game,” Mitrovic said.

Mihailovic and Zimmerman were among Mitrovic’s over-age selections, joining Miles Robinson.

“It’s good two over-age guys get the party going,” Mihailovic said, “and the younger guys continue it.”

Zimmerman, a 6-foot-3 center back, is known for scoring with his head, not his feet.

“That’s definitely not what I expected,” Busio said with a laugh.

“Just a little sneaky one,” Zimmerman said, smiling. “A little cheeky.”

The surge continued into the 30th minute, when left back John Tolkin busted through the left side and crossed to Kevin Paredes (South Riding, Va.). Paredes touched the ball to Busio, whose initial bid was blocked. The ball caromed back to him for a 10-yard shot through a tangle of bodies.

After the loss to France, “we had to get off to a good start, a fast start,” Zimmerman said. He added, “Being up 3-0 was probably inspiration from the women’s team,” which led Zambia 3-0 at halftime Thursday in Nice. “We saw they can do it, so we wanted to join in on the fun.”

The scoring continued 12 minutes into the second half, when, moments after entering, Griffin Yow (Clifton, Va.) rushed to the end line and dropped the ball back to Aaronson for an angled drive into the far corner.

Jesse Randall scored for New Zealand in the 78th minute. Otherwise, it was a night for this U.S. team — and the program as a whole — to rejoice.

“There was a lot of noise about that [France] game because we play the host team here, in a sold-out stadium, almost like the opening event of the Olympic Games,” Mitrovic said. “We know that we will be in the spotlight. We kind of made a decision between us, no matter what’s the outcome of that game, once the game is done, we put it aside and we move forward.”

Note: Busio was forced out of the match before halftime after aggravating a hamstring ailment. “I don’t think it’s anything too serious,” he said. Mitrovic said he would have a better understanding of the injury Sunday.