The U.S. Men’s Olympic Soccer team needed no drones to help them on Saturday as they thrashed New Zealand to come away with a crucial three points at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille to put them a step closer to qualifying for the knockout stage.
Head coach Marko Mitrovic went with the same lineup that he dispatched in the team’s 3-0 loss to France in their Group A opener on Wednesday. With their toughest opponent now out of the way, the U.S. looked to make things click against the team from Oceania.
The Americans were rewarded a penalty after six minutes when Nathan Harriel was brought down in the box by New Zealand midfielder Matthew Garbett. Djordje Mihailovic would step up and covert the spot kick in the eighth minute.
Walker Zimmerman would double the team’s lead four minutes later when Mihailovic’s free kick from the right side was poorly handled by the Kiwi defense, allowing the center-back to pounce and poke the ball home.
The U.S. kept their foot on the gas and scored a third goal on the half-hour mark through Gianluca Busio. John Tolkin dribbled the ball into the 18-yard box before crossing it to Kevin Paredes. He would then tee up his teammate to take a crack at goal. Busio’s initial shot was blocked, but he would not miss on his second attempt.
It was more of the same in the second half as Paxten Aaronson added a fourth for the team in the 58th minute. Griffin Yow dribbled the ball into the area from the left side and passed it on to Aaranson to put his left-footed shot into the back of the net.
New Zealand got one back in the 78th minute through Jesse Randall, but it was too late as the U.S. secured the win to control their fate in their final group game.
The team will head north to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Etienne to wrap up play in Group A against Guinea on Tuesday.
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