Key events
US lineup
Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte (Columbus/USA)
Defense (left to right): John Tolkin (NY Red Bulls/USA), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati/USA), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC/USA), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia/USA). Zimmerman and Robinson are mainstays on the senior US team and two of the three “overage” players on the team. Zimmerman, in fact, is 31.
Midfield: captain Tanner Tessmann (Venezia/ITA) in a defensive/No. 6 role, then Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia/USA) and Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado/USA), who is having a breakout tournament as one of the “overage” players
Forward: Griffin Yow (Westerlo/BEL), Paxten Aaronson (Vitesse/NED), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER)
Not too long ago, most US players this age were playing college soccer.
Paredes and Tessmann are on yellow cards and would miss a semifinal if booked again.
In the decisive group-stage game against Guinea, Paredes had two goals. Mihailovic had the other. Mihailovic also scored the opener in the 4-1 win against New Zealand, Zimmerman came up to finish in traffic, and Gianluca Busio added a third at the 30-minute mark. Aaronson added a second-half goal.
The one change from the Guinea game: McGlynn replaces Maximilian Dietz in midfield.
Preamble
The USA-Australia rivalry is in full swing in the pool.
The US men’s soccer team are in the knockout rounds.
Is it 2000 again? Did we finally have a long-delayed Y2K glitch and end up being transported back in time 24 years? Oh, to be that young again …
If you don’t know much about Olympic men’s soccer, here’s the deal – each of these teams represent the best of their country among the three players of any age and 15 or 16 players under age 23 that their professional clubs deemed expendable enough to release for this tournament.
But while the strange rules mean these teams aren’t as strong as their full national teams – there’s no Christian Pulisic or Weston McKennie among the “overage” players, and full national team players under age 23 like Gio Reyna, Yunus Musah, Joe Scally and Ricardo Pepi are elsewhere at the moment – these are still accomplished players. The Sydney Olympics was a bit of a coming-out party for Landon Donovan, John O’Brien and other players who helped the US men reach the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002.
Will any of these players be ready to make an impact in two years’ time? Or will any of them leave France with a medal?
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the US men have got on so far:
Here come the kids, salvaging the summer for American men’s soccer.
The most consequential action will still be the appointment of a new senior team head coach, with US Soccer currently scouring Europe for a big-name candidate. But the Olympic side are providing the first jolt of positivity and forward momentum, boosting a bruised program that needs reviving before a home World Cup in 2026.
A month that began with the US alarmingly failing to advance from the Copa América group stage – a flop that cost Gregg Berhalter his job – the Olympic side are flourishing in France. The Under-23s secured a rare berth in the knockout phase on Tuesday with an efficient 3-0 win over Guinea in Saint-Étienne.
As a result, the USMNT have reached the knockout stage for the first time since Sydney in 2000 and will face Morocco in the quarter-finals in Paris on Friday. Oubliez the Copa angst; embrassez the Olympic optimism. Here we have an American team that’s exceeding its historical norms.
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