Key events
4 min: Hakimi storms forward into the Moroccan attack. He earns a corner kick. It’s headed away by Tolkin, who immediately falls to the ground. Looks like he headed it with the top of his skull, which is not the way to do it.
We have a comment on the national anthems from Sachin Shah: “Morocco won the anthem sing-off. Half our team looks like they aren’t sure of the words.”
They probably just didn’t want to incur more whistling. And besides, as a semi-pro musician myself, I have to say our anthem is tough to sing.
1 min: Corner kick, and a foul is called, apparently on Zimmerman. The replay shows he had his shirt held the entire time he was running in the penalty area. The audacity.
Kickoff: And the opening whistle is followed immediately by incessant whistling from the crowd, which will certainly not be on the side of the US team here.
About that Argentina game (and today’s) …
Seems like eons ago, doesn’t it? It was before the opening ceremony.
Here’s what happened …
Cristian Medina scored the apparent equalizer in the 16th minute of stoppage time. Yes, 16th.
A pitch invasion followed.
The field was cleared.
The stadium was cleared – all spectators told to pack up and leave.
More than an hour later, play resumed – but first, a VAR check! Medina was judged to have been offside.
A few minutes of play later, the official whistle sounded, and everyone who left the stadium thinking they had seen a 2-2 draw must have been surprised when they learned later that day or even the next day that Morocco had actually won.
Ready for a twist?
Today’s match officials are referee Yael Falcon and assistant referees Maximiliano del Yesso and Facundo Rodriguez.
From Argentina.
The fourth official and reserve official are from New Zealand. The VAR crew is from Spain and China.
But do we have odds anywhere on whether anyone from Morocco will point out the referee’s nationality in case of any controversial calls?
Morocco lineup
Goalkeeper: Munir El Kajoui (RS Berkane/MAR), a 35-year-old who has played much of his career in Spain and Turkey
Defense (left to right): Zakaria El Ouahdi (Genk/BEL), Mehdi Boukamir (Charleroi/BEL), Oussama El Azzouzi (Bologna/ITA), captain Achraf Hakimi (PSG/FRA)
Center/defensive mid: Oussama Targhalline (Le Havre/FRA), Amir Richardson (Stade Reims/FRA)
Midfield: Abde Ezzalzouli (Real Betis/ESP), Bilal El Khanouss (Genk/BEL), Ilias Akhomach (Villarreal/ESP)
Forward: Soufiane Rahimi (Al-Ain/KSA)
Hakimi and Rahimi are the overage players in addition to Munir.
Most of the starting lineup would miss the next game if shown yellow today. Even the goalkeeper. The exceptions are Boukamir, Ezzalzouli and El Azzouzi.
This team advanced to this stage by beating a fancied Argentina side that included several players fresh from winning the Copa America. The game was … bizarre. See next post. Rahimi had both goals in the 2-1 decision. They lost to Ukraine 2-1 on a goal deep into stoppage time, with Rahimi again the Moroccan scorer.
Richardson opened the scoring in the 3-0 win over Iraq. Rahimi followed, and Ezzalzouli offered up an insurance goal in the 36th minute.
Transfermarkt lists Hakimi (60m Euros), El Khanouss (30m), Akhomach (15m) and sub Eliesse Ben Seghir (Monaco/FRA, 15m) as the most valuable players on the side.
Richardson was born in France. His father is former US basketball player Micheal Ray Richardson.
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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