The dream of winning a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics is over for the U.S. men’s soccer team following a 4-0 defeat versus Morocco on Friday at the Parc de Princes.
It was a day to forget for Walker Zimmerman and company as the team could not overcome Morocco’s possession and attack throughout the match.
"We knew Morocco was going to be very difficult," Zimmerman said. "They have impressive players and they were really good."
Fouling in the box, failure to press the ball, and a lack of defensive organization all proved to be key mistakes for the Americans in their loss.
The U.S. started on the wrong foot when defender Nathan Harriel clipped Soufiane Rahimi inside the box in the 27th minute, and the tournament’s top goalscorer cooly put away the penalty despite American goalkeeper Patrick Schulte guessing the correct way.
Down a goal, the Yanks never seemed to increase their intensity. Instead, Morocco continued to control possession and showed its explosiveness on the counter — especially in the second half.
In the 63rd minute, Ilias Akhomach positioned himself on the end of a cross delivered by Adbe Ezzalzouli to double Morocco’s lead. Then, seven minutes later, Morocco’s star player and Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi added another goal for his team after he picked up possession around the half line and calmly dribbled into the opponent’s half unimpeded before striking the ball in the bottom right corner from outside of the box. U.S. head coach Marko Mitrovic will be upset that his team failed to step up and halt Hakimi's path toward the goal.
Morocco sealed its impressive victory in stoppage time as Mehdi Mawhoub put away a penalty after Harriel was again the guilty party, this time for handling in the box.
After making it out of the group stage, the U.S. was unable to continue its momentum of playing free-flowing attack and using its pace on the wings to punish teams. The U.S. created a few chances, but none clinical enough to get back in the game.
For Mitrovic, the loss doesn't reflect the effort his men have put in throughout the Olympic tournament.
“Now, we are emotional. Today it’s not about the performance, it’s about where we’re standing," he said. "We lost the game and it’s not easy. For everything the guys did over the last 10 months, they didn’t deserve this result. I believe they deserved a better outcome.”
The Americans’ journey at the Paris Games now concludes, while Morocco advances to the semis and will play the winner of the quarterfinal match between Spain and Japan.