The U.S. men’s soccer team crucially needed a good result against New Zealand to increase its chances of making it out of the group stage, and the team did exactly that.
Days after losing its opener to France, the U.S. was able to pick its head up and beat New Zealand in dominant fashion by winning 4-1.
The Americans got on the board early after defender Nathan Harriel was fouled in the opposition’s box and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic was able to coolly put away the penalty to give his side a 1-0 lead. It only took the U.S. four minutes to double its lead after veteran defender Walker Zimmerman – who is one of the overaged players on the roster – got on the end of a rebound from close range. The party in the first half wasn’t quite yet over for the Yanks as Kevin Paredes teed up Gianluca Busio inside the box to score and make it 3-0.
The U.S. continued to dominate possession and create opportunities in the second half as Paxten Aaronson got in on the fun by adding his team’s fourth goal of the match in the 58th minute.
New Zealand was able to get a goal in the last 15 minutes of the match, but proved to be a simulation goal as it was too late for the Oceanic nation to create some sort of spark for a comeback.
U.S. head coach Marko Mitrovic said his side's early start paved the way to calmly earn a much-needed win.
"I think the game against France was a game of inches. Today we were good with the first two opportunities we had," Mitrovic said. "When you get in the game with 2-0 at the very beginning, obviously it's a much easier game. We never spoke about we have to win, we have to tie. We want to maximize every day and we want to maximize every game."
The result both puts the U.S. in a comfortable position to advance by most likely only needing one point to move on and erases a minus-3 goal differential. However, getting a favorable result against Guinea will be easier said than done, and Mihailovic said it's important for the team be aware that the job is not finished.
"We need to forget about this game as quickly as we can, just like we did against France," he said. "We go from a pretty big low to now a pretty big high. We have to keep our minds in a steady state. Recover emotionally and physically."
The U.S. men will play their next match against Guinea at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 30.