PARIS – This is where the Olympics end for the United States men's soccer team.
Routed 4-0 by Morocco in the quarterfinals on Friday, a run that had seen the U.S. reach the knockouts for the first time since Sydney 2000 was ended in brutal fashion.
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“To go down in the nature that we did was tough, pretty frustrating,” defender Walker Zimmerman said. “It’s sad because I think it’s a group that has a lot of belief in each other and a lot of character and I don’t think it showed through and that’s what’s hard is knowing how much everyone did care, had each other’s back.”
Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach, Achraf Hakimi and Mehdi Maouhoub scored the goals at Parc des Princes that ended U.S. hopes of a medal at the Paris Games and set Morocco up for a semifinal against Spain, which beat Japan 3-0.
The U.S. — playing at the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008 — was outclassed by an impressive Morocco team that had already beaten Argentina in the group stage.
Even in defeat, coach Marko Mitrovic described the experience as “massive” for his young team.
“We know that the World Cup is the highest tournament. The Olympic Games are the biggest event that humanity created and once you are in the Olympic Games you are in a big spotlight,” he said. "For them to feel that, to live that moment — I think before this tournament, there was uncertainty for them, what that looks like.
“Now, after this, I feel that they are going to be much more ready. Saying that, they were ready for this tournament as well.”
Morocco fans largely dominated the crowd in Paris and they can look forward to Monday's semifinal in Marseille.
It's the first time Morocco has advanced to the Olympic semifinals — after becoming the first African nation to reach the last four of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“It’s a historic day for all of us. I’m very happy about that. We’re very happy and proud,” said Hakimi, Morocco's captain. “I have one goal here, which is to win the medal."
In front of a packed crowd at the home of Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco dominated the chances in the first half, but needed a 29th-minute penalty to find a breakthrough after Nathan Harriel fouled Rahimi in the box.
Despite protests from the American players, referee Yael Falcón Pérez pointed to the spot and the tournament's top scorer Rahimi fired low to collect his fifth goal of the Games.
Miles Robinson had a golden chance to level the game in the 59th when collecting a knockdown from about six yards out, but shot wide.
That miss proved even more costly when Morocco extended its lead four minutes later through Akhomach, who slotted past Patrick Schulte from close range after Abde Ezzalzouli’s cross.
Hakimi, who plays his club soccer for PSG, added a third in the 70th — carrying the ball to the edge of the box before firing into the bottom right hand corner.
Morocco made it 4-0 in the first minute of stoppage time when Harriel handled in the box and, after a VAR review, a second penalty was awarded and Maouhoub converted.
“I wish we would play every four years in the quarterfinal of the Olympics because then we will have more chances to progress and win medals and raid the world for the future,” Mitrovic said. “Through these last 10 months we played a lot of games against elite players and elite teams and for all of us, it’s experience of what it takes to play on that level, what it takes to be competitive on that level and what it takes to win on that level.”
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games