Summer of Soccer best bets: USMNT gears up for Olympic Matchday Two

Matchday One of men's Olympic soccer saw upsets, wonder goals and the single wildest VAR review in the history of the game — not bad for a tournament long considered "below" FIFA competitions like the World Cup and the Copa America.

Congratulations are in order for Uzbekistan, Iraq and Japan, whose performances lit up the day and proved Asian soccer is on an inexorable rise, and for Morocco, who somehow managed to turn a pitch invasion and potential suspension into a 2-1 victory over world champion Argentina. (Morocco deserved that win, to be fair. Just maybe not in the slapdash and violent manner in which it received it.)

Congratulations are also in order for host nation France, who kicked off its Olympic soccer journey with a heady 3-0 victory over the United States Men's National Team. That scoreline looks rough on paper but USMNT fans know the truth: this was a well-played, closely-fought match until the bottom fell out of it, and this young USMNT looks hungrier and fiercer than the one that crashed out of the Copa a few short weeks ago. Colorado Rapids midfielder Djordje Mihailovic hit the woodwork twice; New York Red Bulls midfielder John Tolkin hit it once. Give or take a few centimeters and the USMNT could've easily drawn 3-3 instead.

But when France is busy doing this, courtesy of new Bayern Munich signing Michael Olise, you can't really begrudge it the victory.

Matchday Two begins tomorrow with Argentina taking on Iraq at 9 a.m. ET (that one's a sleeper hit and you should definitely check it out; Iraq beat Ukraine 2-1 this week in rather impressive circumstances and could cause a desperate Argentina some trouble.) It wraps up later in the afternoon with the Olympic USMNT — our beloved Baby Eagles —taking on New Zealand at 1 p.m. ET from the beautiful Velodrome in Marseille.

New Zealand kicked off its Olympic journey with a 2-1 win over Guinea, so the USMNT must win or draw if it hopes to move up the Group A table and into an advancement slot. New Zealand is a talented team, but it's hardly a world-beater, and thankfully a win or a draw here feels — gasp — plausible. For American soccer fans who spent their whole summer watching various USMNTs get hammered by the competition, this might be the opportunity to tune in and see something different. Might be. Whisper it. Quietly. While knocking on wood.
The stage is set for a promising afternoon for the USMNT. But where are the best bets? We think they're here:

Mihailovic's big show. MLS star Djordje Mihailovic was one of the USMNT's best players in its opening game against France. He created several opportunities for his teammates and a few for himself, too, and looked like a promising playmaker on the biggest stage of his career. New Zealand's back line is led by Michael Boxall of Minnesota United; Mihailovic played well against Boxall when the two met in MLS play in late May. We're backing Mihailovic as an anytime goalscorer at +333 .

Few corners. Both New Zealand and the USMNT faced high-pressing attacking sides in their opening matches, and both defended a frankly absurd number of corners. (New Zealand defended nine while the USMNT defended eight; they earned just two each on the other end of the field.) Neither New Zealand nor the USMNT is a high-pressing attacking side in its own right, though, so we're cautiously optimistic about this one being more of a midfield battle than a barrage of corners. We're backing this match to have fewer than seven corners at +250.

Hard-fought USMNT progress. It took a little while for the USMNT to warm up against France and we wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened against New Zealand — a team that came flying off the blocks in its own match. We're backing a tie at halftime followed by a USMNT win at full time for that reason at +350 .

The USMNT takes on New Zealand on Saturday, July 27 at 1 p.m. ET.