Watch: U.S. men's soccer team scores first Olympic goal in 16 years

It's taken four Olympic cycles, but the U.S. men's soccer team finally made its triumphant return in the event.

In their second group-stage match Saturday against New Zealand, the U.S. men scored the team's first Olympic goal in 16 years.

Djordje Mihailovic put an eighth-minute penalty kick into the back of the net to put the U.S. up 1-0 early.

The Beijing Games in 2008 were the last time a U.S. men's team appeared at an Olympics. That squad failed to qualify out of the group stage.

Just four minutes after Mihailovic's penalty kick, Walker Zimmerman — the oldest player on the team — doubled the U.S.'s lead with a tap-in after a chaotic free-kick scramble.

In its first group-stage match Wednesday, the U.S. was thumped 3-0 by hosts France.

The team avenged that loss Saturday, finishing off New Zealand 4-1. It was the first time ever that the U.S. men scored four goals in an Olympic match.