US soccer team routs New Zealand in must-win Olympics match

The U.S. men’s soccer team pulled off an unexpected yet convincing win in its Olympic match on Saturday against New Zealand, beating the Kiwis 4-1 after an early penalty sparked a goal-scoring frenzy.

Many expected the U.S. to spiral to elimination after the French blew out the Americans 3-0 to open group play.

The pressure only grew after New Zealand beat Guinea in their opening Group A match, making Saturday’s matchup a must-win for the U.S.

“It’s kind of do-or-die time,” defender Walker Zimmerman told reporters. “We knew it would come down to the start that we would have, and to get an early goal just was huge. Kind of gave us confidence to really get into the tournament.”

Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty in the eighth minute after teammate Nathan Harriel was tripped in the box by Kiwi Matthew Garbett.

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The right-footed Mihailovic powered into the ball, sending it to the bottom right corner as the New Zealand goalie dove to the opposite post.

The U.S. dominance only continued.

Four minutes later Zimmerman — at 31 the eldest member of the team — narrowly poked in a goal on a scramble rebound from the goalie following a free kick.

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Midfielder Gianluca Busio later tapped in a goal on a rebound at the half-hour mark in the match. Forward Paxten Aaronson later made it 4-0 during the 58th minute.

New Zealand avoided the shutout thanks to Jesse Randall’s goal 20 minutes after Aaronson scored.

“For me, the most important thing is that we get there,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “In some games, everything goes on your side. Sometimes it just goes the other way. The game against France was a game of inches, and today we were good at the first two opportunities … When you get in a game with 2-0 at the very beginning it’s obvious it’s a much easier game after that.”

The win places the U.S. equal to New Zealand in the Group A standings after two games, while France and Guinea played each other in both nation’s second matches later Saturday.

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The top two from each group will move on to the knockout stage in the under-23 tournament.

The U.S. is set to play Guinea in its final group match on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne at 1 p.m.

“I don’t do the calculation. We never spoke about how we have to win, we have to tie,” Mitrovic said. “We want to maximize every day and we want to maximize every game. Today we spoke before the game that every second on the field matters, that every action matters.

“And what we have to do is go and execute all those seconds and actions on the field and let’s see where that’s going to take us.”

New Zealand, which is making only its fourth Olympic appearance, will face France in Marseille.

The Kiwis made it to the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after being eliminated during the Rio de Janeiro Games for using an ineligible player at a qualification tournament.

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