US men's soccer loss in Olympic knockout stage really shows where team is at right now

PARIS — The U.S. men's soccer team is leaving the Olympics without a medal, missing out on what the Americans believed was a reachable goal.

At least they got here.

Not in a rah-rah, “Go USA!” way. The Paris Games are the first time the American men have made the Olympics since 2008, and this summer is a reminder of just how costly those absences have been. If the USMNT is ever going to be a World Cup contender — a real one, not a pretender like the one that got punched in the mouth in Copa America this summer — it needs to be at every Olympics.

The senior USMNT can play all the friendlies it wants and talk about the challenges of Concacaf qualifying. But nothing will prepare them for the World Cup better than having young players who come to the senior team already knowing about the demands of a knockout-round tournament, with its travel demands, hostile environments and elite competition.

“It does help in that regard,” Walker Zimmerman said after the Americans were knocked out in the quarterfinals Friday in a 4-0 loss to Morocco.

“Big knockout tournaments, you need those games to grow as a group,” said Zimmerman, the only one of the three overage players on this roster who was on the 2022 World Cup team. “I’m thankful these guys are going to have that opportunity, and hopefully they take that experience and use it in their future World Cups.”

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Not everyone on this team will be in the mix for the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. But a handful of them will be. And when they go up against an Argentina or a France or a Spain, they’ll be able to draw on the lessons from this tournament.

Morocco was the better team Friday, and there’s no shame in losing to the Atlas Lions. But in both their losses in France, the Americans collapsed in the second half.

Just as they did in the group-stage opener against France, the U.S. men were able to hang with Morocco for the first 60ish minutes. Then things fell apart. The Atlas Lions scored two goals in a seven-minute span in the second half, capitalizing on U.S. mistakes on both.

In the 63rd, Abde Ezzalzouli dribbled up the sideline, cut into the middle of the field and got by Zimmerman before sliding the ball to Akhomach, who buried it. Seven minutes later, Hakimi won a header over Kevin Paredes, then had a clear path to the goal before scoring on a worm-burner that skirted along the inside edge of the net.

Morocco’s other two goals came off U.S. penalties. Soufiane Rahimi scored in the 28th minute, after Nathan Harriel clipped Rahimi in the back of the calf. Mehdi Maouhoub in second-half stoppage time after Miles Robinson was whistled for a handball in the area.

Morocco finished the game with a whopping 8-1 advantage on shots on goal and had eight corners to the U.S. men’s three.

“In this game and the game against France, there were details that changed the game. And obviously, after that, the result really went against us,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “When we are down 1-0 against teams like France or Morocco, how we can sustain that longer and make the game more difficult?”

The Americans also got a taste of how tense the atmosphere can be at a World Cup. Yes, U.S. fans travel well. But they don’t compare to fans of Argentina or Brazil.

Or Morocco.

Two hours before kickoff Friday, the streets around Parc des Princes were filled with Morocco fans. Much of the stadium was bathed in red and the U.S. players were greeted with jeers and whistles when they were introduced. After each Morocco goal, fans set off smoke bombs.

“With the crowd being on their side, we wanted to silence them early and we failed to do so,” midfielder Jack McGlynn said. “And they kind of punished us.”

Yes. But the worst punishment was not getting to the Olympics in the last 16 years. And the entire U.S. men's system has suffered because of it.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US men's soccer loss in Olympic knockout stage really shows where team is at right now