US men’s soccer team reaches Olympic quarterfinals for first time in 24 years

For the second time in four days, they were ambitious and opportunistic from the first whistle. Djordje Mihailovic and Kevin Paredes scored in the first half, with Paredes adding another in the closing stages. They took second place with a 3-0 win over Guinea at the dark Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Their reward is a trip to Paris on Friday to face Morocco, who defeated favorites Argentina in the battle for top spot in Group B. Argentina and Group A winners France (3-0-0) face each other in the heavyweight quarterfinals in Bordeaux.

The United States (2-1-0) took solace Tuesday in the knowledge that a draw — and perhaps even a loss — likely would have been enough to stay in the 16-team tournament, most of whose players are 23 or younger.

Considering how well the U.S. team has performed in the past two games — albeit against significantly weaker opponents — the 3-0 loss to France in the season opener seemed a lot longer ago than a week ago.

The Americans kept up the pace that saw them win 4-1 over New Zealand on Saturday, taking immediate control and scoring a free kick from Mihailovic in the 14th minute.

In the 31st minute, Paredes — a former DC United winger from South Riding, Virginia — collected a beautiful pass from Paxten Aaronson and scored. Paredes, who plays for Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga, struck again in the 75th minute for his first two-goal performance of his international career.

The last time the U.S. men advanced to the knockout stages of the Olympic Games was in Sydney 2000, with a squad that included teenager Landon Donovan, aging goalkeeper Brad Friedel, his backup Tim Howard and third-year pro Ben Olsen.

The Americans won the group, beating Japan, before losing to Spain in the semi-finals and to Chile in the bronze medal match.

Their only Olympic appearance between then and now came in 2008 for a group-stage elimination in Beijing. Repeated failures at regional qualifiers in 2004 and 2012 through 2020 have frustrated and embarrassed U.S. soccer officials, who see the Olympics as a chance to expose national team hopefuls to international competition.

With the United States watching from home, Mexico won the gold medal in 2012 and 2021, and Honduras reached the semi-finals in 2016.

In this cycle, the US team dominated the 2022 under-20 tournament, which served as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.

After starting the first two games in the same group, U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic made two changes Tuesday. Maximilian Dietz replaced midfielder Gianluca Busio, who was out of uniform after aggravating a hamstring injury shortly after scoring in the first half against New Zealand.

Griffin Yow, another former DC United winger from Clifton, Virginia, replaced Duncan McGuire on the front line.

Guinea, playing in their first Olympics since 1968, lost by one goal to both New Zealand and France and went into Tuesday’s match with a slim chance of a quarter-final spot. Guinea, a former French colony, enjoyed the louder support from the small crowd in this city 40 miles southwest of Lyon.

Yow quickly made his mark on the game with tricky, cutting runs down the left, as pressure mounted on the Guinean backline.

Mihailovic, one of three overage MLS players on the 18-man roster, broke the deadlock by firing a right-footed free kick from 22 yards into the top corner for his second goal in two games.

Later, the US team used perfect timing and execution to score in transition. Aaronson and Paredes synchronized their interaction down to the millisecond. As Paredes made his run past the left back, Aaronson played the ball through a channel. Paredes took a ball into the penalty area and placed a low shot into the far corner.

Just before half-time, Paredes gave Yow the chance to fire the ball past the near post.

In the second half, the U.S. defense absorbed Guinea’s pressure, blocked shots and stepped in when danger arose. Aaronson and Mihailovic, starting in their third match in seven days — and with a quarterfinal berth all but assured — were substituted in the 52nd and 66th minutes, respectively.

Paredes stayed in the game and in the 75th minute he cut inside and fired a left-footed shot from 15 yards out. The shot was slightly deflected and went into the goal.

Patrick Schulte kept the score at zero with a brilliant save in injury time.