What Olympic soccer opener taught us

MARSEILLE, France – There were no regrets from the United States men’s Olympic soccer team following its 3-0 loss in the tournament opener against host country France. 

For a team that is all 23 years old or younger, with the exception of three players (in accordance with Olympic rules), the score was not a proper reflection of the outcome and margin. 

The Americans, along with French manager Thierry Henry, truly believed that after the match – which marked the first Olympics appearance for the USMNT since 2008. 

The goal now? 

“We get out of the group and we see (France) in the final,” forward Djordje Mihailovic said. 

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Here are five takeaways from the match. 

Toughest test was first, whole competition still in front of USMNT

Two teams will advance from Group A, and the Americans obviously plan on being one of them. Victories against both New Zealand and Guinea would go a long way in achieving that. 

“France is definitely one of the favorites in this competition and the way we held our own today was, I think, really tough from us,” forward Kevin Paredes said. 

Defender Walker Zimmerman, the only American with World Cup experience as an overager, said turning the page is necessary in a tournament that has teams in action every three days. 

“You have no other choice,” he said. 

Henry, who patted American players on the back in the mixed zone after the match, said the U.S. surprised him with their tactics of playing up-tempo. 

“It was a chase game,” he said. 

Griffin Yow, who came on as a substitute, had a goal called back in stoppage time when the offside flag went up. 

“I have full confidence in this group to win these next two games and advance … I have no worries or doubts,” Paredes said. 

The U.S. plays New Zealand on Saturday. 

USMNT outclassed by France’s big names 

For 60 minutes, the match remained scoreless, with both teams seeing chances but nothing materializing – until Alexandre Lacazette found the back of the net. 

The former Arsenal forward, the oldest player on the pitch, took an extra touch to the right that U.S. goalkeeper Patrick Schulte saw. The problem was that he then lost Lacazette behind a defender and by the time he located the ball, he’d been beaten to the far post. 

The U.S. nearly took the lead prior to that sequence when a blast from Mihailovic ricocheted off the crossbar. Less than two minutes later, Lacazette and his teammates were celebrating. 

“That’s football,” Schulte said. “You have a chance on one end, a goal that looks good all the way, rattles off the crossbar, and they come down the other end and score. I think that’s just kind of life and the game.”

The Americans nearly equalized on two header chances but instead saw France secure an insurance goal when Michael Olise also beat Schulte to the far post from distance with a curling shot. 

“(We) created, but (were) not clinical,” USMNT head coach Marko Mitrović said. 

USMNT’s transition defense needs to be improved

The biggest reason for the first two France goals can be chalked up to the team’s transition defense.

Going forward, Zimmerman said, defenders will have to get more pressure if they’re attacking that close to the box. 

“That’s the frustrating part, is feeling like we were in it, had moments of control, had moments of opportunity,” Zimmerman said. “And we didn’t capitalize on it. And they did.” 

Zimmerman added that the U.S. must tighten up its set-piece defense, which led to France’s third goal, a header from Loic Bade. 

“Definitely something we’re going to look at and definitely going to want back,” Schulte said. 

‘La Marseillaise’ in Marseille

The Americans experienced firsthand “La Marseillaise” in the city where it first took hold as the national anthem in the late 1700s. 

A mass of red, white and blue – not the American kind, although the U.S. wasn’t without representation in the near-sellout crowd of 67,000 – belted out the notes and set the tone for an emotional 90 minutes.

Playing the host team during an international competition is not a common opportunity, especially in a soccer-crazed country such as France, Zimmerman said. 

“It was an amazing atmosphere, amazing crowd,” he said.  

He added: “This is going to be hard to replicate, especially in the next few games.” 

USMNT was ready for France’s physicality 

Referee Yael Falcon was busy during the match, whistling France for penalties 16 times and the U.S. for 10. 

France supplied lots of pressure in the first half as the Americans worked to advance the ball out of the defending third. A lot of the time, U.S. players wound up on the ground. 

Mihailovic said that type of match was expected. 

“You need to be physical in this type of environment,” Mihailovic said.  

Mitrović called France “very physical” and “great athletes.”  

“It’s not easy to play against them,” he said.  

As always, there’s a silver lining. 

“I think we caused them a lot of problems,” Mitrović said.