PARIS — It took all of seven minutes to end the best run by the U.S. men’s soccer team at the Olympics in almost 25 years.
That’s how much time elapsed between second-half goals by Ilias Akhomach and Achraf Hakimi, both of which came off U.S. mistakes. What had been a close game became a rout, allowing Morocco to move onto next week’s semifinals with a 4-0 win.
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.
While the Americans will try and find some comfort in making their deepest run since 2000, when they finished fourth in Sydney, this was yet more proof they remain very far away from contending with the best teams in the world.
Morocco was clearly the better team, finishing with a whopping 8-1 advantage in shots, and the Americans just as clearly had no answer for the Atlas Lions. Worse, both goals from the run of play were the result of U.S. miscues.
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In the 63rd, Abde Ezzalzouli dribbled up the sidelines, cut into the middle of the field and got by Walker Zimmerman before sliding the ball to Akhomach, who buried it. Seven minutes later, Hakimi and Kevin Paredes went up for a header. The ball fell to the ground and Hakimi jumped on it. Though Paredes gave chase, Hakimi had an open path to the goal before he shot a worm-burner that skirted along the inside edge of the net.
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