The U.S. men’s soccer team staved off likely elimination in its Olympic campaign on Saturday with a resounding victory over New Zealand, beating the Kiwis 4-1 after an early penalty cascaded into a blowout.
The result pulls the U.S. level with New Zealand in Group A after two games, with France and Guinea playing each other in both nation’s second matches at 3 this afternoon.
After the French blew out the USMNT in the opening match, with New Zealand beating Guinea, Saturday’s game amounted to a must-win for the Americans to avoid elimination.
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The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage in the under-23 tournament.
After Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty to put the United States ahead on 10 minutes, the Americans never relinquished control of the match. Defender Walker Zimmerman doubled the lead just two minutes later, with Gianluca Busio adding a third goal in the 30th minute.
Paxten Aaronson made it 4-0 on 58 minutes, with Jesse Randall scoring a consolation goal for New Zealand 20 minutes thereafter.
The men’s team finishes its group campaign on Tuesday against Guinea at 1 p.m. ET.