PREVIEW: U.S. Olympic Men’s Team facing Guinea with knockout stage spot on the line

SAINT-ETIENNE, France – After an emphatic 4-1 bounce-back victory against New Zealand, the U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team will look to secure a place in the knockout stage when they face Guinea on Tuesday, July 30 (1 p.m. ET; USA Network, Telemundo, Peacock). A win would guarantee the U.S. passage to the quarterfinals, while a draw combined with either a New Zealand draw or loss to France would also see the USA advance from the group stage.

Back in the Olympic Men’s Soccer Tournament for the first time in 16 years, the USA is aiming for its first knockout stage appearance since Sydney 2000 and second overall since the current group stage format was introduced at Rome 1960.

Restricted to players under the age of 23, with an allowance for three overage players, the Olympic Men’s Soccer Tournament provides some of the nation’s top young talents the opportunity to face elite opposition on the world stage after rising through the ranks of American soccer development.

U.S. OLYMPIC MEN’S SOCCER TEAM – ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB/COUNTRY; CAPS/GOALS; HOMETOWN)

Goalkeepers (2): 1-Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 5/0; St. Charles, Mo.), 18-Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG; 0/0; Addison, Ill.)

Defenders (6): 4-Maximilian Dietz (Greuther Furth/GER; 8/0; Frankfurt, Germany), 2-Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; 9/1; Oldsmar, Fla.), 12-Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 4/0; Arlington, Mass.), 5-John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; 9/0; Chatham, N.J.), 17-Caleb Wiley (Chelsea/ENG; 6/0; Atlanta, Ga.), 3-Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 6/1; Lawrenceville, Ga.)

Midfielders (5): 6-Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 8/2; Greensboro, N.C.), 15-Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF; 6/1; Key Biscayne, Fla.), 16-Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; 9/0; Queens, N.Y.), 14-Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado Rapids; 11/1; Jacksonville, Fla.), 8-Tanner Tessmann (Venezia/ITA; 12/0; Birmingham, Ala.)

Forwards (5): 11-Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht/NED; 7/2; Medford, NJ), 10-Taylor Booth (FC Utrecht/NED; 6/0; Eden, Utah), 13-Duncan McGuire (Orlando City SC; 7/1; Omaha, Neb.), 7-Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER; 4/0; South Riding, Va.), 9- Griffin Yow (KVC Westerlo/BEL; 5/1; Clifton, Va.)

Alternates (4): Josh Atencio (Midfielder, Seattle Sounders FC; 0/0; Bellevue, Wash.), Jacob Davis (Defender, Sporting Kansas City; 0/0; Rochester, Mich.), Johan Gomez (Forward, Eintracht Braunschweig/GER; 7/2; Keller, Texas), John Pulskamp (Goalkeeper, Sporting Kansas City; 3/0; Bakersfield, Calif.)

USA SCHEDULE – 2024 OLYMPIC MEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT

BOUNCING BACK IN A BIG WAY

After opening the tournament with a 3-0 loss to host France despite some promising stretches, the U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team responded with a dominant 4-1 victory vs. New Zealand on Saturday night to put itself in solid position to advance from Group A. The USA’s four goals were its most-ever at the Olympics, dating back to the team’s first appearance at Paris 1924.

The USA got off to a racing start, attacking from the get-go and their efforts were rewarded in the eighth minute, when defender Nathan Harriel was tripped up in the penalty box and the referee pointed to the spot. Overage midfielder Djordje Mihailovic hammered it home and then provided the service on a free kick four minutes later that defender Walker Zimmerman would eventually poke to the back of the net. Mihailovic and Zimmerman were the first two overage players to score for the USA at the Games and at 31-years-old, Zimmerman became the oldest ever to tally for the U.S. men.

Midfielder Gianluca Busio added another in the 30th to put the USA up 3-0 before the break. In the second half, substitute winger Griffin Yow made an immediate impact, cutting a pass back to forward Paxten Aaronson for the final American goal. New Zealand pulled one back late on a well-hit effort, but the result was never in doubt as the USA outshot its opponent 19-9.

USA ROSTER NOTES

• Seventeen players have now made their Olympic debut. Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi became the latest to earn Olympian honors coming on as a 69th-minute substitute on Saturday night. Goalkeeper Gaga Slonina is the only member of the 18-man squad yet to see minutes at the Games.
• The roster’s youngest player at 19 years, 148 days, Cremaschi is the sixth-youngest to take the field for the U.S. since the Under-23 rule was introduced in 1992.
• Midfielder Djordje Mihajlovic’s opening penalty kick was the U.S. Men’s first at the Olympics in 5,827 days, since midfielder Sacha Kljestan netted a penalty vs. Nigeria in the group stage at Beijing 2008 on Aug. 13, 2008.
• Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman have paired together in central defense for the senior USMNT and the U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team 11 times, compiling an 8-2-1 combined record. All USMNT matches came in official competition (2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying) plus the first two matches at Paris 2024.
• Tanner Tessmann has captained the squad in both Paris 2024 matches thus far, wearing the armband for seven of nine games this cycle. He’s served as captain in every match for the Olympic Men’s Soccer Team since Nov. 18, 2023, vs. Iraq.
• Of the USA’s 11 overage players since the rule was introduced for Atlanta 1996, Zimmerman ranks as the fifth-most experienced player at the senior level with 42 caps behind Jeff Agoos (101 caps before Sydney 2000), Brian McBride (95; Beijing 2008), Alexi Lalas (69; Atlanta 1996) and Brad Freidel (66; Sydney 2000)
• Taylor Booth (Utah) and Tessmann (Alabama) are the first two U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer players from their respective states.
• Duncan McGuire is the second U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer player from Nebraska. Fellow Nebraskan Aage Brix represented the U.S. 100 years ago at Paris 1924.
• Gianluca Busio is the second U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer player from North Carolina, joining Eddie Pope (Atlanta 1996).
• Hailing from Georgia, Caleb Wiley and Zimmerman are the second and third U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer players from the Peach State alongside Josh Wolff (Sydney 2000).
• Coming from Virginia, Kevin Paredes and Griffin Yow are the second and third U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer players from the state, joining Brandon Pollard (1996)
• Venezia’s Busio and Tessmann are the second and third players based in Italy to represent the U.S. Men at the Olympics after Danny Szetala (Beijing 2008, Brescia).
• KVC Westerlo’s Yow is the third to ply his trade in Belgium, following Ian Feuer and Steve Snow (Molenbeek, Standard Liège, Barcelona 1992).

USA-GUINEA

• This is the first meeting between the U.S. and Guinea at the Olympic Games.
• The U.S. faced a very different Syli National squad on March 22 in Girona, Spain, a 3-0 victory for the USA.
• Defender Nathan Harriel and midfielder Gianluca Busio netted for the U.S., while alternate forward Johan Gomez also tallied. The game was winger Griffin Yow’s first appearance with the Olympic Men’s Soccer Team and he started with a bang, assisting on the first two goals and taking the initial shot on the third before Gomez finished off the rebound.
• In total, 11 U.S. players that faced Guinea return for the nations’ Olympic showdown.
• Nine players were called to the Olympics for Guinea from its March squad: Algassime Bah, Bangaly Cisse, Sekou Bangoura, Cherif Camara, Issiaga Camara, Ousmane Camara, Madiou Keita, Mory Keita and Mohamed Soumah.
• The USA is 0W-1L-3D against African nations at the Olympics all-time.
• The U.S. is 5W-4L-5D in the group stage since 1992 when the Under-23 age restriction was introduced.

TOUGH GO FOR GUINEA

Despite holding strong for long stretches of both its first two matches, Guinea fell 2-1 to New Zealand in its Olympic opener last Wednesday and 1-0 to France on Saturday night. After falling behind midway through the first half to the OlyWhites, the Syli National rallied to equalize as Aliou Baldé set up overage player Amadou Diawara for a long-range strike in the 72nd, but New Zealand found the winner just four minutes later.

Guinea also put up a strong performance against France, holding the hosts scoreless until the 75th minute. The African squad had two goals disallowed in the first half, plus another on-target header cleared off the line by Les Bleus. In the end, the late header from defender Kiliann Sildillia proved to be the difference.

IN FOCUS: GUINEA

OLYMPIC HISTORY

• Guinea is competing in the Olympics for the second time in the country’s history this summer, having last competed at Mexico City 1968.
• At that tournament, Guinea was drawn into Group A with France, Mexico, and Colombia. After a 3-1 defeat to France in its opening match, Guinea pulled off a 3-2 win against Colombia two days later. The African side were ultimately eliminated in the group stage after falling 4-0 to host Mexico in their final match.
• Combined with their two defeats so far at Paris 2024 entering Tuesday’s Group A finale against the U.S., Guinea is 1W-4L-0D all-time in Olympic play.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

• Entering Tuesday’s Group A finale, Guinea sits in fourth place (0W-2L-0D, zero points) coming off a 2-1 loss to New Zealand and 1-0 defeat to France.
• Guinea qualified for the 2024 Olympic Men’s Soccer Tournament on the strength of winning a playoff match against Indonesia on May 9 that pitted the fourth-place finisher at the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (Guinea) against the fourth-place finisher at the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup (Indonesia). Ilaix Moriba’s 29th-minute finish from the penalty spot made the difference in a 1-0 win that punched the African nation’s ticket to France.
• At the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, Guinea finished second (1W-1L-1D, four points) behind host Morocco in Group A, before dropping a 1-0 result to Egypt in the semifinal, and ultimately finishing fourth after a 4-3 defeat in penalty kicks to Mali in the third-place match.

GUINEA SQUAD

• Head coach Kaba Diawara used his three allotted overage spots for the 2024 Olympics on a trio of midfielders – Anderlecht’s Amadou Diawara (27), Werder Bremen’s Naby Keïta (29) and Le Havre’s Abdoulaye Touré (30). Keïta additionally serves as the team’s captain.
• Keïta is the team’s most experienced player internationally, having represented the senior Guinea side 56 times and scoring 11 goals since debuting as a 19-year-old in 2014. Diawara is second with 43 appearances and 21-year-old Ilaix Moriba is third with 23.
• In all, eight players on the 18-man Olympic roster have featured for the senior Guinea side.
• All but three players on the Guinea roster represent clubs outside Guinea, with goalkeeper Mory Keita and defenders Bangaly Cisse and Cherif Camara playing domestically.
• Of the Guinea players based at clubs abroad, France is most heavily represented (seven players), with Belgium, Germany and Turkey all sending two players, followed by Italy and Greece with one each.

GUINEA HEAD COACH KABA DIAWARA

• Diawara, 48, was appointed head coach of the senior Guinea Men’s National Team in October 2021 and took over the Under-23 side in April ahead of May’s AFC-CAF playoff against Indonesia.
• Diawara is 13W-12L-5D as head coach of the senior team since his appointment in 2021 and 2W-2L-0D as head coach of the Guinea U-23s.
• As a player, Diawara represented France at the youth level, but ultimately elected to represent Guinea. He appeared 21 times and scored eight goals for Syli National from 2004 to 2009. He’ll feel at home in Paris during the 2024 Olympics, having played in with Paris Saint-Germain for three years in the early 2000s. He also spent time at Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice during a career that spanned from 1993 to 2011.