MARSEILLE, France — Jack McGlynn remembers when the aim was as fundamental as may very well be: No United States males’s soccer staff had even certified for an Olympics since 2008, so for months simply getting to those Paris Video games was all that mattered.
However now the U.S. males need extra.
On the eve of their ultimate group-stage match, McGlynn, who’s one in all solely two People to have performed with the staff all through this complete Olympic cycle, stated he and his teammates are nicely conscious of the stakes. If they will beat Guinea on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne, they’re going to very doubtless qualify for the quarterfinals and turn out to be the primary U.S. males’s staff to make the knockout rounds at a Summer time Video games in 24 years.
“We all know that that is an important sport we have had to this point,” stated McGlynn, a sharp-passing midfielder for the Philadelphia Union. “I used to be part of the staff that certified us right here, and that was sort of an enormous deal for us.”
He added: “I believe to now be right here — we sort of perceive the importance. The older guys right here have additionally talked to us in regards to the second — how large it’s and the way large it may very well be if we make it to the subsequent stage too.”
A type of older gamers is defender Miles Robinson, who’s one in all three overage gamers that coach Marko Mitrović chosen for the roster. Robinson was a mainstay on the again line for the U.S. males’s nationwide staff in 2022 and appeared to be a lock to play for the U.S. on the World Cup in Qatar solely to overlook out after rupturing his Achilles tendon in an MLS match in Could.
Whereas Robinson labored onerous to not enable himself to get too low within the aftermath of the harm, it was unattainable to utterly ignore the brutal actuality: A dream must wait.
Now, after being chosen to hitch Walker Zimmerman and Djordje Mihailovic because the older gamers on the Olympic roster, Robinson has a distinct, however altogether significant, likelihood to symbolize the USA on a large world stage.
“It is positively been a protracted highway,” Robinson stated, “full of ups and downs. I am so grateful to be right here and, hopefully, competing for a medal.”
The U.S. staff had a tough starting to the event, failing to benefit from a number of good possibilities early however staying stage for an hour with hosts France in entrance of a sellout crowd in Marseille, solely to then capitulate over the ultimate half-hour in a 3-0 loss.
Three days later, nevertheless, the People delivered a efficiency that was nearly a full reversal. As an alternative of wilting late, they began quick, scoring three objectives within the first half hour towards New Zealand and ending off a 4-1 victory that was the biggest-ever margin for an American males’s Olympic staff. It additionally put them in a superb place for the ultimate group match.
With varied tiebreakers doubtlessly in play, the eventualities might get sophisticated, however the U.S. is assured to go to by if tit beats Guinea by at the very least two objectives, whereas any U.S. victory is sort of sure to be sufficient as long as New Zealand does not beat France within the different Group A sport.
There are different circumstances the place the U.S. might get by with a draw or perhaps a loss, however the gamers are protecting their considering as easy as potential.
“I believe this group is continuous to develop, persevering with to study one another, and hopefully we will proceed to maneuver ahead,” Robinson stated. “If we try this, the sky is the restrict.”
