Olise leads the way as USMNT falls to favorites France

He’s never troubled, is he? Michael Olise, only weeks removed from a $65 million transfer to Bayern Munich, scored a stunner as France strolled past the United States in a cool 3-0 victory. Surprisingly, Olise looked as unbothered and nonchalant as ever after France’s second goal. Olise cut inside with his dominant left foot from the right, easily beating Paxten Aaronsen, and, seemingly with all the time in the world, sent a curling effort past the keeper and into the back of the net.

The really troubling part? Olise made it seem too easy.

The ex-Crystal Palace winger shrugged off his smooth finish, pretending he had scored in FIFA rather than in the Olympics. For once, Walker Zimmerman’s commands to the rest of the Americans looked more like panic than motivation.

The goal was symbolic of a match where it seemed the USMNT was stuck chasing France around for 90 minutes. Despite the American team’s high hopes entering the match, they were simply outplayed in front of a rabid Marseille crowd.

Although the American squad entered the match as vast underdogs, they held their own against France. Olise, drifting in and out of his assigned right-wing slot, struggled to create chances against the United States’ compact defense. France had to settle for long shots, some of which troubled keeper Patrick Schulte.

Lacazette scores opener for France against USMNT

Surprisingly, it was the United States who came up with the first big chance of the day.  Djordje Mihailovic, one of the team’s three overage players, controlled a ball rolling in from a stray free kick. Mihailovic belted his shot from nearly 30 yards out, beating Toulouse stopper Guillarme Restes but hitting the crossbar.

Alexandre Lacazette opened up the scoring for France in the 61st minute, partly thanks to Olise. It was Olise, the creative genius, who drifted in from the right into the attacking third and beating some tackles before stabbing a ball to Lacazette….

Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/olympics/olise-leads-the-way-as-usmnt-falls-to-favorites-france/

Author : Deolu Akingbade

Publish date : 2024-07-24 23:58:19

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