The Standard (Zimbabwe)

US men's Olympic team eliminated by Morocco thrashing

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the scoring with another penalty in stoppage time following a VAR review for a handball.

"I felt like I was playing at home in this stadium where I play for my club, but also because our fans were very loud and were here in big numbers," said Hakimi, who plays in France for Paris St-Germain.

"Fans have been following us all tournament, I hope they can follow us all the way to the final. We want to make them proud." - BBC Sport

THE United States men's Olympic team was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Friday when it was roundly beaten 4-0 by Morocco, which progresses to the semifinals.

Morocco started the better of the two teams in front of a crowd that was heavily in its favor, forcing U.S. goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into some good saves early in the match. The breakthrou­gh came when Nathan Harriel gave away a penalty, kicking through Soufiane Rahimi in the box before the No. 9 skillfully slotted the spot kick into the bottom-left corner.

Miles Robinson had the Americans' best chance to reestablis­h parity in the 59th minute as a cross floated in from the left wing and fell to his feet, only for his shot to slice wide of the post.

Morocco compounded that miss with a second goal just minutes later. Abde Ezzalzouli drove to the byline on the left side of the penalty box before squaring it to Ilias Akhomach, who couldn't miss from close range.

Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi added glitz to the result in the 70th minute, the right-back gliding through the U.S.'s hapless defense before placing a shot into the right corner.

Morocco's final goal came in added time as El Mehdi Maouhoub scored another penalty, given for a handball in the box. — ESPN

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