The U.S. men's Olympic soccer team scored three times in 30 minutes in a crushing 4-1 victory over Group A rival New Zealand in Marseille on Saturday, giving their hopes of reaching the knockout stages a major boost.
After a 3-0 loss to host France in its opening match on Wednesday, the United States knew a defeat could mean the end of its chances of reaching the quarterfinals as one of the top two teams in Group A.
But Djordje Mihailovic and Walker Zimmerman scored in the first 12 minutes to ease the tension.
Mihailovic calmly converted a penalty after Nathan Harriel was brought down inside the box by Matthew Garbett. Zimmerman, one of three over-age players in the Under-23s squad, made it 2-0 by scoring a goal in a melee in front of the net following a free-kick.
Midfielder Gianluca Busio added a third goal off a rebound in the half-hour before Paxten Aaronson scored in the 58th minute to mark the first time the U.S. men had scored four goals in an Olympic game.
New Zealand, who beat Guinea 2-1 in their opening match, got a consolation goal in the 78th minute through Jesse Randall.
The United States will play its final group match against Guinea in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday.
New Zealand is participating in the Olympics for the fourth time. It advanced to the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games after being disqualified from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for using an ineligible player in a qualifying tournament.
Later on Saturday, France will play Guinea in Nice.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
