Morocco blitz USA Olympics Men’s Football Quarter-Final

by Staff Reporter

Friday Aug 02, 2024. 17:30

Morocco powered their way through to the semi-finals of the Men’s Football tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games this week following a 4-0 victory against the United States at Parc Des Princes on Friday afternoon.

The game commenced at a frantic pace as both teams showcased their attacking intent inside the first 10 minutes of the encounter. While the US applied pressure early on, Morocco looked dangerous after settling on the ball.

Morocco took the lead in the 27th minute of the match after the referee immediately pointed to the spot following Nathan Harriel’s foul inside the area. After VAR’s confirmation, Rahimi made no mistake from the spot with his fifth goal of the tournament.

The African nation doubled their advantage moments after the hour-mark after Ilias Akhomach latched onto a powerful cross toward the goalkeeper’s near post before guiding it home with authority.

Achraf Hakimi then tripled Morocco’s lead in the 70th minute after the defender finished off a well-worked passing move en-route to the US 18-yard-area. Then, Mehdi Maouboub added the gloss to Morocco’s scoreline with a converted penalty in stoppage time.

In a game to forget for Harriel, the US defender was spotted handling the ball inside the area, which prompted the VAR officials to award the spot kick, which was subsequently executed by the Moroccan star.