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As should surprise no one the U. S. Olympic men’s soccer team was eliminated from the Paris games by Morocco 4-0 in Paris on Friday.

The better team won in front of a huge home crowd. The principles of the French Revolution combined with early 20th century France’s “protection” of Morocco mean myriads of Moroccans and Franco-Moroccans now live in France.

Compare rosters

Six of Morocco’s 18 players are rostered to French Ligue 1 sides , three more belong to Belgian top flight ones, two are with Spanish La Liga teams, and one is in Italy’s Serie A. Of the remaining four one is in Abu Dhabi; one, Saudi Arabia; and four, Morocco itself.

By comparison, one American is rostered to a Bundesliga side and a second is rostered to a Bundesliga two team. Two are rostered to the Dutch top flight; two, to the Belgian one; and two, to Serie A. The final 10 come from MLS.

None of Morocco’s three overage players play in Morocco. All three of the U. S.’s overage players play in MLS.

Transfermarkt values the Moroccan Olympic team’s total roster asset value  at 165.1 million Euros, or roughly $180 million. It values the U. S. Olympians at 81.6 million Euros, or roughly $89 million. Financially, Morocco’s men’s Olympic soccer roster is worth double that of the United States, with the caveat that no value is actual until the moment of sale.

Last, the Olympics are not an official FIFA event. The bosses of world football do not require clubs to release players for it. Not every club in the world voluntarily embraces all international competitions the way Philadelphia does.

Morocco are joint hosts with Portugal and Spain for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, so they are already laying the ground work for the hosting effort.

The match

Morocco pressed the United States defensively, and their pace and intensity was more than the Americans could handle. U. S. coach Marko Mitrovic correctly anticipated the press and selected a midfield to try to use technical skill to defeat it, but Morocco’s quality won out. We will never know whether a healthy Gianluca Busio would have made a difference.

Only Miles Robinson’s miss midway into the second half with the score 2-0 posed a genuine threat to Morocco’s clean sheet. Paxten Aaronson will always wonder what would have happened had Robinson let the ball fall to him.

The U. S.’s Olympics was a success.

• They won twice at an Olympics for the first time ever.
• They qualified for the first time in four Olympiads (Beijing, 2008).
• They advanced to the knockouts for the first time in six (Sydney, 2000).

As an historical, cultural note, their Olympiad had a distinctly French flavor. The games were in France, and they opened against the hosts. They also played a former French West African colony (Guinea) and a former French North African protectorate (Morocco).

Philadelphia phocus

Unfortunately for the Union, defender Nathan Harriel was called for two penalties against Morocco. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte read each attempt correctly but was unable to touch either. They were goals one and four.

Here are Harriel’s and McGlynn’s Olympic numbers.

Appendix: Roster asset values as predictors 

Paris men’s Olympic soccer team total roster asset value estimates follow below arranged by results in the groups, the Quarters and the semis. They are Transfermarkt’s estimates, as of Fr, 2-Aug-24. They reflect where the players are playing, and all of the Transfermarkt’s assumptions incorporated into their algorithms.