Ammon News – Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty kick to give the United States an early 4-1 victory over New Zealand on Saturday and avert potential elimination from the Olympics.

A loss in Marseille could have ruined the Americans’ chance of reaching the knockout round for a second time. The U.S. had lost to France in their Group A opener.

Mihailovic calmly slotted home the penalty in the eighth minute after Nathan Harriel was brought down in the penalty area by Matthew Garbett.

Four minutes later, defender Walker Zimmerman, who had been in defense for a while, made it 2-0 when he poked the ball in after a free kick.

“It’s a do or die situation,” Zimmerman said. “We knew it was going to depend on the start we had, and to get an early goal was just great. That gave us confidence to really get into the tournament.”

Gianluca Busio scored on a rebound after half an hour and celebrated by dancing with teammate Kevin Paredes. Busio later left the game with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, but he said it was just a precaution.

Paxten Aaronson scored his fourth goal for the United States in the 58th minute and New Zealand avoided a clean sheet thanks to a late goal from Jesse Randall.

“For me, the most important thing is that we get there,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “Some games go with everything. Sometimes it just goes the other way. The game against France was a game of inches, and today we were good with the first two chances … When you start a game with a 2-0 lead, it’s clear that it’s going to be a much easier game after that.”

New Zealand’s 2-1 opening win over Guinea had put the team in a strong position to progress. The OlyWhites, as they are known, started the day second in the group, behind France.

The United States will play Guinea in their final group match on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne, while New Zealand will play France in Marseille.

Mitrovic said he doesn’t look at the scoreboard.

“I don’t do the calculation. We never talked about how we have to win, we have to draw,” the coach said. “We want to get the maximum every day and we want to get the maximum every game. Today we said before the game that every second on the pitch matters, that every action matters. And what we have to do is execute all those seconds and actions on the pitch and let’s see where that takes us.”

New Zealand reached the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

AP