A few nights before they open up the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris against the hosts, France, on Wednesday, USA men’s soccer team head coach Marko Mitrovic decided to organize a movie night.
The film he opted to show his squad, predominantly made up of players 23 or younger (per Olympic rules), was “Miracle,” — the story of the famous 1980 US Olympic hockey team that shocked the world by upsetting the powerhouse Soviet Union on its way to a Cinderella-story-worthy gold medal.
Forty-four years later, it is a soccer pitch in Marseille rather than a sheet of ice in Lake Placid, NY in which the Americans are hoping to engineer another upset — though such a result would still pale in comparison to what Herb Brooks’ squad did even though France are the favorites to win gold at these Summer Games.
Regardless, Mitrovic’s message and the United States’ mindset remain lofty.
“We’re focusing on the now and the tasks here and that is to win a gold medal,” midfielder Djordje Mihailovic of the Colorado Rapids and one of three over-age players allowed on the US roster, said. “That’s something we dreamed about when we were kids watching the Olympic Games on TV… We know France is one of the favorites as the host country. For us to go against them in the opening game is an honor. We know the world is going to be watching. It’s an opportunity for us to show Americans as well as the rest of the world how good of a team we are.”
Wednesday’s match will be one of the first events to be held at the 2024 Olympics, two days before the opening ceremonies. Normally at large international soccer tournaments, the opening match for the hosts is scheduled against a weaker side to serve as a sacrificial stabilizer, of sorts. The French are loaded with young talent already playing in the top leagues in Europe. Right-winger Michael Olise plays for Bayern Munich and center-back Castello Lukeba features for Red Bull Leipzig — two massive teams in the German Bundesliga. Defender Loic Bade calls Sevilla in La Liga (Spain) home while three players represent Monaco, the second-best team in France’s Ligue 1 last season behind powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain.
Even their head coach, Thierry Henry, is one of the greatest products to come out of France, winning a World Cup, European Championships, and featuring for some of the greatest club teams on the planet like Arsenal and Barcelona.
But these Americans are no slouches. Despite this being their first Olympics since 2008, they have the fifth-best odds to win the tournament, per DraftKings, at +1600 with a roster that should feature some members of the heir apparent to a United States’ senior team in flux two years before the 2026 World Cup on home soil and which disappointed so bitterly at Copa America over the summer.
“I’ve had a few international competitions, some Gold Cups… but it doesn’t matter how old you are on this team,” Mihailovic said. “Even the young guys have so much experience playing at a top level already.”
Fifteen of the 18 players on the US Olympic roster have already made appearances with the senior team. Nine players currently play for clubs in Major League Soccer in the United States while eight play in either Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England.
Having experience playing on some of the world’s largest soccer stages, Team USA is not entering the opening match against France with the mentality that three points are a must. In fact, they suggested that most of the pressure will be on France to produce a positive result in front of the home crowd.
“We have an opportunity to make a statement and go out there and show who we are and what we’re about,” goalkeeper Patrick Schulte of Columbus Crew said. “No matter what happens in this game [against France], we have two more to go so we can play this one kind of free-minded and not have to worry about anything. I think that can play into something that this group could take advantage of. Just go out there, play our game, and see what happens with no pressure or outside now.”
Kick-off for the Americans’ opening match of the Summer Olympics on Wednesday is at 3 p.m. ET and can be seen on USA Network and streaming on Peacock.
