USMNT Olympics Preview: Djordje Mihailović Tackles France in Marseille

MARSEILLE – Let the games begin. Colorado Rapids’ steady midfielder, Djordje Mihailović, is poised to play in his first Olympics match for America in the south of France when the Olympic competitions open tomorrow. He is one of three senior statesmen, Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson were called up and introduced by USA’s U23 head coach Marko Mitrović. 

Mihailović’s father, Aleks Mihailović tipped off Burgundy Wave after the Rapids’ July 4th home match that his son spoke with Mitrović and accepted his invitation.

According to the Rapids’ current media publication, the gifted and talented Mihailović 2024 campaign includes a road hat trick and four MLS Team of the Matchday honors (Weeks 7, 21, 22, and 24).

He joins the likes of former Rapids Tim Howard, Conor Casey, and Joey DiGiamarino who played in the 2000 tournament in Sydney, Australia, and Marvel Wynne who represented the Stars and Stripes in the 2008 Beijing, China Games.

This opening round series is the U.S.’s return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 16 years. The match will be played in Marseille’s Stade de Marseille, two days before the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony on the River Seine. An enthusiastic crowd of front crowd of 60,000 is expected to fill out the historic venue.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on USA Network, Telemundo, and Peacock.

During his Tuesday press conference in Marseille, Mihailović commented on the opportunity to represent the United States.

“It is a special, special moment. We are playing the host country in the Olympics for the first game. We have to embrace that moment. It’s going to be special for the players, for the staff, for our families in the stands being there watching this experience. They may be favorites but we feel like we can do the job.”

The 25-year-old Serbian-American continued, “At the end of the day, we will give our best in that first game. We know how big the first game of a tournament is but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t get the result we need. There’s still two more games and two teams advance to the knockout round.”

At the U.S. Men’s last Olympic appearance in 2008, future senior team greats, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, and Sacha Kljestan represented America. The team talent-filled team failed to make it to the knockout round.

Previously, the team’s best finish to qualify for the Olympics was in 2015. Coloradan’s Dillion Serna and Ethan Horvath were on the roster. Regrettably, the team finished in third place, losing to Columbia in the playoff game and failing to win a bid for the second consecutive cycle. Instead, Mexico and Honduras both qualified to play in the 2016 Olympics which were hosted by Brazil.

The U.S.’ only Olympic Men’s Soccer medals came at 1904 St. Louis in Missouri.

The U.S. is 0W-2L-4D vs. UEFA competition at the Olympics since the Under-23 rule was introduced in Barcelona in 1992. In addition, the U.S. is 4W-3L-5D in the group stage since 1992, including a 3W-1L-4D record in its last eight group stage matches.

Olympic soccer pundits have France and Argentina vying for the Gold medal. Team USA is a very, very long shot to earn a bronze medal.

France has previously reached the medal stand twice at the Olympic Games, first winning silver on home soil at Paris 1900 with a representative club team, then gold at the Los Angeles 1984 event.

France has competed in men’s soccer at 13 previous Olympics dating back to 1900, last taking part at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. There, the team went 1W-2L-0D (three points) and was eliminated in the group stage after suffering defeats to Mexico and Japan in Group A. Its lone win came against South Africa.

The USA faced France on March 2 and earned a late-in-the-match Hail Mary 2-2 tie.

U.S. OLYMPIC MEN’S SOCCER TEAM – ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB/COUNTRY; CAPS/GOALS; HOMETOWN)

Goalkeepers (2): 1-Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0; St. Charles, Mo.), 18-Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG; 0/0; Addison, Ill.)

Defenders (6): 4-Maximilian Dietz (Greuther Furth/GER; 6/0; Frankfurt, Germany), 2-Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; 7/1; Oldsmar, Fla.), 12-Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 2/0; Arlington, Mass.), 5-John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; 7/0; Chatham, N.J.), 17-Caleb Wiley (Chelsea/ENG; 5/0; Atlanta, Ga.), 3-Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 4/0; Lawrenceville, Ga.)

Midfielders (5): 6-Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 6/1; Greensboro, N.C.), 15-Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF; 5/1; Key Biscayne, Fla.), 16-Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; 7/0; Queens, N.Y.), 14-Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado Rapids; 9/0; Jacksonville, Fla.), 8-Tanner Tessmann (Venezia/ITA; 10/0; Birmingham, Ala.)

Forwards (5): 11-Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht/NED; 5/1; Medford, NJ), 10-Taylor Booth (FC Utrecht/NED; 4/0; Eden, Utah), 13-Duncan McGuire (Orlando City SC; 5/1; Omaha, Neb.), 7-Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER; 2/0; South Riding, Va.), 9- Griffin Yow (KVC Westerlo/BEL; 3/1; Clifton, Va.)

Alternates (4): Josh Atencio (Midfielder, Seattle Sounders FC; 0/0; Bellevue, Wash.), Jacob Davis (Defender, Sporting Kansas City; 0/0; Rochester, Mich.), Johan Gomez (Forward, Eintracht Braunschweig/GER; 7/2; Keller, Texas), John Pulskamp (Goalkeeper, Sporting Kansas City; 3/0; Bakersfield, Calif.)

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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