PARIS (Reuters) – Morocco reached the Olympic men’s football semi-finals for the first time with a resounding 4-0 win over the United States that included two penalties at the Parc des Princes on Friday.
Morocco dominated from the start to prevail in their first-ever Olympic knockout match to set up a clash with the winners of the Spain-Japan quarter-final being played later on Friday.
Backed by their passionate supporters who packed the Paris St Germain stadium, Morocco opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Soufiane Rahimi earned them a penalty and converted for his fifth goal of the tournament.
Ilias Akhomach doubled their lead with a close-range finish from Abde Ezzalzouli’s cross in a brilliant team move just past the hour mark before PSG’s Achraf Hakimi got on the scoresheet after a fine solo run to make it 3-0 20 minutes from time.
Substitute Mehdi Maouhoub sealed the rout with another penalty in stoppage time following a VAR review for a handball.
The U.S., playing in their first Olympic quarter-final for 24 years, were better for a short spell after the break but did not look dangerous and had only one goal attempt in the match.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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