Led by captain Tanner Tessmann from Birmingham, the U.S. men’s soccer team has reached the knockout stage at the Summer Olympics for the first time since 2000.
The United States defeated Guinea 3-0 on Tuesday at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, France, to advance to the tournament quarterfinals as the second representative from Group A.
The top two teams from each of the four groups in the men’s soccer tournament were still alive after Tuesday’s competition at the Paris Olympics.
The United States will play Morocco at 1 p.m. CDT Friday at Parc des Princes in Paris.
Morocco won Group B with a 2-1 record, with a 2-1 victory over Argentina on Wednesday and a 3-0 victory over Iraq on Tuesday sandwiching a 2-1 loss to Ukraine on Saturday.
France swept through its three matches in Group A, including a 3-0 victory over the United States on Wednesday. The U.S. team rebounded to beat New Zealand 4-1 on Saturday before blanking Guinea to advance.
The United States had failed to qualify for the previous three Olympics, but now is going to the quarterfinals for the first time since the Sydney Games in 2000.
As he had in the first two games, Tessmann served as the U.S. captain and went all the way in midfield.
Against Guinea, Tessmann took his first shot in the Olympics, but the scorers for the United States on Tuesday were Djordje Mihailovic on a free kick in the 14th minute and Kevin Paredes, who found the net in the 31st and 75th minutes.
Suni Lee of the United States performs on the balance beam during the women’s artistic gymnastics team finals at the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at Bercy Arena in Paris.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Also on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics, Auburn alumnus Suni Lee helped the United States women reclaim the team gold in artistic gymnastics. The United States won the women’s team gold at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games but, with Lee among its members, got the silver medal in Tokyo.
The United States’ four-competitor team buried the competition at Bercy Arena with 171.296 points on Tuesday, far outdistancing silver-medalist Italy, which totaled 165.494 points. Brazil got the bronze medal with 164.263 points.
Lee contributed 14.566 points on the uneven bars, 14.600 points on the balance beam and 13.533 points on the floor exercise. She did not participate in the vault.
Lee tied for the highest score on the balance beam and had the third-best score on the uneven bars on Tuesday.
The gold medalist at the Tokyo games in the women’s artistic gymnastics all-around competition, Lee will seek on Thursday to become the first to win that event in consecutive Olympics since Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968.
Lee also will compete in the women’s uneven-bars finals on Sunday and women’s balance-beam finals on Monday.
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Alabama alumnus Shallen Olsen participated in the vault for Canada on Tuesday. Canada finished fifth in the team competition, but Olsen’s vault score of 14.400 was tied for the fourth-best in the team finals.
Olsen will compete in the women’s vault finals on Saturday.
In the second round in men’s tennis doubles on Tuesday, Tim Puetz (Auburn) and his partner Kevin Krawietz of Germany defeated Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-3, 6-1 on Court 14 at Roland Garros. The No. 2 seed in men’s doubles, Puetz and Krawietz defeated Russians Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4 on Monday.
In the tournament quarterfinals, Puetz and Krawietz will play Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Iceland’s Anton McKee jumps into the water at the start of a heat race in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Nanterre, France.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Iceland’s Anton McKee (Alabama) swam to a 2-minute, 10.36-second time in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke, which moved him into the 16-swimmer semifinals. Coming back for his second race on Tuesday, McKee went 2:10.42 in the semifinals, which was the No. 15 time and did not earn him a spot in the medal swim.
Brazil’s Marcelo Chierighini (Auburn) swam to a 49.38-second time in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. That did not advance him from the 79-swimmer starting field to the 16-swimmer semifinals.
Cyprus’ Kalia Antoniou (Alabama) swam to a 54.75-second time in the women’s 100-meter freestyle. That did not advance her from the 29-swimmer starting field to the 16-swimmer semifinals.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
