U.S. dealt harsh lesson by France in Olympic men's soccer opener - ESPN

MARSEILLE, France — At the end of a chaotic, controversial and farce-filled day of Olympic soccer, the United States men's team finally made its return to the Summer Games only to see France run away to a much-anticipated celebration.

Given the relative insanity of what came earlier Wednesday — highlighted by the hours-delayed, VAR-infused ending to Morocco's upset of Argentina following a shocking fan invasion of the field — the party atmosphere at the Velodrome stadium felt almost quaint. But every result is critical in this sprint of a tournament, and France's 3-0 victory over the Americans gave at least most of the 67,000 fans a reason to applaud coach Thierry Henry's squad at the end of the evening. Playing in their home country, a medal is the absolute minimum expected for Les Bleus.

For the U.S., the bar is certainly lower, though Marko Mitrovic's players have ambition and were clearly disappointed to be on the wrong end of a lopsided scoreline, particularly after showing reasonably well — at least for an hour — in the country's first Olympic men's match since 2008.

«I don't think it was a fair result,» Mitrovic said afterward. «We didn't deserve to lose this way, but we have to learn our lesson.»

That notion of building experience is pronounced in this under-23 tournament (with three exceptions per team), where most of the game's top stars — including Christian Pulisic and nearly everyone else from the USMNT Copa America roster — are in preseason with their club teams instead of competing here. These games for the Americans are as much about the future as the present.

So how did they do in their opening appearance? Performances varied, but Kevin Paredes displayed aplomb with his crosses and Nathan Harriel worked