Mastodawn

Lawrence Miller Aug 2, 2023

I've seen a lot about how the US women "got lucky" when Portugal missed, as if the goal was wide open at the time and Naeher was caught having a cuppa instead of minding her net. This is wrong.

If Capeta puts the ball on target but 6 inches higher, Naeher stops it. If she puts it more than about a foot inside the post, she hits Naeher's feet. If she tries to cut back across the goal, the defense sweeps it away.
Naeher gave Capeta about a square foot of lower 90 to shoot at, and she missed. 🧵

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Lawrence Miller Aug 2, 2023

This isn't to say the US side played well; they did not. 🧵

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Lawrence Miller Aug 2, 2023

Now consider Marta Cox's BRILLIANT goal against France in the #panfra game. The Blues' wall gave her a tiny smidge of the net to shoot at, and she hit it. She needed to either get the ball over the wall then dip it down before it goes over the bar, or bend the ball around the wall and into the upper 90 before the keeper can get it. Cox CRUSHES it. 🧵

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Lawrence Miller

These shots, one near miss and one goal, were both matters of inches. At this level (in the mens' game too), these "game of inches" moments happen ALL THE TIME. Goalkeepers deny as much of the net to strikers as possible. World-class keepers like Naeher (and France's Pauline Peyraud-Magnin) make those windows REALLY tiny. (end)