Wambach’s header versus Brazil: Was the goal as good as the cross? I think so. But still, the cross by Rapinoe was from a long ways away and was really Beckham like in its perfection.
Abby Wambach ties the game in the dying minutes of injury time in extra time versus Brazil in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in German. It was Wambach’s header off a perfect cross by Megan Rapinoe that pushed the game to penalty kicks.
Watch Abby Wambach’s game tying header versus Brazil.
For as much as fans remember Wambach’s header, Rapinoe’s cross is equally etched in history. Alex Morgan estimates it at 50 yards; when Rapinoe discusses it, she says 45. You’d have to say that Rapinoe is the best crosser of the soccer ball in the women’s game and this game tying goal proves it.
“The pass is probably more difficult than the actual finish,” Wambach said.
As Wambach said: “Everything had to perfectly work out. Pinoe sends a bomb into the box, and all I kept doing was hoping it would get over the defender and goalkeeper’s hands.”
“It was kind of one of those Hail Mary pass sort of moments, but I just kept thinking, ‘Don’t mess this up,’ ” Wambach said. “Because if it goes over [Brazil’s defender and goalie], I’m wide open and all I need to do is basically tap it in.”
“To be running that fast to a ball that has to travel that distance — the chances are that you’re going to get clocked by the goalkeeper,” Hamm said. “To be that locked in on the ball and on your technique with the keeper coming out is so courageous. She didn’t blink, she didn’t take her eye off ball. The service was perfect. And I mean, that’s who she is right there as a player.”
Read more over at ESPN about the header heard around the world.
