Carli Lloyd tonight had one of the greatest performances in a championship contest in any team sport. The hat trick in the first seventeen minutes, culminating in the sensational midfield shot, is unmatched in any World Cup final, man or woman. Zidane's two headers for France in 1998 is the closest soccer performance in a final, in terms of volume and early decisiveness. Comparing this to other performances in the other four major team sports leads me to conclude that this was simply one of the greatest championship game performances of all time in any sport. And, it is particularly rare for someone at the top of the sport to be the player who delivers. Hockey - I am hard-pressed to come up with an individual hat trick in a late Stanley Cup finals game. Football - Steve Young's six touchdown passes against the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX comes to mind. So does Doug Williams' four touchdown passes in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII against the Broncos. Baseball - Reggie's three homers in the sixth game is a close comparison, but Lloyd's were earlier and more decisive (Reggie walked his first at-bat). Basketball - James Worthy in Game 7 in the 1988 finals (36 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, the first triple-double of his career) and Magic playing center in Game 6 of the 1980 finals (42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists). College basketball - Walton's 44 points in the title game of the NCAA finals in 1973 (21 of 22 shooting). Looking at those other games as benchmarks, one perhaps can say that Lloyd's performance tonight (she dominated play even when not scoring the goals) was the greatest performance in a team sport in a championship game, and certainly in terms of deciding a contest more quickly at the outset than any other.
people will say the second goal was too fortuitous to be that impressive of a hat trick. it was a nice impulsive goal, she had to be there to bury it and couldnt kick it into any of the defenders in the crowd, but still, they have an argument. the first and third goals were much more legitimate. she led the charge in basically putting this game away before it was even a quarter over. and it wasnt just those goals. she dispossessed japan it seemed like several times mid field and just played smart and aggressive all game. a legendary championship game performance. millions, including myself, are chowing down on crow salad after heavily criticizing her pre-germany. pia gets some too.
1. Comparisons to other sports are apples to Kale. 2. Perspective -- requires some distance. usually, after a player is retired from the pro game can the real perspective be given. 3. nonetheless, Lloyds hat trick is one of the ages -- and would have been even if they were scored in the 22nd, 43rd, and 79th.
Scored the winner in 2008, two in 2012, three in 2015. All gold medal matches. Yeah she's the greatest.
Many goals in soccer are fortuitous. She was in the right place (which is important and not always obvious) and she executed. It would have been easy to kick that into someone. A goal is a goal....except for that midfield one. That was a GOAL!
What I think we will find in the future is that other performances will be called Carli Lloyd - like, Lloydesque, etc. It sets a standard that can be put on a par with similar single game performances in mens soccer and in other sports in general. Rare that a performance truly stands alone. This one stands alone.
Someone else thinks so. This is quite a column. http://screamer.deadspin.com/for-16-minutes-carli-lloyd-was-the-greatest-player-of-1715958548
One other thing is worth noting about Lloyd's run in the last three games. She kept getting better, reaching her climactic performance in the final, a final unlike any experienced by any soccer player, man or woman. The gold standard for three straight knockout round games in the men's World Cup probably remains Maradona in 1986 followed by Paolo Rossi in 1982. But, neither of them had their most productive game of those three in the final (though Maradona's play in the final was excellent and the fact that he drew hordes of German thugs to foul him viciously into the turf ever time he touched the ball freed his teammates to run into open space and receive Maradona's passes, and the winning one to Burruchaga was soccer artistry). Rossi's best game of his three was the second-to-last game against Brazil; Maradona's was against Belgium in the semis, in case you are trying to remember.
Small quibble. She did it in the first 15:02 of the match http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/listen-to-all-five-u-s-goals-as-called-by-telemundos-a-1715908057