Not even close to "our best ever" she does tend to draw shots straight at her (and that is not to be discounted)and she does keep her defense fairly well organized but she has poor footwork and she misreads the play quite often. Both Scurry and Solo were overall better and they both had MUCH better athletic ability that Naeher. She is one of the best and "maybe" the best current keeper we have available but she is NOT the savior that many seem to think she is. She also has the ability to read PKs very well and she does not scare me going into PKs to decide a match or facing PKs during the match. Her distribution is only OK most of the time and sometimes she goes on walkabout when under pressure during distribution. She does have the best overall midfield and defense in front of her but every time she receives a back pass it is an adventure to know exactly what will happen. She also has not improved for the last 5 or 6 years. I am comfortable with her in goal but she is clearly not the best we have ever had. I tend to want Scurry to be that "best" but, if i am being honest, Solo was a bit better and she had one of the best distribution throws I have ever seen. But goalkeepers are a unique breed and they cannot really be judged on their positives. Her footwork is her one big negative and distribution is only part of footwork and her biggest weakness is that she, just like our current male keepers, tend to make poor first steps that take her out of the play or makes the recovery much harder than it need to be. Naeher is a very good keeper just not the best we have ever had.
Isn't another factor what she does psychologically for the team in front of her on the field. I watched Kasey Keller when he was in college and it was like he had an aura that commanded the entire field.
But within her own squad, getting to practice, & scrimmage everyday against the likes of Banda & Marta must be awesome/will make her eventually a way better defender
Emily Sams is on the game-day roster to replace Davidson. It did sound like to me that Davidson is probably back for the quarterfinals though. Shaw is still out, so Bethune is also on the game-day roster.
Today's starting XI: Our XI to close out Group B 🇺🇸 #USWNT x @Visa— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 31, 2024 Sticking with what's worked, instead of resting starters it looks like.
And Australia's starting XI: STARTING XI 🗒Here's how we line up for our game against the USA 👊⏰: 3:00am AEST📺💻📱: Channel 9, 9Now & Stan Sport#Matildas #TilitsDone #Paris2024 #AllezAUS #Olympics pic.twitter.com/uH575KOmwj— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 31, 2024
Looks like they have opted for women's BMX racing rather than soccer, after covering nearly every soccer window so far.
Rodman scores...USA 1 - 0..right before the half time...USA might do Canada a favor to keep Australia at 3 pts...Oops, VAR check for goal...Goal confirmed...VAR not working lol....Now VAR working again...This game is really important for Australia...The ref checks VAR monitor: Does number 17 USA interfere with the play? No, she did not.. Goal confirmed again...Yeah...From 5 minutes added time, now it's 10 minutes...So much drama