The Art of "Finishing"

There has been a lot of discussion on the US National’s Women Team losing to Japan in the finals. What I want to talk about is the actual reason they lost, a syndrome that plagues every soccer team from time to time and is the most frustrating reason to lose. The reason the US Women’s National Team lost is because they could not finish. My head hurts just saying it. Why? Well let’s discuss.

First off, let’s define not finishing: Not finishing is defined as a team being unable to get the ball in the back of the net, despite being very close to doing so and trying very, very hard to do so. The key is that you actually have to get the ball close to the net. Just because a team loses does not group them with the "unable to finish" teams. You actually have to come close and miss, which the US did….a lot.

Ok, so the thing about finishing is that it is really f-in tough. Why? Because, I, as a theoretical soccer player, know and want as much as you, the theoretical spectator yelling at me to score, that the ball needs to get to the back of the net, BUT, and this is a big but, there are a lot of people who wish the exact opposite, and they’re messing with my game. They get a little too close, they slide tackle me. They basically give me a millisecond to hit the perfect shot, and if they give me more than that, it’s because they royally screwed up, which is when most goals happen and is rare at a high level of play (wink wink the World Cup).

Not finishing is brutal. It is a huge smack in the face. Take Abby Wambach’s shot that hit the cross bar. It was a great shot, almost perfect, but in soccer, almost perfect doesn’t count. You need to be perfect or else you lack the ability to finish. But don’t you want to give her credit? I do too, but if she had not leaned back that extra half inch, she may have scored, and they may have won, but she didn’t, and they lost, so sorry Abby, no credit to you for that wonderful shot because you could have hit it just a little bit better.

So to my point. Not finishing is the worst way to lose because it doesn’t mean that your team isn’t better, which the US was, and it doesn’t mean your team wasn't trying equally hard. It just means they couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net, no matter how much I screamed and they screamed at themselves to do so. In my mind the better team, as long as they play with heart, should always win, but in my favorite sport in the world, somehow that’s not the case, and clearly, I still don't know how to come to terms with it.

Congrats Japan on dominating the Women's World Cup. I could never say you do not deserve it because I think you do. And USWNT, I'm still proud, and I'm WICKED excited to see you in the Olympics next year.