World Cup NOW: What happened on Christine Sinclair’s missed penalty?

Last updated: 2023/07/21 at 10:19 AM

BigP Published July 21, 2023

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup continued Thursday with Canada and Nigeria playing a scoreless draw at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Australia.

Nigerian goalie Chiamaka Nnadozie was a force to be reckoned with from start to finish, coming up with one monumental save after another — including a crucial save on a second-half penalty kick from Canada captain and World Cup veteran Christine Sinclair to keep the game scoreless.

Nnadozie is the first Nigerian player — man or woman — to save a penalty kick in a World Cup.

Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie makes a STUNNING SAVE on a PK

The “World Cup Now” crew — Jimmy Conrad, Leslie Osborne and Melissa Ortiz — was joined by former Australia captain Kathryn Gill, and together they discussed the main takeaways from Thursday’s match and broke down what happened on the play.

Conrad: “Unbelievable save there from Chiamaka Nnadozie [on the penalty kick]. … There was no doubt that she was gonna make that save. … Christine Sinclair — missed opportunity. … She had the opportunity to become the first player — man or woman — to score in six World Cups. She’s gonna be kicking herself.”

Osborne: “Jessie Flemming out today for Canada — major loss — and she (Sinclair) hasn’t taken PKs for Canada in a long time. However, having said that, Christine Sinclair — she’s gonna be up a lot of nights thinking about that one. She could have buried that; we’ve seen her score so many of those. That one’s gonna hurt.”

Ortiz: “The way that she (Sinclair) actually hit it just wasn’t strong enough [and it] also wasn’t placed wide enough to the post. … I would have to applaud the Nigerian keeper as well for reading that. She had so much confidence going into this against one of the — or the — best player, most legendary player in the world.”

Gill: “She (Sinclair) would usually bury that in the corner. … I’m sure she’ll reflect on it and pick herself back up and she’ll go again. You kind of have to.”

Check out the full Women’s World Cup schedule and how to watch each match live here. Find the latest scores here.

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