Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova wrapped her arms around Meikayla Moore and gave her a hug.
She felt it was what the centre-back needed after setting an unwanted international football record by scoring a hat-trick of own goals during the New Zealand national women’s team’s 5-0 defeat to the United States at the SheBelieves Cup on Monday (AEDT).
In scarcely believable scenes, the 25-year-old put the ball into her own net not once, not twice but three times inside the space of just 36 minutes before Klimková put her out of her misery and brought on Rebekah Stott with four minutes left in the first half.
READ MORE: LeBron James praises Aussie rookie Josh Giddey’s ‘beautiful basketball’
READ MORE: Kevin Walters no closer to solving major Brisbane Broncos dilemma
READ MORE: Djokovic fires warning to rivals ahead of return to ATP tour
Moore was visibly emotional as she took her seat on the bench.
“Each player who has played [football] and it doesn’t matter what level, has great games and tough games, and Mouse [Moore] had a tough day at the office,” Klimkova said.
“Obviously she’s sad and disappointed, but she has us. We know who she is, we know what a great player she is, and we are going to support her as much as possible and we will be behind her.
“I said to her we all know what a great player she is, and there is no doubt about it, she is a solid centre-back, defensively she’s tough to beat, great in the air, a great passer … that’s who she is, and that’s what she needs to keep in her mind, and that’s something I’m going have to repeat many times to her.”
Moore has been a mainstay for the Football Ferns under both Klimková and former coach Tom Sermanni.
She has started every game, including all three matches at the Tokyo Olympics, since coming back from a ruptured Achilles suffered on the eve of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which sidelined her for seven months.
She partnered Claudia Bunge in her 50th game for the Football Ferns after Abby Erceg was ruled out with a knee injury, but it was an occasion to forget for the defender who plays her club football for Liverpool in England’s second-tier FA Women’s Championship.
The first own goal came just five minutes into the game when Moore attempted to clear a cross whipped in by left-winger Sophia Smith, but ended up turning the ball past goalkeeper Erin Nayler at the front post.
Eighty-two seconds later she had done it again, but this time Moore knew very little about it. Right-winger Margaret Purce managed to get her head to a cross from right-back Sofia Huerta after the ball looped over Bunge but it smacked Moore in the face and deflected into the goal.
Moore completed the unwanted hat-trick in the 36th minute when she stuck out her left foot to block a cross from Purce, but once again she ended up directing it into her own goal.
Moore hunched over in despair before being replaced by Stott.
The hat-trick of own goals stunned football fans across the globe, with social media quick to pounce and react.
English football manager and current boss of NJ/NY Gotham FC, Scott Parkinson, hit out at the “keyboard warriors” for criticising the New Zealand defender.
https://twitter.com/parkinson_scott/status/1495507371233320967https://twitter.com/SannyR1985/status/1495515223612084224https://twitter.com/caitlinmurr/status/1495503160043048963https://twitter.com/KiersTheivam/status/1495530454799290374
Football Ferns Annalie Longo and Rosie White were part of the Sky Sports broadcast and they could not believe what they had witnessed from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
They questioned whether Klimková should have waited until halftime to take her off.
“You never like to see this in football. It’s tough as a player and I can only feel for Meikayla,” Longo said.
“Jitka has made the decision to sub her before halftime which is a little bit questionable but she’s got a point to prove in terms of selection. She said she wants to go out and win games so it’s a tough call on that one.
“I would’ve kept her on until halftime and then made the change but you never know how a player is feeling. Meikayla could’ve signalled to the sideline ‘I’m done, I’m not comfortable out here, I’m out of my zone’.
“You don’t know what happens out on the pitch and she might have made that call herself.”
Added White: “It’s just really brutal for her. And it’s salt into the wound getting subbed at halftime.
“One own goal is enough to put someone in a bit of a mental rut … it was a tough decision to make but there was no coming out of that after three, so whether it was halftime I’m not sure what difference that would’ve made. Hopefully it’s a big learning for her.”
Klimková said she felt it was in Moore’s best interests to take her off in the 40th minute.
“It could be a situation where she stays on and goes through it by herself, but for us, what was a better decision [was] to switch and sub, and now she really needs to reflect.
“We are going to look at the moments, maybe her decision-making could have been better, but a huge part in our game is mentality and if someone is ready to fight then she is going to stay, but Meikayla is a thinker, we know that about her, and it was tough for her.
“But this is the game. You have better days and not great days. For us that was the decision that we made and now will just look forward to what we can do to help her get out of it and be ready for the next game.”
US coach Vlatko Andonovski said Moore was just incredibly unlucky as he thought her positioning was good on all three goals.
Her own goals came from her right foot, left foot and head – known as a perfect hat-trick when scored at the right end.
“First and foremost we have to understand that this is a game and own goals are part of the game. It happens and it’s just unfortunate that it happened to the same player,” Andonovski said.
“But she is an incredible defender and I thought her positioning was very good. It was just unlucky. Sometimes the ball just isn’t going to bounce your way.”
The Football Ferns conclude the SheBelieves Cup with a game against the Czech Republic on Thursday.
This story was originally published on Stuff and is republished with permission.