This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.
Alright, y’all. I know England just beat Australia pretty thoroughly to get to the World Cup final.
Congratulations to the Lionesses on that. They look incredible. Alessia Russo is one of the best players in the world. Lauren James will be back for the final match against Spain on Sunday. If you ask me, England is in a prime position to win it all.
With that being said, man, I cannot stop thinking about the performance Sam Kerr just gave us in the semis.
There’s not really a way to call a 3-1 game a close one at all. It’s just not. It’s a two-goal victory with England demonstrating themselves to very clearly be the better team. There’s no debating that.
But listen. Kerr made that game feel close and it felt like she did it all by herself. The lone goal she scored for the Matildas’ side has to be the best goal we’ve seen in this World Cup so far.
I mean, look at this thing, y’all.
THAT'S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT 🤩
GOLAZOOO SAM KERR 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/Gnts261nW2
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 16, 2023
That individual brilliance alone kept Australia in the game.
That’s not to say that the Australian side lacks talent — you don’t get to the semifinals on individual brilliance alone. And they did most of their work in this tournament without Kerr, who missed the group stage due to a calf injury.
With that said, it’s just so impressive how that individual brilliance kept Australia in this game when it felt like the team had absolutely nothing going for it. Kerr was incredible. She scored that wonder goal, obviously, but she also created a few other chances for Australia that could’ve tied the game at 2-2.
Sports, man. This is the only space in the world where brilliance might just result in failure. Sometimes, the Sisyphean task just proves to be a bit too much. You can’t always get the boulder up the hill before it comes rolling back — the other side is just … better.
That’s what happened here and that’s totally OK. England deserves all the credit for that. But greatness is to be appreciated. That’s what Sam Kerr just gave us, so let’s appreciate it.
Poor Sweden. Good luck dealing with that in the third-place match.
Quick hits: The Jets QBs are roasting Aaron Rodgers … Lionel Messi is unreal … and more
— Hearing the Jets’ quarterback room call out Aaron Rodgers for his obvious play fakes is hilarious. He’s Aaron Rodgers! Charles Curtis has more.
— I want to blame Andre Blake here for this Lionel Messi goal, but I can’t. It’s Messi. Of course, that dude scored. Andrew Joseph has more.
— Bryan Kalbrosky graded every NBA team’s offseason. Check that out. It’s super comprehensive.
— Want to be mad today, Pac-12 fans? Click this.
That’s all, folks. Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day.