“At some point, I heard my name being called, so I ran to the sideline and they’re like, ‘Here, you got to put this stuff on,'” Hamm said. “And I turned to Tony and I said, ‘Yeah, but don’t you want to put in a real goalkeeper?’ And he said, ‘Of course I do, but I don’t have any subs.’ And so I was like, ‘Ohhhhhh’ — I mean, we weren’t prepared because I wore Brianna’s jersey, which I don’t think was legal, and I used Saskia’s gloves. And so it was one of those situations where they weren’t going to take Tisha out of the center of midfield, and we were up 2-0, so it’s just logical to take a front runner out.”
This is another instance where the passage of time makes memories a little foggy. Hamm insists she had no idea she was the designated goalkeeper.
“It would’ve been nice to know, ‘Hey, listen, if something bad happens, you’re going to go in goal,'” Hamm said. “I might pay attention a little bit more when Tony’s coaching up the goalkeepers about angles on free kicks.”
Heinrichs and Gregg swear they told had Hamm what was up. That said, the key was not to over-coach in that situation. The emphasis was on projecting confidence.
“In that moment, is Mia going to hear much of anything or care much about anything? No, she’s just going to be thinking about, ‘Oh my God, I’m going in goal in the World Cup,'” Gregg said. “And you know, you just want it to be — not matter of fact because obviously it’s not, but you show confidence by, in a way, the less you have to communicate. This is our plan, we’re ready for it. You’re ready. And you know, just keep it matter of fact and not alarming to her.”
One trait goalkeeper coaches talk about is “presence,” which is one of those squishy soccer terms that is tough to define but you know it when you see it. It can be a result of size, being vocally assertive, commanding the box, and of course making saves. Scurry had it. Hope Solo was an all-time leader in the category. Suffice it to say, Hamm didn’t exactly project an aura of intimidation. The jersey was so oversized on her that it looked like a hand-me-down from an older sibling. Teammate Carla Overbeck recalls looking back at Hamm and thinking, “She looked like this little peanut in this big goal, and then I thought, ‘Uh oh.’ So I just was kind of thinking, ‘OK, we have to lock it down for sure, because they can’t get any shots.” Foudy was trying to inspire confidence, but couldn’t stifle fits of laughter. “I was like, ‘What? Because those gloves look like they’re huge on you,'” she said. “Mia was like clapping her hands together, and I was like, ‘You’re like Mickey Mouse right now with those big old gloves on.’ And I think I was giggling at her like, ‘Oh my god, you got this!’ as I was laughing. I mean, obviously it helped that we were 2-0 up rather than 1-0, but still.” The first test Hamm had to face was the ensuing free kick from Scurry’s “infraction.” Mercifully, the Danish player hit her shot high and wide of goal. “I think everyone was praying that she just hit it over and she did. I was like, ‘Thank goodness,'” Hamm said. “I kind of was like, ‘All right, let’s just figure it out.’ Because I had confidence in my defense. They’d been taking care of them all day. But you just try to get locked in. And I’m pretty sure if you asked the defense, they kind of focused a little bit harder to make sure no one else cut through or got a shot on goal.” Given the surreal turn the match had taken, one would expect that there was high anxiety on the sideline. But Heinrichs said Hamm’s ability and experience gave the staff belief she would pull through. “I wouldn’t say it was tense at all,” Heinrichs said. “I’d say that you have one of the world’s greatest athletes in your goal. You knew she’d be brave physically. You knew she would be brave in the moment. The moment certainly didn’t overpower Mia, and I don’t have any memory of being nervous or having nervous moments when the ball came in. It was rather more of, it’s a great athlete in the goal and we should be fine. And if we keep the ball, keep possession and keep control of the game, we’ll be just fine.”‘You’re like Mickey Mouse right now’
