Super Falcons’ attacker, Gift Monday took some time out to talk about her late father, after scoring for Washington Spirit of USA in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Sports247 reports that Monday put her Washington DC-based side ahead in the pulsating encounter, but their opponents stormed back to take the game into a shootout via the lottery of penalty kicks.
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At the end of it all, Monday and her teammates had their goalkeeper to thank, as Aubrey Kingsbury stopped two penalty-kicks and watched another hit the crossbar.
That meant Monday’s team survived a scare in their NWSL quarter-finals fixture against Racing Louisville, though they had been a few minutes away from a potential 1-0 win before an equalizer by Kayla Fischer in stoppage time.
Monday’s goal off a header in the 73rd minute came from a cross by Rosemunde Kouassi and calmed their nerves, after an earlier effort in the 17th minute was overturned by VAR.
They then won the penalties’ shootout 3-1, after two scoreless 15-minute extra time periods, and will next play the winner between Portland Thorns and San Diego Wave.
In the wake of her team’s victory, Monday reflected on memories of her father, who she described as her first coach, then went on to dedicate her goal to him and Spirit’s fans.
“He made me who I am today. He trained me on how to keep believing and keep moving on. If I didn’t come back, and this goal didn’t happen, I might never forgive myself.
“I might feel like I’m still grieving. But with this, I know my dad is with me, and he’s giving me the strength to keep going — and this goal was proof,” Gift Monday affirmed.
