Bend it like Rapinoe!
Megan Rapinoe has done something very rare in the sport of soccer during Team USA's bronze medal match against Australia. The Americans were awarded a corner kick 7 minutes into the match and the 36-year-old's job was to kick the ball into the penalty area in the hope of finding another U.S. player who can score. But she was the one who scored and such a goal is called "Olimpico."
Olimpico is short for "Gol Olímpico" in Spanish, which simply means an Olympic goal. The term was coined in 1924 after Argentinian soccer player Cesáreo Onzari scored a goal in the same fashion against reigning Olympic champions Uruguay.
Now, any goal scored from a corner kick is called Olimpico. It rarely happens because the scorer needs to kick the ball at an angle and perfectly curve it into the back of the net.
What Rapinoe achieved in Tokyo is an Olympic Olimpico, and it's not the first time she has accomplished the difficult skill.
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Rapinoe scored her first Olimpico in the 2012 Olympics semifinal match against Canada. She was the first to do so at an Olympic game and the U.S. women went on to defeat Canada 4-3.
In Tokyo on Thursday, Rapinoe gave her team an early lead with the corner goal and the USWNT veteran later scored a second goal.
The team closed out their Olympics with a 4-3 victory over Australia and went home with their first bronze.
