Ann-Katrin Berger and the best save you've ever seen. Plus: Marcus Rashford's transfer chain reaction

New York Times

21-07-2025

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Hello! Come meet the player who's been defying gravity. I can't stop watching her save.
🧤 German goalkeeper's all-timer
✈️ Rashford joining Barcelona
🏆 In praise of mixed teams
🤕 'Siu' celebration goes wrong
I don't think I was alone in spending part of yesterday with a single video clip on repeat. Every time it replayed, I looked for something else or something new, slowly piecing the jigsaw together.
Where is Ann-Katrin Berger standing when the ball first travels goalwards? How far out does the deflection occur? How close is the ricochet to crossing the line when Berger gets her palm to it? And how immense is that Javier Sotomayor-esque leap?
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This was the moment of genius pulled off by Germany's goalkeeper against France in Saturday's brilliant, plot-ridden Euro 2025 quarter-final. If you haven't seen it, you're seeing it now (above). There's no such thing as the greatest all-time save because a) too much football has been played in 100-plus years, and b) beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have a soft spot for Andy Goram foiling Pierre van Hooijdonk in 1995, but Berger will now forever belong in the conversation.
The joy of it is the culmination of all those things a goalkeeper works on day after day, often to monotonous degrees: the reaction times, the footwork, the hand-to-eye coordination, the physical strength needed to claw away a ball that is beating you. Preparation from a player such as Berger manifests itself in every single performance, but only very rarely does it come together to achieve the borderline impossible.
That was Germany's quarter-final win all over. They had a player sent off after 13 minutes. They conceded the opening goal. Berger dragged them through extra time and then not only saved two of France's penalties in the shootout (the less said about the run-up from Amel Majri, below, the better), but also converted one herself. Goalies are in main-character mode at these Euros, so let's look a little closer at Berger's background.
Berger isn't in the twilight of her career, but at 34, she's been around the block and at the top of the game for many years. The most successful of those came at Chelsea, where she won 10 trophies in her five seasons. She's single-minded, an inherent, unapologetic risk-taker and somebody who, in her own words, adores a shootout. 'It sounds crazy, but I just love it,' she said after helping Chelsea beat holders Lyon in a Champions League quarter-final two years ago. 'I have no pressure.'
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That brief overview, however, ignores the adversity of Berger being twice diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After recovering first time around, while at Birmingham City, she was named in the Women's Super League team of the season in 2017-18. In the middle of Euro 2022, she was told that her cancer had returned — but Berger faced it down with the same fortitude. Her maiden season at the New York area's Gotham FC earned her the NWSL's 2024 goalkeeper of the year award.
For all that, Berger is noticeably low on emotion, at least in public. There were no histrionics on Saturday, just the unflappable assurance of a goalkeeper who was having the night of their life. 'I look forward,' she told reporters after the game, an attitude that serves her well. She won't mind if, for many years to come, a world-class save has people looking back.
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As pre-season friendlies ramped up over the weekend, the trade in forwards got hot. It's the priority position for several Premier League clubs and the flurry of movement will have a trickle-down effect as coaches who lose one option gather up funds and sign somebody to fill the hole. Here's what's occurring:
Ekitike picking Anfield, of course, means Newcastle United need to take stock and look elsewhere. Realistically, Liverpool's interest in their Alexander Isak is now on ice, although the Swede was nowhere to be seen during Saturday's friendly defeat at Scottish champions Celtic. The club say they are merely managing his minutes. All good fun.
🖱️ Most clicked in Friday's TAFC: Adidas' latest range of retro MLS kits.
The burgeoning popularity of the women's game makes it hard to believe that it was formally banned in England between 1921 and 1970. Try not to cringe at the Football Association — or Jurassic Park, as I'm inclined to call it — describing the sport as 'quite unsuitable for females'.
Historically, the concept of mixed youth teams featuring boys and girls has also been far more contentious than it ought to have been, despite the developmental benefits of the crossover. Katie Whyatt's feature on the subject begins with a great stat: a study of 37 prominent internationals who played for England's Lionesses found that all of them had played alongside boys as children. It's no coincidence.
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Other countries in Europe and elsewhere were traditionally more progressive than England, allowing mixed line-ups in higher age groups (and in some instances such as Spain, now the women's world champions, applying no upper limit at all). A change of mindset is helping the English game catch up — and so much the better.
On Friday, we asked you to name the nine men who have managed a club in more than 250 Premier League games. They were:
Arsene Wenger (Arsenal, 828), Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, 810), David Moyes (Everton, 446), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City, 342), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool, 334), Joe Kinnear (Wimbledon, 278), Harry Redknapp (West Ham, 269), Alan Curbishley (Charlton Athletic, 266) and Sean Dyche (Burnley, 258).
Cristiano Ronaldo's 'Siu' celebration has spawned a thousand copycat versions, but one attempt to mimic it in South America last week should make other tribute acts think twice.
Kesley, a forward with Gremio Prudente in Brazil's sixth tier, used the CR7 to mark a goal against Monte Azul. Sadly, in trying to stick the landing, he jammed his left leg, which then gave way painfully beneath him. He was quickly substituted and has been awaiting the outcome of medical tests. Not quite as easy as it looks, then.