Tisini Numbers Reveal Awuor's Dominance is Beyond Penalties and Saves

The Harambee Starlets traveled to Tunisia and came out with a crucial victory that enabled them to advance to the next stage. One person stood out; when the nation called, Lilian Awuor answered, delivering two crucial penalty saves that rightfully placed her name in countless headlines and sports analyses.

Probably, the Tunisian women’s side is just blunt in attack. After all they failed to find the net across 180 minutes. But Tisini, tracking individual player performance in the game, named Awuor as the star of the match. She scored a high rating of 7.1, clearly showing her performance and brilliance was beyond the 2 penalties and a reason behind the clean sheet.

In the first penalty she saved, the ball fell directly into the feet of an opponent who was quick to react. However, the Starlets’s goalkeeper showed agility, reacting quickly to punch the opponent’s follow-up shot. Awuor's five saves in Tunis were vital in ensuring the national team maintained a zero-goal scoreline.

She also showed good judgment and command of her area. There is a general belief that goalkeepers don’t come out to make claims unless they are sure to get there. The data demonstrates that this strategy is typically employed by keepers. Awour achieved a flawless 100% success rate on her two claims in Tunis, demonstrating both accurate judgment and effective aggression.

Awour’s expertise with her hands goes beyond keeping the ball out of her net. She helped the Harambee Starlets in possession and did it well. The goalkeeper used her hands to distribute the ball to teammates or start an attack 6 times. All of these throw-out attempts were successful. She was less successful with her feet, attempting five kickouts but only finding a teammate twice.

In general, her distribution was good. To be considered effective distributors in football, goalkeepers should aim for a ball distribution accuracy of at least 65%, which signifies a substantial proportion of their passes locating their target. For the game in Tunis, Awour scored 71% in distribution.

The most striking thing about Awour was her constant alertness across the entire 90 minutes, a challenge for any goalkeeper when the action slows down. Going by Tisini’s tracking, after the first 15 minutes the goalkeeper displayed a performance rated 6 and above. Unlike her teammates, she showed no signs of weariness as the game's conclusion neared, staying fully awake and active.

It is no surprise she was the star of the match, a tight embrace from coach Odemba at the final whistle shows her importance to the Kenyan national team.

Feature Image Credit: Harambee Starlets