MELCHIE DUMORNAY'S EXQUISITE GOAL IS WORTH TWO OF ZINEDINE ZIDANE'S
, I cannot predict which of these 16 colleagues below, selected from FIFA's The Best Women's Player 2025, will be the laureate this noon in Doha. However, I can doubt that any of them have in their CV this exquisite goal accomplished by Melchie Dumornay against Manchester United, six days ago, on the 10th...
By La Rédaction · Port-au-Prince · · 4 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
First, I cannot predict which of these 16 colleagues below, selected from FIFA's The Best Women's Player 2025, will be the laureate this noon in Doha. However, I can doubt that any of them have in their CV this exquisite goal accomplished by Melchie Dumornay against Manchester United, six days ago, on the 10th, which is why it's necessary to combine two of Zidane's goals: against Coruña for the build-up and against Alavés for the finish.
The alphabetical list of competitors for this year's The Best:
Sandy Baltimore (France)
Nathalie Björn (Sweden)
Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
Lucy Bronze (England)
Mariona Caldentey (Spain)
Temwa Chawinga (Malawi)
Diani Khadidiatou (France)
Melchie Dumornay (Haiti)
Patri Guijarro (Spain)
Lindsay Heaps (USA)
Lauren James (England)
Chloe Kelly (England)
Ewa Pajor (Poland)
Claùdia Pina (Spain)
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
Leah Williamson (England) Next, let's acknowledge that the greatest players such as Pelé, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi, and specialists of lesser renown, Arjen Robben, Thierry Henry, and today Yamal, have crafted some of the most beautiful examples of this type of goal: a curled shot from outside the penalty area. So, the very latest from the little goddess!? So, Women's Champions League Manchester VS Lyon. After a double acceleration of over 40 meters, on the left side of the Lyon attack, which brought her to the goal line where the English right-back had pursued and isolated her, player Jule Brand was relieved to find support in Melchie Dumornay, to whom she made an ordinary back pass. From this ball, Miss Dumornay constructed a "Placar" goal, as they say in Brazil.
When Jule Brand, blocked by the end line and pressured by her direct opponent, turned to get back into the game, Dumornay was running to position herself in the box to receive a potential cross from her teammate. She quickly understood that her teammate needed help. Without stopping, she veered left to within two meters of the upper corner of the penalty area, avoided the referee in her path, surveyed the space, made a cheerful hop, and decided on the ultimate individual action in six steps, to seek the goal in total autonomy:
1- controls Brand's pass with the inside of her right foot, fixes Jayde Rivière, whom she will reduce to the role of spectator for four seconds
2- moves to her right with an outside-of-the-foot control with the same right foot, looking for the shooting angle
3- rakes the ball with the studded sole of her right shoe towards the inside of her left foot
4- brings it back with one touch to her right
5- with the outside of her right foot, keeps the ball moving in this direction parallel to the 16.50-meter line
6- thus approaches the left intersection of the arc (manch malèt la) and the horizontal line of the penalty area, practically 4.50 meters from the imaginary axial line, and 22 meters from the top corner of the far post, which she will aim for and reach with a sumptuous curled shot.
The entire sequence, meaning the movement off the ball, the five touches punctuated by feints, and the shot, was accomplished in 5 seconds and over approximately 13 meters. Technical prowess, feline coordination, tactical divination, power, and precision in 5 seconds. How to define this goal? Zidanesque. Even if it takes combining two of the master's works to equal one of the disciple's. Re-watch the Frenchman's goal against Deportivo de la Coruña, January 5, 2002, to convince yourself:
1- outside right reception
2- left sole-rake
3- inside right
4- outside left,
5- left instep shot. Differences: Zidane had received his ball in front of the goal, kept it with four touches, had entered the penalty area, and finished his masterpiece with a mid-height left-footed cross-shot. This last move is within the reach of any good footballer. For Melchie's curled shot, it's one of the last chapters of Corrected Arithmetic. The similarity lies in the successive bilateral touches and the very rare sole-rake. Also see the goal from January 5, 2002, against Alavés: a deep pass from Bob Carlos, on the left side, Zidane dribbles Smertin, enters the box, and curls his shot towards the opposite top corner. It's a shame the World Cup isn't mixed. Sébastien Migné would have had the pleasure of elevating the national dish with a Dumornay twist. I saw Gorby in the midfield for Braga against Nice in the Europa League; in the absence of the little goddess, he can assist Bellegarde in leading the Haitian game. Let's start by wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Patrice Dumont
December 14, 2025 NB: A new video on my YT page will be available later. Subscribe! -> https://youtu.be/3db9A5f1SlE?si=mmOSGhG9ePL_Untm
Sandy Baltimore (France)
Nathalie Björn (Sweden)
Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
Lucy Bronze (England)
Mariona Caldentey (Spain)
Temwa Chawinga (Malawi)
Diani Khadidiatou (France)
Melchie Dumornay (Haiti)
Patri Guijarro (Spain)
Lindsay Heaps (USA)
Lauren James (England)
Chloe Kelly (England)
Ewa Pajor (Poland)
Claùdia Pina (Spain)
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
Leah Williamson (England) Next, let's acknowledge that the greatest players such as Pelé, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi, and specialists of lesser renown, Arjen Robben, Thierry Henry, and today Yamal, have crafted some of the most beautiful examples of this type of goal: a curled shot from outside the penalty area. So, the very latest from the little goddess!? So, Women's Champions League Manchester VS Lyon. After a double acceleration of over 40 meters, on the left side of the Lyon attack, which brought her to the goal line where the English right-back had pursued and isolated her, player Jule Brand was relieved to find support in Melchie Dumornay, to whom she made an ordinary back pass. From this ball, Miss Dumornay constructed a "Placar" goal, as they say in Brazil.
When Jule Brand, blocked by the end line and pressured by her direct opponent, turned to get back into the game, Dumornay was running to position herself in the box to receive a potential cross from her teammate. She quickly understood that her teammate needed help. Without stopping, she veered left to within two meters of the upper corner of the penalty area, avoided the referee in her path, surveyed the space, made a cheerful hop, and decided on the ultimate individual action in six steps, to seek the goal in total autonomy:
1- controls Brand's pass with the inside of her right foot, fixes Jayde Rivière, whom she will reduce to the role of spectator for four seconds
2- moves to her right with an outside-of-the-foot control with the same right foot, looking for the shooting angle
3- rakes the ball with the studded sole of her right shoe towards the inside of her left foot
4- brings it back with one touch to her right
5- with the outside of her right foot, keeps the ball moving in this direction parallel to the 16.50-meter line
6- thus approaches the left intersection of the arc (manch malèt la) and the horizontal line of the penalty area, practically 4.50 meters from the imaginary axial line, and 22 meters from the top corner of the far post, which she will aim for and reach with a sumptuous curled shot.
The entire sequence, meaning the movement off the ball, the five touches punctuated by feints, and the shot, was accomplished in 5 seconds and over approximately 13 meters. Technical prowess, feline coordination, tactical divination, power, and precision in 5 seconds. How to define this goal? Zidanesque. Even if it takes combining two of the master's works to equal one of the disciple's. Re-watch the Frenchman's goal against Deportivo de la Coruña, January 5, 2002, to convince yourself:
1- outside right reception
2- left sole-rake
3- inside right
4- outside left,
5- left instep shot. Differences: Zidane had received his ball in front of the goal, kept it with four touches, had entered the penalty area, and finished his masterpiece with a mid-height left-footed cross-shot. This last move is within the reach of any good footballer. For Melchie's curled shot, it's one of the last chapters of Corrected Arithmetic. The similarity lies in the successive bilateral touches and the very rare sole-rake. Also see the goal from January 5, 2002, against Alavés: a deep pass from Bob Carlos, on the left side, Zidane dribbles Smertin, enters the box, and curls his shot towards the opposite top corner. It's a shame the World Cup isn't mixed. Sébastien Migné would have had the pleasure of elevating the national dish with a Dumornay twist. I saw Gorby in the midfield for Braga against Nice in the Europa League; in the absence of the little goddess, he can assist Bellegarde in leading the Haitian game. Let's start by wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Patrice Dumont
December 14, 2025 NB: A new video on my YT page will be available later. Subscribe! -> https://youtu.be/3db9A5f1SlE?si=mmOSGhG9ePL_Untm
