Being in goal is a unique position, a sort of accompanied solitude. A reverse hunter: her job is not to get caught, her triumph is not the moment of a goal, but spoiling the other player’s moment. It requires courage to be in such a place. Being in goal is un-solipsistic solitude. It is precisely the opposite. More than ever, you have to be aware of the other players’ intentions, decipher the language invented by their complicity to attack, their tricks and reactions; it requires a certain kind of attention that doesn’t accept generalities, running the risk of making a new decision each time, stumbling, concentrating meticulously. This position requires radical empathy.

Christiane Endler is captain of the Chilean women’s soccer team. In 2021, she was named World’s Best Goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics and, in 2022, was awarded “The Best” prize by FIFA for being the best goalkeeper. Her career path paves the way for the future; most obviously, in creating opportunities for other women who, like her, know that football has no gender. But there is something else that her talent offers us, a subtle lesson: that to be a leader doesn’t always mean scoring goals; and that deduction isn’t a calculation, but requires the art of sensitivity, an attention where empathy takes part.