New Zealand defender Meikayla Moore kicks the ball during an international match against the US on February 20, 2022 in Carson, California. Photo: IC

It is not often that women's football gets the global sports headlines but that's exactly what happened when the USA played New Zealand in the SheBelieves Cup last weekend.

Sadly for Meikayla Moore, it was for all the wrong reasons as the Liverpool and Black Ferns defender completed an improbable first-half hat trick of own goals to put the hosts ahead.

Some of the headlines were worse than others, with "World laughs at player's utter humiliation" from the News.com.au website probably the worst of the lot.

The 25-year-old, making her 50th cap, found herself putting through her own net early on in the group game.

That first own goal came after five minutes when the Liverpool defender turned a cross from US winger Sophia Smith past Erin Nayler in the New Zealand goal.

Moore barely had time to shake that off before lightnight struck a second time just 82 seconds later - this time from the other wing, where Margaret Purce headed a cross from right back Sofia Huerta into Moore's face and it diverted into the goal.

The hat trick would follow 30 minutes later as Moore put another Purce cross past her long suffering goalkeeper.

"When it rains it pours. And it is pouring on Meikayla Moore right now," said the match commentator.

To add insult to injury, Moore's finishes - right foot, header, and left foot - made it the "perfect hat trick"

Moore sank to her knees at her misfortune and it was not long before her coach Jitka Klimková acted, substituting the defender after 40 minutes.

"Each player who has played [football] and it doesn't matter what level, has great games and tough games, and Mouse [Moore's nickname] had a tough day at the office," Klimková said after the game. "Obviously she's sad and disappointed, but she has us. We know who she is, we know what a great player she is, and we are going to support her as much as possible and we will be behind her.

"I said to her we all know what a great player she is, and there is no doubt about it, she is a solid center-back, defensively she's tough to beat, great in the air, a great passer… that's who she is, and that's what she needs to keep in her mind, and that's something I'm going have to repeat many times to her."

There were symapthies from others involved in football.

"You never like to see this in football. It's tough as a player and I can only feel for Meikayla," was the view of New Zealand midfielder Annalie Longo, who was on punditry duties for the game back home.

"I'm so proud of the USWNT, 3-0 at half vs NZ, but I do have to say my heart goes out to Moore," former US defender Ali Krieger tweeted during the game. "This beautiful game can be cruel sometimes and today doesn't define her! I can't imagine the pressure she feels atm and I hope she's okay."

Carli Lloyd responded to that tweet: "Totally agree," she wrote, along with a heart emoji.

Others in the game took aim at the punchlines coming Moore's way, including Scott Parkinson, head coach at US women's side NJ/NY Gotham.

"Meikayla Moore will bounce back," Parkinson wrote. "She's playing against the best team on the planet, who are delivering unreal balls into the box. For all the keyboard warriors giving her a bit of s***, get back in your mum's basement. She's doing things that 99.9% could only dream about! Good player!"

The US women's national team are the current World Cup holders and had not lost on home soil in 63 games before the New Zealand match. In fact, they had not even conceded in 15 matches at home.

The coach defended her decision to take Moore off when she did.

"It could be a situation where she stays on and goes through it by herself, but for us, what was a better decision [was] to switch and sub, and now she really needs to reflect.

"We are going to look at the moments, maybe her decision-making could have been better, but a huge part in our game is mentality and if someone is ready to fight then she is going to stay, but Meikayla is a thinker, we know that about her, and it was tough for her."

Tough is nothing new for Moore, who has overcome serious injury to return to the New Zealand setup.

Moore ruptured an Achilles tendon while New Zealand were preparing for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. It would have been her third World Cup, though she had not played a minute in the first two. Sadly, she missed that tournament and the next seven months but since recovering has started every game for her country, including three at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last summer, her second Olympics. In the meantime she also moved from German side MSV Duisburg to Liverpool and is set to take them up to the English top flight from the FA Women's Championship.

She has shown that she is resilient enough to overcome her unwanted hat trick, and she is not the first footballer to do something similar  - though it only happens once in a blue moon.

Former Chelsea and Leeds United defender Michael Duberry scored an "imperfect hat trick" of his own a decade ago when he was playing for Oxford United - two for the opposition and a late leveller in a 2-2 draw.

"Dubes" could laugh about it, though, as he took to Twitter after the game against Hereford United in January 2012. "Wow. Didn't expect an afternoon like that. Scoring the imperfect hat trick - left foot (OG), header (OG) and right foot. Thanks for all the positive tweets and thanks for the negative ones - as through positive thinking I'll turn a negative into a positive."

That is what Moore will need to do, and at the age of 25 she has plenty of positives and caps for New Zealand ahead of her.