How could he have missed scoring that goal?

Peter kept his eyes on the ground. He felt like there was a heavy weight on his shoulders as he walked home alone. It was the worst day of his life. His mind would not stop thinking about what happened only just an hour ago on the school soccer field. How could he have missed scoring that goal?

(from an English textbook for junior high school students by Cengage Learning and PEP)

I wonder if the last sentence means this.

He shouldn’t have missed scoring that goal.
Or
He should have scored that goal.

diamondcutter said:

I wonder if the last sentence means this:

He shouldn’t have missed scoring that goal.:cross:
Or
He should have scored that goal.:tick:

Click to expand...

It's a rhetorical question. Peter wonders how it was possible that he failed to score.

I find "missed scoring that goal" rather odd. In football, you either score or you miss (or fail to score). Something like "How could he have missed that goal?" or "How could he have messed up that goal-scoring opportunity?" would work better for me.

Thanks, teachers.

emsr2d2 said:

I find "missed scoring that goal" rather odd. In football, you either score or you miss (or fail to score). Something like "How could he have missed that goal?" or "How could he have messed up that goal-scoring opportunity?" would work better for me.

Click to expand...

I wonder if you mean it’s more common to say “miss a goal” than “miss scoring a goal”.

diamondcutter said:

I wonder if you mean it’s more common to say “miss a goal” than “miss scoring a goal”.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's what emsr2d2 means, and I completely agree.