Best Single Game Performance by a Nat [Archive]

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Serie Zed

10 Jan 2005, 04:53 PM

The "best match" thread got me thinking about the related topic of best performance by a player in the US kit...

I'll nominate three just to get things started:

--Keller 1-0 Brazil, 1998
--Armas' monster against Diego Simeone at RFK when the US won 1-0, 1999
--Tony Sanneh v Germany, 2002

tab5g

10 Jan 2005, 04:55 PM

-- Donovan, 13-Oct-2004 WASHINGTON DC (USA) USA - Panama 6:0

onefineesq

10 Jan 2005, 05:01 PM

-- Donovan, 13-Oct-2004 WASHINGTON DC (USA) USA - Panama 6:0 The game in which a US substitute scored 3 goals in 15-20 minutes, and was even better? Nahhh.

Ringo

10 Jan 2005, 05:32 PM

donovan in our last game against mexico was better than he was against panama.

JohnR

10 Jan 2005, 06:16 PM

Maybe Sam's Army will conjure up some memories -

Keller, 9.51 vs. Brazil '98
Keller, 9.09 vs. Mexico '99
Friedel, 8.89 vs. Mexico '95 (Copa America)
Friedel, 8.74 vs. Korea '02
Wynalda, 8.57 vs. Chile '95 (Copa America)
McBride, 8.50 vs. Portugal '02
Wolff, 8.47 vs. Mexico '01
Preki, 8.45 vs. Brazil '98
Reyna, 8.41 vs. Mexico '95
Reyna, 8.41 vs. Austria '98
Eddie Johnson, 8.34 vs. Panama '04
Donovan, 8.30 vs. Cuba '03
McBride, 8.19 vs. Honduras '02

Soccernova78

10 Jan 2005, 07:15 PM

Off the top of my head:

Reyna against Mexico in '95
McBride against Costa Rica in '96
Mathis against Brazil in '01
Wolff against Mexico in '01
Joe-Max Moore against Jamaica in '01
Reyna against Holland in '02
Beasley against Uruguay in '02
Donovan against Mexico in '04

Bluecat82

10 Jan 2005, 10:09 PM

Bert Patenaude, 17 July 1930 vs. Paraguay

3 goals in a World Cup game...

There's something that doesn't happen every day...

Dan Loney

10 Jan 2005, 10:59 PM

Keller 1-0 Brazil, 1998Not having seen Patenaude in 1930 or Borghi in 1950, my list starts and ends here.

Fat Mike

10 Jan 2005, 11:04 PM

Has to be Sanneh against Germany in the World Cup

PJohnson

10 Jan 2005, 11:24 PM

Dan Loney

10 Jan 2005, 11:41 PM

Has to be Sanneh against Germany in the World CupNot having seen Patenaude in 1930, I have no problem with this as far as field players go. Lalas and Balboa were awesome against Colombia in 1994, too.

FC Tallavana

10 Jan 2005, 11:50 PM

Has to be Sanneh against Germany in the World Cup

Had he put that header on target you may be on to something but I have to go with Donovan last year v/ Mexico. While LD didn't score a goal he set up the winner and he hit the woodwork on a wicked shot. He dominated the midfield on defense and in the attack. The Mexican media pulled a Pedro Martinez and declared LD as El Tri's Daddy after that match. That says a lot for his performance.

I. Tristeza

11 Jan 2005, 10:18 AM

Kasey Keller v. Mexico. July 1, 2001. Azteca.

This was the follow up to the Guerra Fria where Keller made half a dozen extraordinary saves and only a perfect Borghetti header to the upper corner won the game for Mexico. The US had zero possession and most of the game it looked like it was 1 v. 11.

I saw it on television in Mexico, and the announcers and the Tri fans at the bar couldn't stop drooling over Keller's performance. It was a WCQ. I'm really surprised this one hasn't appeared on this thread yet, but maybe I just missed it.

As for best performance by a field player, that's a little tougher to call....

subbuteo

11 Jan 2005, 10:25 AM

Jeff Agoos v. Portugal, 2002

JohnR

11 Jan 2005, 10:29 AM

[B]I saw it on television in Mexico, and the announcers and the Tri fans at the bar couldn't stop drooling over Keller's performance. It was a WCQ. I'm really surprised this one hasn't appeared on this thread yet, but maybe I just missed it.

Keller only got a 7.36 from Sam's Army on that one. They're spoiled, I guess.

I didn't put up all of Keller's and Friedel's highest-rated efforts. It is a tribute to our goalkeepers and a point of shame for the field players that so many of the top-rated games have come from the goalkeepers.

Which is why I like the '04 friendly vs. Mexico so much. We won the game and the goalkeeper didn't have to do anything brilliant because we actually held the ball, not them. What a concept!

tab5g

11 Jan 2005, 10:30 AM

The game in which a US substitute scored 3 goals in 15-20 minutes, and was even better? Nahhh.

Your claim that Johnson had a better game than Donovan did on that day, seems to me to be based solely on their respective goal totals of 3 & 2, and I can't agree with that assessment.

JohnR

11 Jan 2005, 10:33 AM

Jeff Agoos v. Portugal, 2002

Goose wasn't that bad against Portugal. He got worse each game in the Cup.

Believe it or not, Sam's Army says that Goose's worst international game did not come in the '02 World Cup. In a '97 qualifier vs. Jamaica, he received the lowly score of 2.23, slightly below the 2.33 he was awarded for his Poland performance.

onefineesq

11 Jan 2005, 10:43 AM

Your claim that Johnson had a better game than Donovan did on that day, seems to me to be based solely on their respective goal totals of 3 & 2, and I can't agree with that assessment. No, it wasn't, but you are free to think that. I just stated the obvious. He was better because he scored 3, could have scored a couple more, and generally annihilated their defense, pillar to post for the entire time he was in the game.

MarioKempes

11 Jan 2005, 10:43 AM

Fernando Clavijo versus Brazil 1994 WC

This gem of a performance is not remembered, but it was a thing of beauty. Clavijo kept us in the game until he was red-carded.

I. Tristeza

11 Jan 2005, 10:51 AM

Goose wasn't that bad against Portugal. He got worse each game in the Cup.

Believe it or not, Sam's Army says that Goose's worst international game did not come in the '02 World Cup. In a '97 qualifier vs. Jamaica, he received the lowly score of 2.23, slightly below the 2.33 he was awarded for his Poland performance.

Ah, the Asinine Ponytail. What a career.