Greatest individual performances in important games

[Stud83]

Big games create big names. There has been quite a few great individual performances throughout the years, and I only want you to name the most memorable ones to you - when a player played out of his mind and almost singlehandedly won the game for his team. Feel free to discuss not only midfielders and strikers, but also defenders and GKs.
The ones that come to my mind - Maradona's games against Belgium and England in 86 WC, van Basten's hat-trick against England in 88, among the late ones - Beckham's game against Greece, Ronaldo's hat-trick against MU, Roy Keane's play against Juventus in 99...

[king_saladin]

How about Thuram for France against Croatia in the 1998 World Cup semifinals.
Perhaps made a mistake to give up a goal, but came back with two amazing offensive plays to give France the 2-1 win.
"He's never scored for France before tonight"

Or Rivaldo against Denmark in the same WC. :D Two incredible goals to keep Brazil alive.

Though both situations might not be best examples because they each had great teams with them.

[SirManchester]

Effenberg in the 2001 CL semifinals against Real Madrid and then the final itself against Valencia, never have I seen such leadership within a team, he single handedly drove the team every single minute of every game, like a Cantona/Beckenbauer type, every touch of the ball was crucial and important in winning the games.

[Hrvat]

"He's never scored for France before tonight"

Or after...

[lanman]

2001 - Barcelona vs Valencia - Rivaldo

[DerMongerer]

Oh how it pains me to say this name as a Selecao supporter.....Paolo Rossi :(

[celito]

- Paolo Rossi breaks the heart of 120 million Brazilians with 3 goals in the 82 World Cup. While his play wasn't fantastic overall, he was always at the right place at the right time. And the sad thing is that we needed only a tie to go through to the semi-finals.

- Rivaldo against Valencia in 2000 (I believe). Barcelona needed a win to go to the Champions League, Valencia needed a tie. Rivaldo scored 3 solo goals including the bicycle kick at the end of the game from outside the box when the game was tied. He deserves a statue at the Nou Camp for that performance alone.

- Maradona in the entire 86 World Cup :)

- Ronaldo's champions league performance against Man. U (at Old Tradfford) was also great. 3 great goals eventhough they ended up losing the game. But Real Madrid went through on goal difference.

[king_saladin]

Or after...

Makes it all the more special, doesn't it? ;)

[girco]

- Raí scores a hat-trick vs archirivals Corinthians in the 2nd leg of Campeonato Paulista 1991 finals, including an awesome shot from 30m that goes right into the upper V, leading São Paulo to a 3x0 win and the title.

- Giovanni (of Barcelona fame) has an awesome perfomance vs Fluminense, scoring twice, assisting for three and leading Santos to a 5x2 win after having lost the first leg of the Brasileiro 1995 semifinals by 4x1. Santos later on misses the title vs Botafogo with a goal by Tulio in offside position, and won't win it until Robinho, Diego & cia. arise in 2002.

- Three drives into the penalty box, three penalties called and Ronaldo scores a hat-trick to singlehandedly destroy Argentina in last year's WCQ match.

- Goalkeeper Rogério Ceni scores 2 free kicks, making way for São Paulo's win by 4x0 vs Tigres of Mexico in the 1st leg of Copa Libertadores 2005 quarterfinals. Later on, he has the chance to become the 2nd goalkeeper ever to score a hat-trick but misses a penalty kick. Down the road, captain Rogério Ceni not only raises the trophy, as São Paulo beats Atlético Paranaense in the finals, but also ends up as the team's leading scorer with 5 goals.

[Real Ray]

Marcel Desailly with Marseilles in the 1993 EC final. Probably ranks in the top three for the decade.

[glennaldo_sf]

Marcel Desailly with Marseilles in the 1993 EC final. Probably ranks in the top three for the decade.

Yeah... I can remember he came up big for AC Milan vs Barcelona in the final a year later. So did another player whose performance I think deserves mentioning.... Dejan Savicevic.

Hmm ... some other honorable mentions I think go to...

Hristo Stoichkov - came big for Bulgaria in 1994 WC several times - most notably vs. Argentina in the first round and in the QF upset of Germany.

Jurgen Klinsmann - Superb performance as an individual striker vs. Holland in 1990 WC 2nd round.

Wayne Rooney - England vs. Croatia - 2 goals in a huge match and he was what 17? 18? something like that.

Freddy Adu - scores twice against Real Madrid for Chelsea in 2007 Champions League final. ***

*** - PS: this was on Sega Football Manager 2005 only. :D

[DerMongerer]

Wayne Rooney - England vs. Croatia - 2 goals in a huge match and he was what 17? 18? something like that.

Yes he made great finishes, but I think he was aided by the fact that Croatia had to play for the win, and were forced to win by at least 2-0 to advance, which was why there were such gaping holes in their defending.

[FCPorto_Dragao]

Deco vs Lazio in 2003 UEFA Cup semi final, 1st leg 4-1 at Estadio das Antas

He completely dismantled the Lazio defence after being 1-0 down after 9' minutes in the first half to lead FC Porto to a 4-1 win and practically end the elimination round bringing FC Porto into the final and also playing inspirationally vs Celtic. Did not score any goals...but his deft touches and classic precision lob passes and silky moves can gain anyone's acclaim during that game.

[Excape Goat]

[QUOTE=celito
- Rivaldo against Valencia in 2000 (I believe). Barcelona needed a win to go to the Champions League, Valencia needed a tie. Rivaldo scored 3 solo goals including the bicycle kick at the end of the game from outside the box when the game was tied. He deserves a statue at the Nou Camp for that performance alone.

[/QUOTE]


That was one heck of a performance. All three goals were individual effect. At least, two of them went down as one of the greatest goals of the entire year.

[Godinho10]

2001 - Barcelona vs Valencia - Rivaldo

What a "chilena" he scored..awesome.

[Godinho10]

That was one heck of a performance. All three goals were individual effect. At least, two of them went down as one of the greatest goals of the entire year.

And you aint biased since you are a madrid fan ;)

[Dark Savante]

There are hundreds of these, 3 that stand out for me are 3 of the midfielders of the 90's

Keane - away to Juve in the CL SF knowing his yellow card meant he would not play in the final...masterclass.

Redondo - at Old Trafford one of the best performances from an individual coming to our stadium and making it his own. It was one of those performances you have to applaud even as an opposing fan.

Rivaldo - so many in 1999. that was a picturebook year for him.

[dor02]

Paolo Rossi in the 1982 World Cup for Italy. That match against Brazil was the most unforgettable 90 minutes that he was involved in. Nobody can name a Rossi hat-trick as famous as that one against Brazil.

Ferenc Puskas in the 1960 European Cup Final when he scored four of Real Madrid's seven goals against Eintracht Frankfurt. A virtuoso performance.

Sergio Goycoechea at Italia 90 when he saved most of those penalties for Argentina. The saves against Italy were the most crucial.

In the 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup, Gianluca Vialli scored a double in extra-time when Sampdoria won against Anderlecht 2-0.

[dcunited4life]

2001 - Barcelona vs Valencia - Rivaldo

I was lucky enough to sneak out of work to watch that match and my jaw dropped watching Rivaldo taking Barca to the CL on his back.

That third goal even made ESPN "Play of the Day". Rivaldo was my favorite Barca player and I sure do miss him in that Blau-grana.

[Kaushik]

The ones I can recollect now are:

Maradona vs. England/Belgium 1986

Romario vs. USA 1994

Rivaldo vs. Argentina/Valencia/Real Madrid/AC Milan/Man U/FC Porto....so many of them in the late 90s (DS is so right about him)

Ronaldo - much like Rivaldo before his injuries. After injury: the game against Argentina in 2004 (his best game since returning) followed by the one against Man U.

Some remarkable goalkeeping performances against Brazil:
Banks (England) vs. Brazil 1970
Nasser Drid (Algeria) vs. Brazil 1986
Gabelo Conejo (Costa Rica) vs. Brazil 1990

Let's not forget Oliver Kahn's performance in WC 2002 (apart from the final).