Best match of the last WC?

Senegal - Uruguay
Spain - Ireland

spring to mind right now

 

I'd add to these:

USA-Poland/Korea-Portugal for sheer excitement... the simultaneous telecasts made for some nail-biting moments, and the reaction of the crowd at the USA match upon finding out that Korea had scored was unbelievable.

Brasil-England- Owen's wake-up call goal brought the eventual champions to the brink of humiliation, and England, playing better than I have ever seen an England team play, looked certain to increase their lead. Then Ronaldinho's midfield run set up Rivaldo for the equalizer, and his shot/fluke put the Selecao ahead. Even with all this, the real Beautiful Game didn't begin until after Ronaldinho was sent off. What happened next was the most complete and total domination of possession under adverse circumstances I have ever seen from a Brasil team in 20 years worth of World Cups. An absolute men-against-boys match-killing clinic of superior passing and player movement- executed with style and class. It was the match that made me believe they might be able to win it all. Both teams were incredible- England for scoring, and Brasil for holding off England without bunkering while down a man for the better part of a half.

Senegal-Turkey. A bitterly fought but classy match. I only wish Senegal had won.

I'd list USA-Mexico, but El Tri messed up the game's beauty toward the end.

 

I'll add Spain - S. Korea into the mix. It was an incredible nail-biter of a quarterfinal match. Who says a 0-0 draw can't be exciting?

 

Mexico- Italy
US-Portugal
Brazil-Costa Rica

 

sweden - senegal......the best of the cup !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

All those matches already mentioned were definitely fantastic matches, but one that I thought was the best was Italy-South Korea. Now I know some may argue that Italy got robbed at the end but to me this match had the most drama esp since Korea was co-hosting and about 60,000 screaming Koreans just made it all that much more exciting. And when Ahn scored that goal just minutes before penalty kicks it was probably one of the most emotional moments that I have experienced in watching a World Cup. Just unreal. And to think I'm an Italian fan lol but you had to give it to the South Koreans, they really fought hard throughout the match.

 

France - Senegal 0-1

Simply because it symbolized the whole World Cup.

 

I think the final games in Group B were underrated. Spain-South Africa was a back-and forth spectacle with five lead changes; SA's qualification was always a possibility (a fact that is often overlooked). And this was in part because of Paraguay's miracle comeback to beat Slovenia by the necessary two goals after going down a goal and a player. The Paraguay sub who netted two scored two of the nicest goals in the Cup.

 

Germany-S. Korea.

 

im sorry, that was not an official match, only a travesty which should be erased from the annuls

 

What? Just because of a couple disallowed goals?

It was an exciting, controversial, angst filled, emotional roller coaster of a game. I watched the match with a few friends of mine and said to them that the only reason I could enjoy this match so much was because I wasn't pulling for either team. Had I been I'm sure I would've been tempted to suicide many times over just because strain would have been too much.

 

I would not rate the U.S. - Mexico game as one of the best. I'd rate the U.S. - Portugal or probably the U.S. - Germany games as much better games. The Mexico game probably wouldn't have been exciting unless you were rooting for either team.

The Germany game was probably our best game of the tournament, maybe even of all year, yet we lost. The game starts out with both teams creating chances, though the U.S. seems to be getting more and better ones, including a miffed breakaway, a spectacular move by Donovan to set up a shot, followed by an amazing save by the tournament's best keeper. Germany scores, and they begin to bunker.

The U.S. begins desperately attacking. A midfield volley from Claudio Reyna on Kahn's punch goes about a foot wide (what would have been the best goal of the tournament, maybe one of the best WC goals of all time), a handball on the line is not called, and all the while the Germans counter looks dangerous. Once a sure shot on net was saved by a last minute tackle inside the box by Tony Sanneh.

Then, in the 89th minute, Sanneh hits the side netting on an open net.

The game kept going back and forth, because the Germans managed a few quality chances which could have sealed the game, yet it stayed close.

 

does this even deserve a response?

 

France - Senegal for the best victory of the WC. Maybe not the best match for multiple replays, but it was a great upset.

US - Mexico would probably be a pick for US fans because it showed that we could finally step up and defeat our biggest regional rival when it counted... although I personal say that the US - Germany match was even better because it showed how well we can play against one of the best in the entire world (the final may only have been 1-0, but it was an exciting battle the whole time).

 

Right on the money in my book Bauser. You nailed it.

 

It's true

 

I have to disagree with you. It wasn't the first time a bad officiating call determined the result of a match at the World Cup, and it doesn't even belong in the Top 5 of bad calls at the World Cup. I'm not saying it's right, but it happens.

The bad calls aside, the match was an absolute nail bighter from kick off to the last penalty kick.


For me, the best half of the World Cup was the 2nd half of Belgium vs Japan, not the least because I'm a Japan supporter. I, and a few million Japanese had been waiting 4 years for Japan to redeem itself after crashing out of France '98 and the match didn't disappoint. After a shaky first half, both teams put together some excellent attacking soccer, and even the phantom foul that disallowed Japan's would-be go ahead goal didn't detract from the excitement. Great atmosphere, great soccer.

 

Uruguay 3 Senegal 3

Great end to end action and an incredible comeback by Uruguay when behind by 3 goals at the half. Senegal ends the first half thinking they have an easy win but Uruguay scores within 30 seconds of the 2nd half kickoff, then gets two more, including a golazo by Diego Forlan. Uruguay could, and should, have won at the end of the game when Richard Morales headed wide at an open goal from 2 meters out. If Morales scores that goal Uruguay, and not Senegal go through to the next round! A very dramatic and exciting game. Too bad that fat SOB Victor Pua hadn't allowed Uruguay to attack in their previous games.

 

Best matches for me was France v. Senegal and Argentina v. Sweden. But my favorites are US v. Portugal and US v. Mexico.

 

I attended 21 of the 32 games in Korea, missing only two match days June 4th, June 29th.

I'll only comment on the ones I saw.

You're kidding, right? This was the worst game of the entire World Cup.

> USA X Mexico?
I'm personally too attached to this game to really comment. I thought the Portugal game was probably a better "game".

> Italy x South Korea?
The most astonish crowd I've ever witnessed. If Korea had played the entire tournament in Daejeon World Cup Stadium, they would've won the thing. What a cauldron. The game itself was fun.

What you left out - of the games I saw

1) Costa Rica - Brazil. A true festival of attacking soccer. Absolutely a ton of fun.

2) Turkey/Brazil (group play) - What a fun game. The referee butchered this game, obviously favoring the Brazilians, yet the Turks kept up the fight.

--
I didn't see the Uruguay/Senegal game live. I made the mistake of going to France/Denmark.

 

Forgot about that one. And yes, Forlan's strike was a thing of beauty.
Seriously, after France vs Uruguay, a game that neither team seemed to want to win, I thought they would get slaughtered by Senegal.

Also, Korea vs Poland sticks in my mind because of the atmosphere - I did not expect the sea of red or the singing to be that loud - that was before the place went apeshit after the first goal. And I was shocked by how silly Poland looked, and how Korea made it look so easy.