I guess according to France Football is it Saviola. I did just check the Wikipedia page and it seems like he got the official Man of the Match award too I think: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group C - Wikipedia
No, sorry, your favourite Riquelme did get the official Man of the Match award (I didn't concentrate as I thought I had navigated to the Argentina vs Serbia&Montenegro part of the page, but I saw Saviola's MOTM award vs Ivory Coast). I thought that would be the case (Riquelme as official MOTM) when you asked me to be honest! But yeah, Saviola was the one with 6 out of 6 from France Football. Kicker also chose Saviola as the best (the lowest grade is the best with their method and he gets a 1, with Riquleme getting also a very high grade but a 2): Spielanalyse | Kanonenfutter für die "Gauchos" | Argentinien - Serbien & Montenegro 6:0 | Vorrunde, 2. Spieltag | Weltmeisterschaft 2006 - kicker Well actually Kicker gave Messi a 1 too, but he only played for a quarter of an hour, so I guess in effect Saviola is their MOTM still.
What is most astonishing, Riquelme got the man of the match, without a single goal or an assist, in the match with 6 goals fest.
I remember he played a good part in Cambiasso's goal after many passes (also Saviola was involved actually and finally Crespo before the shot). Anyway, sorry for my initial mistake that made you find the BBC article. The official MOTM was Riqulme indeed, yes.
Actually he had one assist to Tevez I think didn't he for goal number 5 (and involved in the build-up to Messi's goal too, as well as the Cambiasso one but yes not even with the final pass before the assist but earlier in the moves). He assisted Saviola vs Ivory Coast too of course, and actually Kicker score him higher than Saviola for that game (France Football I can't remember now and the source of the grades has been removed, but IIRC both of them were scored well in that one too by them).
I think Fifa didn't recognize that assist cause after Tevez got pass from Riquelme, he did a solo dribble goal. But I had seen some in the internet, concluded Riquelme as a top assister, together with Totti in 2006 WC. Either they concluded that assist to Tevez, or the one to Crespo vs Ivory Coast (this look like a rebound from Ivory Coast defender).
Yes, somebody told me once that FIFA don't recognise Pele's pass to Jairzinho vs Czechoslovakia in 1970 as an assist, before that solo goal too. Of course different sources can differ on MOTM awards too. For example I think Alan Ball was either the official MOTM, or at least widely regarded by various people as MOTM in the 1966 Final, but Bobby Moore (who probably is my call, and I know others like @Tom Stevens felt he played exceptionally too) was named MOTM by the People newspaper and also by the wider international press it seems. Meanwhile, hat-trick scorer Geoff Hurst was chosen as MOTM by the Game of Goals source, like I posted before with this post: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-best-games-of-the-best-players.2071047/page-33#post-40086311 https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/1...riedebert-becker.2004460/page-2#post-40102855
the stats of that match https://www.ole.com.ar/estadisticas/futbol/partido.html?season=6&competition=4&match=311158 stats of Riquelme, he completed 104 passes and miss just one https://www.ole.com.ar/estadisticas...petition=4&team=632&player=12031&match=311158 In my table he is the man of match, also as a curiosity Messi only played 15 minutes and did more than most of his teammates
I feel sad that Riquelme didn't get chances as many as other legendary footballer. The potential was there but wasted.
Jack grealish "I always remember when I was a kid — and I am not saying I am anywhere near his level — but Cristiano Ronaldo used to come to Villa and the fans used to absolutely cane him. He used to thrive off it and that is what I try to do. I try to thrive off the hatred from the fans.” I used to love watching people that would run with the ball. I always remember Ronaldo when he came to Villa Park, I used to love watching him.” https://www.caughtoffside.com/2021/...-icon-he-used-to-love-to-watch-at-villa-park/ A study of over 2500 football fans has found that Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is the most hated football player in the Barclays Premiership, despite winning Fifa’s World Player of the Year award and having had a successful season to date. A recent survey asked 2,614 UK-based football fans the multiple answer question, “Which players do you dislike the most in the Barclays Premiership?” Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo topped the poll, taking 48% of the votes. Senegalese Sunderland striker El-Hadji Diouf came second in the poll of most hated footballers, followed by Newcastle United midfielder and England one-cap Joey Barton, best known publicly for his stint in prison for assault. Here is the full top 10 ‘most hated players in the Barclays Premiership’: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 48% 2. El-Hadji Diouf – 34% 3. Joey Barton – 29% 4. Ashley Cole – 24% 5. Craig Bellamy – 22% 6. Didier Drogba – 19% 7. Gary Neville – 17% 8. Rio Ferdinand – 12% 9. Emmanuel Adebayor – 12% 10. Kevin Davis – 11% https://pressreleases.responsesourc...ldo-most-hated-footballer-in-the-premiership/
Here are more 7.5 and above rated performances from Intercontinental Cup games on the GameofGoals site, added recently....(on this page) Views for you Archives - Game of Goals (gameofgoals-it.translate.goog) Ajax vs Independiente 1972 Cruyff 7.5 - after a rather apathetic first half literally takes off in the second half. Its accelerations converging from the left represent a puzzle for the Argentine defense. His assists for the second and third goals with real artist touches. Flamengo vs Liverpool 1981 Zico 8 - disputes an extraordinary first half, in terms of technical quality, game vision and impact on the match. Impossible to take the ball away from him, the whole Flamengo maneuver on the trocar orchestra as a maestro. Two splendid assists for Nunes and the free-kick from which Adilio's other goal arises. Adilio 7.5 - handyman midfielder and performance of great substance beyond the goal. He breaks the opponent's game, gets in the ball with central breaks difficult to stem and sorts several quality balls. Nunes 7.5 - achieves the brace that crashes Liverpool with two burning diagonals and touches the trio in the second half on two occasions: on the first one Grobelaar is good at saying no, on the second he kicks from a distance too weakly instead of advancing to make himself more dangerous. Gremio vs Hamburg 1983 Renato 8 - He is the cover man of the Gremio victory with an extraordinary and decisive double. The first goal is a gem, double dribbling and shooting from an almost impossible position, the second a leg from an experienced center forward. Always a danger ball and chain, very difficult to contain for the staid German rearguard. On him also a penalty not whistled. The only drawback: sometimes it has a tendency to overdo it. Juventus vs Argentinos Juniors 1985 Platini 8 - not always in the thick of the game, sometimes a bit lazy and nervous, but what a top class player! From his feet comes the action that leads to the 1-1 penalty, he is also the brilliant assist for Laudrup's 2-2. And the decisive penalty is always his, the one that delivers the cup to Juve. He goes very close to a wonderful goal in the first half and finds it in the second, with a volley that is a mix of art, cunning and creativity at the highest level: absurd the decision of the German referee Roth, who unreasonably cancels an authentic masterpiece of football Cabrini 7.5 - performance of absolute value, formidable in defense on humans and equally effective in the push phase. He cheers on his teammates and plays the role of the captain and the gladiator after the exit from Scirea due to an injury. There could have been a penalty on him. Flawless from the spot in the final lottery. Borghi 7.5 - he deserves the goal (and in fact he scores, but the referee cancels) for the amount of play, the devastating accelerations, the pungent dribbles and the assists delivered to his teammates. Milan president Silvio Berlusconi falls in love with him for this match and we cannot blame him: Borghi actually gives life to a capital test, the beacon of all the Argentines' offensive game.
The next one with some players handed ratings of 7.5 and above is up on the site now too I see: Views for you Archives - Game of Goals (gameofgoals-it.translate.goog) AC Milan vs Olimpia 1990 Rijkaard 8.5 - an unstoppable force of nature. It runs everywhere, fits in, reasons and verticalizes. He opens the dance with an aerial detachment worthy of the best Pele, he closes the accounts with a dive always with his head. Total football player performance. Van Basten 8 - he persistently seeks the joy of scoring, but does not find it. He sometimes he sins a little in the realization phase, but he gives gems to be embedded for a long time in the memory. His hand in the second and third goals, he had also started the action of the first goal from which the corner of the advantage was born. Gullit 7.5 - impregnable when he starts in progression, the cross for Rijkaard's 1-0 is wonderful, too bad for some mess and too much selfishness at the time of the shot or the last pass.
I think this is from Match of the Day highlights, not full game footage, probably, but it's worth adding Kenny Dalglish vs Watford 82/83 nevertheless I think: Kenny Dalglish vs Watford 1982 - YouTube
Meanwhile, the next Intercontinental Cup game assessment on GameofGoals.... Red Star Belgrade vs Colo Colo 1991 Jugovic - 7.5 - Concrete and incisive: two very heavy goals that definitively direct the match, start the action of the third goal that closes the games
https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/van-dijk-komt-dankzij-derde-cl-finale-in-legendarisch-rijtje-terecht Virgil van Dijk is preparing for his third Champions League final. With Liverpool, he eliminated Villarreal on Tuesday, so that the Dutch defender will face the final on May 28 at the Stade de France. The English media was strikingly divided about his performance. Van Dijk from Sky Sports, The Telegraph and Inews only got a 6. According to Sky, the defender did not look good at the early opening goal of Boulaye Dia. Other media saw that too, but thought Van Dijk recovered. The Daily Express gave him an 8. "Van Dijk defended well and helped Liverpool to stand ground, until the second goal fell just before half -time." The local Liverpool Echo delivered Van Dijk even a surprising nine, with which he and Luis Díaz received the highest rating. "He sometimes had to leave the defense to do the other's dirty work during an eventful first half. Van Dijk showed the good example and played magnificently." United the British media will not be, but Van Dijk is certain for the third time in the final of the Champions League. In 2018, Real Madrid was too strong, and a year later Van Dijk won the Cup with the Big Ears at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur. Only sixteen Dutch were previously at least three times in the final of the European Cup or Champions League. If Van Dijk is allowed on May 28 again to win the cup, then he goes past Arjen Robben and Edgar Davids. Clarence Seedorf 5 Ajax/Real Madrid/AC Milan Edwin van der Sar 5 Ajax/Manchester United Frank Rijkaard 4 Ajax/AC Milan Wim Suurbier 4 Ajax Barry Hulshoff 4 Ajax Johan Cruijff 4 Ajax Piet Keizer 4 Ajax Edgar Davids 4 Ajax/Juventus Johan Neeskens 3 Ajax Heinz Stuy 3 Ajax Sjaak Swart 3 Ajax Gerrie Mühren 3 Ajax Arie Haan 3 Ajax Marco van Basten 3 AC Milan Ronald Koeman 3 PSV/Barcelona Arjen Robben 3 Bayern München Virgil van Dijk 3 Liverpool * Haan was not a starter but half-time substitute (and goalscorer) in 1971. ** Center-backs with more than three EC/CL finals, in descending order: Paolo Maldini, Billy Costacurta, Jose Santamaria, Alan Hansen, Sergio Ramos, Barry Hulshoff, Franco Baresi, Filippo Galli. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/watch-list-defenders-orange-team.2106808/page-29 ------ As before, the 'expected goals' bite the dust! https://medium.com/@drsmukherjee/xg...-of-an-intriguing-twitter-thread-b748e717dd41 https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-news-goals-highlights-xg-18016493 https://tomkinstimes.com/2020/02/why-dont-liverpool-fc-concede-from-great-chances/
Guti destroys AC Milan with Maldini, Costacurta & Sheva — he scored 2 goals, made a beautiful one-two assist for Morientes and created probably the best move of the game when he won the ball back high up the pitch & played a wonderful through-ball that led to Eto'o scoring the 4th goal of the game. Berlusconi was understandably enamoured with him and offered to double his salary there and then but Guti decided to stay at Madrid. Milan 1-5 Real Madrid [Shevchenko 80pen; Guti 45, 61, Morientes 52, Eto’o 75, Rivera 81] [Madrid: César (Bizarri); Geremi, Iván Campo (César González), Julio César, Karanka, Solari (Sousa), Julio Álvarez (Eto'o),Celades (Corona 84), Guti, Savio (Rivera), Morientes (Tote). Milan: Abbiati (Dida); Roque Junior, Costacurta (Ayala), Maldini (Sala), Guly (Brncic), Gattuso, Albertini (De Ascentis), Leonardo (Comandini), Serginho (Coco), José Mari, Shevchenko.]
The Courtois performance from last night is on Youtube I notice This looks like another goalkeeping performance worthy of mention (and I read it was acclaimed as such) - Walter Zemen helping Austria get a draw with Magic Magyar era Hungary
Courtois - born and raised just a few km across the border - his nine saves (in 90 minutes) is a record this century, one more than his 'youth example' Van der Sar (2011), who incidentally was also the last goalkeeper before Courtois to be named man of the match in a final (2008). "Today I needed to win a final for my career, for all the hard work, to put some respect on my name, because I don't think I get enough respect. Especially in England." 🤐Put respect on Thibaut Courtois' name 👊🎙 @TheDesKelly | #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/YHhlO5lELZ— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 28, 2022 "Especially the English media"
I think there was some criticism of him for a comment in the World Cup wasn't there IIRC - hard to be sure but maybe he's referring to that or the aftermath of it from English journalists rather than his rating/reputation as Chelsea goalkeeper....
There is some discussion about how to count finals played and CLs won (i.e. what to do with people who played only 7 minutes like Bale or people as Seedorf/Coutinho who were a starter but departed mid-season to raise money). Futbolistas con más Copas de Europa de clubes6️⃣ Gento5️⃣ Di Stéfano, Zárraga, Rial, Marquitos, Lesmes, Maldini, Costacurta, Seedorf, C.Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Carvajal, Casemiro, Kroos, Marcelo, Modric y Nacho pic.twitter.com/wphV5y8w2p— LaLigaEnNúmeros 🇪🇸 (@laligaennumeros) May 29, 2022 VI at least has been consistent in this and follows transfermarkt here: https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/real-madrid-spelers-evenaren-ronaldo-en-seedorf OPTA apparently counts a replay match as another final Jordan Henderson becomes the 8th player to captain a side in 3+ European Cup/Champions League finals:Franz Beckenbauer - 4Franco Baresi - 4Paco Gento - 3Mario Coluna - 3Armando Picchi - 3Paolo Maldini - 3Sergio Ramos - 3🆕️ Jordan Henderson - 3 🆕️#LFC— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) May 28, 2022 (the appearance of Henderson there is easy to explain: like others in that list he is the local hero from the home country, within a team of foreigners - TAA was/is too young) On the OPTA website I read though some particularly weird phrase: "Indeed, the 2005 final was 16 years on from Maldini’s first in 1989. Almost as long as the 17 years it has now been since that final in Istanbul. For some perspective, can you imagine Xabi Alonso – Liverpool’s youngest 2005 finalist at 23 years, 181 days old – also starting the 2021 final? Remarkable longevity from a fabulous player." https://theanalyst.com/2022/05/liverpool-milan-2005-final-stats/ Why is this so weird? Well, Xabi Alonso was 23 in 2005; Maldini was 20 (almost 21) in 1989. Xabi Alonso (and he did have some flaws and glaring weaknesses as a player; a yellow card machine and defensively vulnerable) retired in 2017 and played until he was almost 36 years old (started roughly 2/3rd of the games). One can argue Xabi Alonso retired at the right time whereas Maldini played on for too long (after 2005-2006), with Milan having a performance bump just after he retired. At any rate, 20 vs 23 years old is a bit of a difference. More accurate would be saying "can you imagine Xabi Alonso playing a CL final in 2017, when he was almost 36?" Yes, you can. It is not impossible.
FourFourTwo made a list of the 10 best keepers in the world in march and he was not on the list. Just because he is not of the right nationality (this is also how the country is losing players/youngsters with a double nationality btw). Navas was back in the day pretty underrated as well. He was overall certainly more crucial in the CLs he won as Casillas in his three runs (in 2002 a substitute, in 2014 gigantic errors).