There have been many matches that, throughout history, have remained engraved in our retinas for different reasons: excitement, goals, and iconic moments have been fundamental ingredients that have remained in everyone’s memory over the years and have even been passed down through generations of soccer fans. Let’s see together which have been the most exciting ones.
The best finals in soccer history
Milan – Liverpool – Atatürk Olympic Stadium – Champions League 25/05/2005
Known as “The Miracle of Istanbul,” Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy on penalties after a spectacular comeback. Nobody could have foreseen such an outcome with the Italians leading 3-0 at half-time. It was an excellent first half by the ‘Rossoneri,’ going ahead from the first minute of play with Maldini’s goal and two subsequent goals by Crespo that gave them a tremendous advantage that seemed impossible. To the fans’ astonishment, Captain Gerrard, Smicer, and Xabi Alonso put the score on the scoreboard. Dudek would complete the feat with two unlikely saves in extra time and the final penalty, with Shevchenko being the prominent victim.
Liverpool – Alavés – Westfalen Stadion – UEFA Cup 16/05/2001
In one of the most spectacular UEFA Cup finals, all Spain cried with the Alavés team, which since then was not so so lucky in the next seasons of European competitions, but let’s see what happened in 2001. The legend of David and Goliath was perfectly represented in this match, where Liverpool promised themselves to be happy by taking the lead and seeing their opponents repeatedly get up from the canvas.
Jordi Cruyff made it 4-4 just before the final whistle to end in an agonizing extra time where the Blue and Whites were left with 9 players and whose sad end was represented by Geli, scoring the fateful golden goal in his own goal when everyone was thinking about penalties. So cruel was the outcome that FIFA finally eliminated this system for deciding extra time in 2004.
The best matches of the World Cups
Germany – Italy – Westfalen Stadion 04/07/2006
This match was the best overtime in the history of the World Cup: two close foes crossed paths in the semifinals in an exceptionally balanced game during the first 90 minutes leading up to overtime in which the Italians, under Marcelo Lippi, brought in the likes of Pirlo, Totti, Iaquinta, Gilardino, and Del Piero and gave us a festival of offensive soccer to avoid penalties, where the Germans are historically infallible. Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock with a cross-field shot from a short corner and gave us a history-book celebratory run.
Brazil – Uruguay – Maracana Stadium 16/07/1950
In Rio de Janeiro’s famous Maracana stadium, first Schiaffino and then Ghiggia came back from 1-0 down in the second half, leaving the entire stadium in complete silence, unable to assimilate that they were witnessing their country’s most significant sports tragedy.
Argentina – England – Azteca Stadium 22/06/1986
The Argentina-England match was played on June 22, 1986, at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, in the quarterfinals of Mexico 86, and ended with a 2-1 victory for the Argentineans, eventual world champions.
The match is remembered both for Argentina’s victory and for the performance of Maradona, who scored two goals that have since become known as the Goal of the Century and the Goal of the Hand of God.
The Argentina-England match of the Mexico 86 World Cup was declared a World Historic Sports Heritage by the government of the Mexican state of Colima and the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals based in Barcelona, Spain.
Epic comebacks
Spain – Malta – Benito Villamarín Stadium – 21/12/1983
This is one of the most important matches in the history of the Spanish National Team and one of the few whose memories have survived different generations. Everyone remembers where they were that night, and they have told it to the younger ones. Spain had to win by at least 11 goals to overtake the Dutch in the qualifying table for the 1984 European Championship. The national team got the runner-up spot in that Euro after Arconada’s fateful mistake, but that’s another story.
FC Barcelona – Paris Saint Germain – 08/03/2017
Legendary night at Camp Nou, where it was exemplified once again that miracles exist in soccer and more so in the Champions League. Barça had to return from the painful 4-0 in Paris, entrusting MSN for such a challenge. After scoring the 3-0 shortly after the start of the second half, Cavani took advantage of the spaces to close the gap. It was Neymar who took the responsibility, scoring from a free kick and a penalty, leaving in stoppage time a perfect soft cross for Sergi Roberto to achieve the final 6-1, sending the stands into a frenzy and completing the comeback in the history of the Catalan team.
