FOOTBALL -03/11/2009
Greatest matches 30-21
21. 1962 European Cup final - Benfica 5-3 Real Madrid
After winning the first five instalments of the European Cup, Real Madrid had their first taste of failure in 1961, and Benfica gratefully stole in to take their place as European champions. The following year, the two Iberian sides met in the Amsterdam final, and produced a spectacle every bit as good as it looked on paper. Real were champing at the bit to retain their crown, and a brace from the great Ferenc Puskas had Los Merengues two up after 23 minutes. Benfica, eager to prove they were not just keeping the trophy polished for a year, rallied to draw level through Jose Aguas and Cavem, only for Puskas to seal his first-half hat-trick and put Real back in the lead. After the break, Miguel Esteves Coluna once more put Benfica back on level terms, but it was his fellow Mozambique-born team-mate, Eusebio, who grabbed the headlines. In a three-minute blitz, the powerful striker rattled two thundering strikes past Real keeper Jose Araquistain Arrieta to keep the trophy in Lisbon. Real got their hands back on the trophy in 1966, while Benfica reached another three finals before the decade was out, but are still waiting for their third European crown.
22. 1953 FA Cup final - Bolton Wanderers 3-4 Blackpool
He may not have scored in this classic, but the 1953 Wembley showpiece will forever be known as the Matthews Final. Having lost the 1948 and 1951 finals, Blackpool looked set for a hat-trick of FA Cup misery when they found themselves 3-1 down with an hour played. Bolton's Nat Lofthouse, a legend in his own right, fired in after just 75 seconds to secure the achievement of scoring in every round of that season's Cup. Stan Mortensen equalised on 35 minutes, but Trotters captain Willie Moir and Eric Bell scored either side of half-time and the trophy seemed destined for Burnden Park. Enter Stanley Matthews. The future European Footballer of the Year and knight of the realm stepped up several gears, and gave left-back Ralph Banks a torrid time on the wing. His endeavour paid off when his cross was met by Mortensen to prod home and give the Tangerines hope with 20 minutes to go. Bolton were there for the taking, but it was not until the 89th minute when Mortensen cracked home a direct free-kick to score the only Cup final hat-trick at Wembley and, more importantly, level the game. Two minutes into injury time, Matthews cut a ball back from the by-line and Bill Perry converted to win the match. The day, and indeed the era, belonged to Matthews.
23. 1986 World Cup quarter-final - Brazil 1-1 France (1-1 aet, France win 4-3 on pens)
How could a match involving names such as Michel Platini, Jean Tigana, Zico, Socrates, Junior and Careca be anything other than a classic? In a stifling Guadalajara, those in the Jalisco Stadium were treated to just that as arguably the two best footballing sides of the tournament locked horns. The South Americans took the lead through Careca but France rallied and hit back through Platini's tap-in before half-time. Chances fell at both ends in a rip-roaring second half with Zico, of all people, seeing his penalty saved by Joel Bats. But with nothing to separate the sides at full-time, or indeed during extra-time, the contest had to be settled by a penalty shoot-out. Platini uncharacteristically missed his kick but his blushes were spared as Cesar also failed to find the target and ultimately it was Luis Fernandez who took the glory, firing France into the semi-finals, where they were eventually beaten by a German side containing a certain high-kicking Harold Schumacher.
24. 1968 European Cup final - Manchester United 4-1 Benfica (aet)
Don't you miss the days when a game that went to extra time could end up looking like a thrashing? Or when an English team in the European Cup final could be described by a Pathe news report as having "the hopes of every Briton" behind them when they took on Benfica at Wembley? United started slowly, as Eusebio rattled the crossbar with an early shot while Benfica's other players concentrated on hacking danger man George Best. Early in the second half, Bobby Charlton gave United the lead with a deft glancing header. Fifteen minutes from time Graca equalised with an angled shot from the right and it took a fine save from Alex Stepney to deny Eusebio a winner late in normal time. Extra time proved too much for Benfica, who folded under United pressure. Best rounded Jose Henrique to make it 2-1, and a minute later Brian Kidd headed the English side further in front. Charlton rounded it off in emphatic style to seal the crowning glory of Matt Busby's career, 10 years after the Munich air crash.
25. World Cup second round 1998 - Argentina 2-2 England (aet, Argentina won 4-3 on penalties)
Twelve years after 1986, Argentina and England conspired to play out another classic - and the bad news for England fans was that it ended in similar disappointment as Paul Ince and David Batty (predictably) missed from the penalty spot. But what a game, Gabriel Batistuta and Alan Shearer traded early penalties before an 18-year-old Michael Owen announced himself on the world stage with an outstanding goal. Collecting the ball on halfway, he embarked on a turbo-charged slalom to the edge of the box where he clipped the ball past Carlos Roa into the the top left corner. Less celebrated, but no less impressive, was the brilliantly-worked free-kick from which Javier Zanetti - emerging unmarked from behind the wall - made it two apiece just before half-time. Then came the moment that made David Beckham a national hate figure, as he flicked ot a petulant boot at professional wind-up merchant Diego Simeone. Kim Milton Nielsen sent the Manchester United man off, but England fought gamely. Sol Campbell thought he had headed England in front but his celebrations were cut short after the referee spotted a foul in the Argentine box, before Glenn Hoddle's side exhibited a familiar weakness from 12 yards.
26. World Cup quarter-final 1986 - Argentina 2-1 England
The partnership between the archetypal poacher Gary Lineker and the inventive Peter Beardsley, had begun to flourish as England arrived at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico for the quarter final of the World Cup against Argentina. The match will always be remembered for the role played by the ingenious Diego Maradona and the diminutive Argentine seized control of the game from the 20-minute mark with a flurry of his trademark incisive runs through the England defence. By half time, England goalkeeper Peter Shilton had already been called into action on numerous occasions, before in the 51st minute, Maradona chased a miss-hit high looping ball towards the keeper. Shilton, despite being within his rights to catch the ball, opted to punch it instead, with the considerably shorter figure of Maradona electing to do exactly the same and found the net with his effort. As much as the goal infuriated the England players, it galvanised their opponents, and five minutes later, Maradona waltzed mesmerically past five players before rounding Shilton to score what has since been voted as the Goal of the Century by a FIFA poll. England began to clamber their way back into the match with John Barnes's introduction leading to the midfielder finding Lineker with a pin-point cross in the 78th minute and the striker pounced to reduce the deficit. A duplicate move at the death almost gave England an equaliser, but it was the 'Hand of God' which became the defining moment of an enthralling match.
27. 1994 Champions League final - Milan 4-0 Barcelona
Milan contemptuously brushed aside Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in the 1994 European Cup final in Athens, who themselves were deemed the irresistible attacking force in the competition. Fabio Capello was vindicated for his perseverance with striker Daniele Massaro, whose first-half brace capped the Italian side's swaggering forward play. Dejan Savicevic laid the first on a plate for Massaro, who followed it with a flourish of the left foot to send the ball unerringly into the far corner from 15 yards. Within 13 minutes of the restart, Savicevic unfurled an audacious chip over Andoni Zubizarreta, before Marcel Desailly coolly curled a 12-yard shot past the keeper on the hour mark with Milan rampant. The emphatic victory was Milan's third in six years but Capello's first and it was all the more impressive given that first-choice defenders Franco Baresi and the uncompromising Alessandro Costacurta were absent through suspension. Milan, in the process of their stunning victory, reasserted themselves as Europe's prime footballing power with no lack of conviction or creativity.
28. World Cup semi-final 1990 - England 1-1 Germany
It was England's first World Cup semi-final since 1966 and, despite producing their best performance of the tournament, they were beaten on penalties as Paul Gascoigne wept for an entire nation. England were without two of their most experienced midfielders in the shape of captain Bryan Robson and footballer of the year John Barnes at the Stadio Delle Alpi. This World Cup semi-final encounter did not look like being a classic when the teams trudged in goalless at half-time. On the hour, Andreas Brehme's free-kick deflected off Paul Parker and over a helpless Peter Shilton for a hugely fortunate opener. Gary Lineker equalised after 80 minutes with a coolly taken finish from inside the box. A goalless period of extra-time then ensued with Chris Waddle hitting the bar as England ended the game the stronger. Gascoigne's tears were the enduring memory of the match after the midfielder received a yellow card in the second period of extra-time which would have ruled him out of the final. Sir Bobby Robson's side then embarked upon their first ever penalty shootout. Lineker, Peter Beardsley and David Platt were all on target for England but a miss by Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle skied his lick over the bar to book the penalty specialists' passage to the final. For West Germany, it was their third successive World Cup to feature a shootout, while England were left to rue their two crucial penalty misses.
29. 2003 UEFA Cup final - Celtic 2-3 Porto
This was the game which put Jose Mourinho firmly on the European map, as he led a Porto side that combined precision and cynicism along the path that would end in Champions League glory a year later. As expected for a match held in Seville in May, the game did not begin at a frantic pace, and it was only on the stroke of half-time that striker Derlei fired home to give Porto the lead. Martin O'Neill's team talk had the desired effect, and Henri Larsson rose to score his 200th Celtic goal just two minutes after the break. The imperious Deco laid on a chance that Dmitri Alenichev slotted past Douglas soon after, but once more Larsson beat Vitor Baia with his head to level again. Extra time was needed to separate the two sides, and Porto were given a helping hand when Bobo Balde was sent off for a second yellow card. The 10-man Bhoys resisted until five minutes from the end when, with Douglas off his line, Derlei rounded Jackie McNamara and scored his 13th of the tournament to seal the trophy for Porto. The sight of Celtic's Ulrik Laursen slumped on the goal line after that goal perfectly illustrated the Hoops' deflation at losing such an epic encounter.
30. 1990 World Cup quarter-final - England 3-2 Cameroon (aet)
Cameroon were possibly the most exciting team in World Cup history. They were the first African team to threaten the big boys, and combined genuine skill with outstandingly cynical tackling and a veteran goal poacher of indeterminate age who had four opportunities to do his corner-flag shimmy during the tournament. Still, it wasn't quite such fun if you were an England fan during the teams' quarter-final. Bobby Robson's side led 1-0 through a David Platt header, before Emmanuel Kunde equalised from the penalty after a foul on Milla just after the hour mark. Four minutes later Eugene Ekeke gave Cameroon the lead, lifting the ball over Peter Shilton. Things looked bleak for England until Gary Lineker sent the game to extra time with a penalty, then sealed it with another spot-kick in the 105th minute. Cameroon, had beat Argentina, Romania and Colombia en route to the quarters, went home beaten but unbowed, while England lost to West Germany on penalties.