worldsoccer
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Reged: 08/06/2006
Posts: 227
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The current issue of World Soccer contains what we hope is a definitive list of the greatest goals, matches and teams of all time. But this is not the end of the debate. We’d like to hear your opinions about our choices.
Click here for our introduction page:
The greatest goals
The greatest matches
The greatest teams
Look forward to reading your feedback.
World Soccer
Edited by worldsoccer (05/07/2007 17:01)
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rotku
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Reged: 14/06/2007
Posts: 98
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Best Goal: Can't argue with the choice, I remember my jaw literally dropping as I watched Maradone make the English players look like a Sunday league side.
Best Team: I'm too young to have witnessed the Brazil'70 side but I won't argue with the choice. I'd have to vote for the Milan side of the late 80's early 90's they were plain and simply outstanding.
Best Match: I was on a boat aged 9 when I witnessed the West Germany Vs France match during the '82 world cup. It really kicked off my big intrest in soccer and was memorable for many reasons. Unfortunately most people only remember the assault by Mr.Schumacher but it was a classic example of opposing styles. French Flair and German Workmanship. A real classic.
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Rogorn
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Reged: 24/03/2007
Posts: 306
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The top bits in these lists have become more or less set in stone by now, and the same choices keep coming up all the time.
Comments on the goals:
Maradona's is never going to be beaten. If sheer brilliance doesn't do it, the significance of the goal, the setting, the encapsulation of what a top player was like (together with its companion piece the Hand of God) will ensure top place for it every time.
Saeed Al Owairan's is there often mainly because of the 'had it been scored by a better-known player' etc effect. Hard to argue with that, but Ronaldo scored one of those solo goals for Barcelona against Compostela ten years ago that was even featured in a TV ad. But this was before Youtube, which is why Leo Messi is there.
Gemmill's is not very well known outside Britain. It keeps coming up in British lists but elsewhere it has got more reputation through the film 'Trainspotting' than through people's memories.
I'd rate Bergkamp's against Argentina much higher.
Was number 18 Best's best?
The Matches:
Lost of World Cup and Champìons' Cup here. Maybe we should come up with significant matches from the European Championships and the Copa América. I like the selection.
Teams:
Brazil 1970 are lucky they only played 6 games. What would it take to replace them at the top?
Denmark 1986? Beaten 5-1 by Spain in a World Cup second-round match. Good team, but the result wasn't there.
Manchester United 1999 I rate much higher. In fact I argue that they are the most succesful club ever over one season: that treble (and look at their rivals in both cups) plus the Intercontinental Cup later.
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Mauricio
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Reged: 03/06/2007
Posts: 96
Loc: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Good choices. I'm just not sure about one or another, but I guess it is just a matter of personal tast (when it come to goals specially).
Greatest goals:
I love Maradona's and Van Basten's goals. They re just works of art indeed. But I wouldn't have included MAradona's goal against Belgium (1986) and I'm not sure about Carlos Alberto's goal on the 1970's finals (the shot and the goal itself weren't so great...), but I can understand their inclusion. Messi'a goal was a great goal, but would it have been included hadn't it been scored just a short time ago? I'm not sure...
I would have loved to see Zico's goal in Japan, but I just can't find a good quality video to share with you guys. Here go a poor quality one (the one I could find in a quick searh in You Tube) - it's the second goal in the video
Greatest teams: I would have included Santos (1960s) with Pele and others. Maybe in the top 20. They were just amazing.
It would be kind of interesting to make a list of the greatest nearly scored goals, the ones that for some inexplicable unbalance in the universe, for a trick of fate, didn't get in. In this case I would most certainly rate Pele vs Urugay in 1970 as the greatest one (and I still think it should be included in the greatest goals list nevertheless. It was so great that it should be counted as a goal... 
check it out: Pele vs Urugay 1970
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Mauricio Drumond
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tiger
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Reged: 14/06/2007
Posts: 4
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Undoubtedly Maradonas goal against England was the greatest goal of all time.The man was a gift from the Gods to us football fans and we are forever in their debt.No words of mine can do justice to what he did that day in the Azteca.
I would have to go with Italy v Brazil in the World Cup of 1982 here.An absolute cracker of a game with Paolo Rossi exploding onto the great stage.
We all know these polls are subjective and opinion driven and we all know the beauty of football is that it can create millions of different opinions.So heres mine....
I'm gonna go with the Dutch masters of the 70's.Cruyff,Neeskens,Rep and co.What a joy to watch.Shame they were not rewarded with any trophies.
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tiger
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Reged: 14/06/2007
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Fine examples alright.I do wish Peles near goal had gone in,then it would be right up there with the greatest and no one could take anything away from him....But unfortunately it didn't.Van Bastens goal in Euro championship final was pure class.What a legend.
Then again what about George Weah for Milan in Serie A when he ran the whole pitch.Its impossible to decide.But we must be thankful to all these fine artists for bringing us so much joy,
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DreamTheater
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Reged: 05/07/2007
Posts: 1
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Re: Greatest Matches...
Me being a life long Werder Bremen supporter I have to include the CL home game against Anderlecht in '93... 3-0 down at home until the 66th minute and then we went on to win 5-3... a classic....
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henryfan1
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Reged: 22/06/2006
Posts: 728
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I am biased but why is the Arsenal team from 2002 untill 2004 not in the top 20. but Spurs from 61 are in.Arsenal broke all domestic records when they won league titles both times, going unbeaten away from home.Scoring in every league game.And the unbeaten season in 03/04.No other English team have broke these records before. from a domestic standpoint they should go down as one of best english teams of all time.
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haweythetoon
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Reged: 06/07/2007
Posts: 1
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Sky Sports have been saying for years that Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle United in 1996 is the greatest game of all time. Obviously Sky would have you believe that before the Premier League was formed football didn't exist giving this particular game little competition for the 'greatest game of all time' title. In the real world it's obviously not the greatest game of all time, but to not include it in the top 20 is ridiculous, and that’s coming from a Newcastle fan!
Also, I would of put last months Denmark v Sweden game in top 20 and have placed Liverpool v Alaves in the 2001 Uefa Cup final higher in the list. As for the greatest game of all time, being totally biased, I would have to go for one of the following: Newcastle United 5-0 Man Utd (1996), Newcastle United 3-2 Barcelona (1996), Feyenoord 2-3 Newcastle United (2002) or Sunderland 1-4 Newcastle United (2006).
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richards
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Reged: 12/06/2006
Posts: 88
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Arsenal's unbeaten team seems a glaring omission. I could understand if they had been a prosaic outfit who ground out results, but they achieved the seemingly impossible by refusing to compromise their attacking principles.
I can't understand how Cruyff's Barcelona team figures so highly. They won two of their league titles on the last game of the season after Real had capitulated in unlikely circumstances. Also, they were humiliated by Savicevic and co in the 1994 European Cup final. A spledind, attractive side, but slightly overplaced in the all-time top list.
I've always rated the France team of 1982-86 higher than the 1998-2000 vintage. Admittedly, they only had one trophy to show for their efforts, but they had arguably the finest midfield to have graced any European team.
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0141607
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Reged: 06/07/2007
Posts: 1
Loc: Limerick
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Hi guys I'm new to the forums! Absolutely love World Soccer.
Anyway back on topic - with regards the greatest goals ever scored I think that George Weah's goal against Verona in 1996 fully deserves a place in the top 20. Having said that you can't take anything away from any of the 20 included.
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foxrocks
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Reged: 20/05/2007
Posts: 54
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I was a bit disappointed to see no mention of the all-conquering 'Il Grande Torino' team, which was so tragically decimated in a plane crash in 1949. It would have been a good opportunity to bring their achievements to a wider audience.
Also Ronaldo's goal vs Compostella should've been in there somewhere. Absolute cracker.
EDIT: Ref Liverpool vs Newcastle, that was certainly the best Premiership game I've seen for various reasons. "Collymore closing iiiiin!!!!" 
Edited by foxrocks (06/07/2007 12:57)
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iauk
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Posts: 19
Loc: wirral, merseyside
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Was a bit dissapointed to see so much of the magazine dedicated to 'The Greatest'.
The summer issue would have been the perfect opportunity to give the summer leagues some more coverage instead of the normal few paragraphs.
I am sure many readers would have been happy to find out more about Iceland, Norway, Finland.............
What do you think
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stephen_woodside
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Loc: Huyton, Merseyside
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Cannot believe these two goals never made the top 20. The first goal scored by George Weah was better than Ryan Giggs goal v Arsenal although the Welshman's finish was far better scoring from a tighter angle but Weah's run was superior and covered a greater distance to Giggs', both who similarly where fortunate with ricochet's off defenders in their own build ups. The second goal, well have you ever witnessed a ball moving in flight as much as the Brazilians effort. As much as i am suprised about these omissions, i understand how difficult it must be to select a perfect selection of great goals.
George Weah v Verona
Roberto Carlos v France
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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Edited by stephen_woodside (07/07/2007 13:03)
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stephen_woodside
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Loc: Huyton, Merseyside
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I would have liked to have seen a longer list of the greatest teams just out of curiosity as to what position the great Everton team of 1985 would have been placed in. Also, i am more than suprised Liverpool only was entered once in the list of the greatest teams of all time as low as 19th place with their side of 1977. This despite the Reds being pretty much dominant both domestically and in Europe from 1977 to 1987. If i was a Red, i would feel slightly dissapointed to say the least at not having more entries in this list and in a much more higher position.
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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
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das
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Reged: 19/05/2007
Posts: 53
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i think the ajax team in the early 90's is worth a shout ? they had such an amazing team with bags of talented youth and experienced players. they played fantastic football and were a joy to watch also. best match (personnaly) would be the euro final in 99
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Sindelar
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Reged: 17/06/2006
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Re the Brazil team of 1970, it seems generally accepted now that they were the greatest, but if I remember correctly a lot of (older) Brazilian critics rated the 1958 and 1962 teams as even better, particularly in defence. I sometimes wonder if the deification of the 1970 team compared with the other two is more to do with the relative TV coverage than anything else.
I saw Just Fontaine (who should know) saying about the two teams (1958/1970) in a documentary recently: "If you compare the two teams, in attack they were both great. But in defence, there's no comparison."
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www.thefootballtragic.blogspot.com - An ongoing tragedy.
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gilgillespie
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Reged: 08/07/2007
Posts: 40
Loc: uk
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Cant agree with many of the team selections. Holland '74? Wasnt it Argentina who won the World Cup that year? Brazil '82? See previous answer. Cruyff's Barcelona? Weren't they the ones who didn't touch the ball during the 1994 European Cup final? Are France '84 and '98 and Denmark '86 better than, say, Argentina '78. And where are Il Grande Torino and Penarol?
As for the greatest matches, much better. But please dont tell me that Liverpool's ridiculously unjust and almost entirely accidental six-minute pantomime comeback in the 2005 Champions League final makes the game the second best ever. The best team didnt win. It was football at its worst, not its best.
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foxrocks
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Reged: 20/05/2007
Posts: 54
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Yeah, while I appreaciate these things are always subjective, gilgillespie has hit the nail pretty much on the head to my mind. Still an enjoyable feature for the quiet summer months though, don't get me wrong.
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Mauricio
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Reged: 03/06/2007
Posts: 96
Loc: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Well Gilgillespie, it all depends on what you think matters the most in football, results or the way a team plays. In my opinion, when it comes to choosing best teams ever, final results are not the most important thing. Let's take a look at the Dutch team from 74. They played football in a brand new way, that hasn't been done since.And the fact that they lost their final game didn't change the fact that the football they produced was much better than any other at that time. Losing is part of the game and sometimes what matters the most is how you played it. Sometimes we don't even remember who won, but we will never forget who made the difference, as you pointed out saying:
Quote:
Holland '74? Wasnt it Argentina who won the World Cup that year?
Actually, who won the cup that year was Germany, Argentina won in '78, once again against the remains of the Dutch team of '74 (without Cruyff and a few others). You see, we may not remember who were the winners, but we will never forget the wonder that the Dutch team and their total football were.
The same thing may be said about the Brazilian team of '82, the Hungarians in 54 and - I would also dare to say - the Brazilian team of 1950. But as Foxrocks pointed out, those things are always subjective. This is just my opinion. I think that playing beautifully is way more important than winning at any cost. We call this difference as "art football' and 'result football' here in Brazil. Our '82 squad will always be remembered as a far better team than our '94 squad. Unfortortunately (or not?), the best team doesn't always win, but that doesn't mean that they're not better. If Brazil and Italy (from '82), or Holland and Germany ('74) for that matter, had played 7 matches instead of one, the odds are that Brazil and Holland would have won most games. But again, that's the great thing about football, it's unpredictable.
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Mauricio Drumond
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