Greatest individual performances ever

[giorno]

I sometimes wonder if some of these individual performances get overblown over the years. The 2 that get talked about most are Gerrard 05 v Milan and Keane 99 v Juve. Both scored at the start of a comeback and the general vibe therefore was that it was Roy of the Rovers stuff and both dragged their respective teams through the game. I don't particularly remember the intracies of both games all that well but were they both much more special than they usually are?

Rivaldo against Valencia


When Michael Cox watched it back he said that Beckham was United's best player in Turn.

Yup, by far. Keane was great, to be sure, and his goal was huge in dragging United into the game, but otherwise he wasn't that special. I mean he's had better games than that in his career. And yes, Beckham was United's best player and the one that gave Juventus the most trouble and really tilted it United's way

Gerrard...it was pretty special in the second half and extra time. When factoring in the goal and penalty won, probably have to say he was Liverpool's best player, at least the best outfield player. Again though, it was more heroics than a performance for the ages

It wasn't Curtuà vs Liverpool stuff

 

[Tom Van Persie]

I was trying to think of great modern day United performances and I've just thought of Bruno vs Leeds first game of the 21/22 season. Genuinely one of the best performances I've seen at OT. He was unbelievable that day. Pogba was too.

 

[SydneyRoughDiamond]

Robson vs Barca

 

[Raven]

Neymar vs PSG (I think).

 

[didz]

Tadic against Madrid in the 4-1 stands out for me. It was genuinely shocking how good he was, so the fact that his performance and obviously the result were so unexpected help put it somewhere up there in my mind.

 

[The Purley King]

Beckham vs Greece (and it really did feel like him against Greece on his own!)

Was going to post this. Was proper Roy of the rovers stuff.
He ran an insane distance that game and that free kick!

 

[Florida Man]

All the ones that first came to my mind have already been mentioned. Surely RVP had some of those performances for us?

 

[kidbob]

Keane vs Portugal is one of the best I’ve seen and likely the best performance I’ve seen from him. That was a very decent Irish side though so not quite one man team stuff.

 

[Fobal]

Genius players (Pele, Alfredo, Johan, Zico, R9, Messi ect etc) had quite a number of those to name just a few, some of them without even a single goal.
Regarding Championships what Platini did in Euro 84, Garrincha in WC62 and Maradona in WC86, it's beyond outstanding...
From lesser players, Laudrup, Rivaldo, Riquelme and certain players had a knack to pull out matches where they were dominating the entire scene.

I would upload just two gems of friendles that showed what was going to arrive to European football years later



PD: Regarding Campaigns with many greatest perfomances involved, that Messi CL 2018/19 ended horrible, but that entire year if he had pulled out the treble would have been beyond ridiculous given the context of what Barca was a as a team, never seen a huge team being carried mostly by two players,Ter Stegen and him like that, in the verge to even win everything, bizarre season.

 

[Canucantona20]

Keane away vs juventus 1999 CL

 

[FrankDrebin]

Scholes vs Newcastle 2003

 

[andersj]

Zidane was amazing in the 06 QF against Brazil.

This one always comes to mind for me aswell.

 

[SambaBoy]

Trying to think of some lesser known ones.

Always remember Giggs being sensational against Inter in the CL towards the end of his career, Park v Chelsea in the same season as well. Brown v Barcelona at CB in 08.

 

[adexkola]

C Ronaldo at Villa Park in the 06-07 season
Neuer vs us in 2011 at Schalke

 

[Marvin look out]

Courtois vs Liverpool in UCL final.

 

[Macca7]

Wilshere v Barcelona. Genuinely thought he would go on to be a world star after that. (He might have if not for the injuries)

 

[El Jefe]

Ibrahimovic vs England
Xavi vs Real Madrid away in 2009. 6-2
Rooney vs Fenerbache
Ronaldo vs Sweden
Messi vs Spurs in the CL at Wembley
Kante vs Arsenal away 2016 or Madrid 2021
Rivaldo vs Manutd 1999
Bale vs Inter
Benzema vs Chelsea
Falcao vs Chelsea and Bilbao. Was on something those two games.

 

[Josh 76]

I can remember Wales beating Germany sometime in the 90s. Giggs was out of this world that night. The German manager at the time said after the game, "the only problem with Ryan Giggs tonight was that he didn't have a German passport."

 

[204Red]

Off the beaten path suggestions...

Rooney vs West Ham in 2011... he scored a hat trick in a key win that basically helped secure the title that season... then promptly got suspended for swearing at the camera (in one of the bigger bull shit PL moments)

Park shutting down Pirlo over both legs United vs Milan in the CL

RVP hat trick vs Villa to secure our last title

 

[pastyfool]

Neymar vs PSG (I think).

I'm far from a Neymar fan but that match sprang to mind.

 

[CarrickNotScholes]

Ronaldo vs Arsenal, second leg of the Champions League semifinal 2009. He was quite brilliant in the first leg too and missed out on a spectacular Porto-esque goal by hitting the post.

 

[SungSam7]

C Ronaldo at Villa Park in the 06-07 season
Neuer vs us in 2011 at Schalke

Been many goal keepers to have played blinders against us. Think Valdes when he played Middlesbrough did too!

 

[adexkola]

Been many goal keepers to have played blinders against us. Think Valdes when he played Middlesbrough did too!

Haha, very true. Brad Friedel was always up for a game against us.

Neuer was something else though

 

[Raven]

I'm far from a Neymar fan but that match sprang to mind.

Seems like a total prick but he was a brilliant footballer.

 

[giggs-beckham]

Beckham vs Greece (and it really did feel like him against Greece on his own!)

This. Never seen anything like it

 

[youngrell]

Baresi vs Brazil 1994 final
McGrath vs Italy in 1994 was also quality.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Wilshere v Barcelona. Genuinely thought he would go on to be a world star after that. (He might have if not for the injuries)

One game I'd like to watch again, live I thought Wilshere had great moments in a game Xavi absolutely dominated

 

[Macern]

Pogba v Switzerland in Euros 2020
Joe Hart in CL v Dortmund in 2012
De Gea that game against Arsenal
That Tadic game v Real that L’Equipe gave 10/10

 

[Moriarty]

Schmeichel was incredible in that match.

Also Mbappe World Cup final hat trick anyone? Messi in the same match?

Hurst's hat trick in 1966.

 

[ForFuchsSake]

Messi vs United (2011 CL final)
Messi vs Arsenal (probably on more than one occasion)
Zidane vs Brazil
Iniesta vs Italy (think it was Euro 2012)

From a United fan, nostalgia perspective:

Berbatov vs Liverpool
Berbatov vs Blackburn
Carrick vs Real Madrid
De Gea vs Arsenal (2017?)
Rooney vs Milan
Ronaldo vs Arsenal (CL semi)

Probably a few more but there the main ones that come to mind.

 

[zizi]

Never watched it back, but I remember at the time being in complete awe of schweinsteigers performance in the world cup final v Argentina.

Absolutely dominated that game, not to mention the physical side aswell. Looked bloodied and battered by the end of extra time.

 

[dutchred]

George Best NI v Scotland 1967

 

[Chekov]

Lookman vs Leverkusen
Messi vs Arsenal away, 0-4 if i remember correctly

 

[Winrar]

Lewandowski 5 goals in 9 minutes
Arshavin 4-4
Bale hat trick vs Inter
De Gea 14 saves vs Arsenal

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Messi vs Man Utd 2011 final. Didnt score a million goals but looked a class above everyone else.

Genuinely think it's his best ever performance too.

I've re-watched that game a few times and came away with the same conclusion every time. We got beat by the best club side ever and Messi having his opus magnum that game as an influential force.

 

[The Corinthian]

Zidane vs Brazil in the 2006 WC

Modric vs Spain in the 2012 Euros - this was a legit 10/10 performance before we saw him do what he does at Madrid

Keane vs Netherlands 2001 WC Qualifying
Keane vs Juve 1999 CL

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

For Celta Vigo, Mostovoi orchestrated some real beatings for Real Madrid...96/97 4-0 ...98/99 5-1... 00/01 3-0. He had an excellent record against Barca too, but those performances stand out in my memory.

Dragan Stojkovic putting Spain out at Italia '90 with two great goals (first touch for the opener is brilliant) and some excellent playmaking. Some highlights.


He also had a brilliant creative game against Argentina in the quarter-final, where Yugoslavia had played with ten men for much of the game. Better aerial game and finishing after some of his passes and crosses could have won the game for them; in Baggio-style he ended up missing in the penalty shootout, but it's still worth a mention.

 

[giorno]

Genuinely think it's his best ever performance too.

I've re-watched that game a few times and came away with the same conclusion every time. We got beat by the best club side ever and Messi having his opus magnum that game as an influential force.

April 23, 2017. Santiago Bernabeu. That was Messi's magnum opus. Marcelo not-so-accidentally elbowed him in the mouth leading to Messi playing the first half holding a piece of gauze to his mouth. And getting PISSED OFF.

The Sun God game

 

[MrFishers]

That game Lewandowski came on as a sub and scored 5. I'll never forget the look on Pep's face

 

[Rajiztar]

Zidane vs Brazil in the 2006 WC

Modric vs Spain in the 2012 Euros - this was a legit 10/10 performance before we saw him do what he does at Madrid

Keane vs Netherlands 2001 WC Qualifying
Keane vs Juve 1999 CL

This. He single handedly dominated the Brazilian team containing peak kaka,Ronaldinho. Monstrous performance. Brazil chased the ball and Zidane for most game.