[Dule]

I just finished watching my tape of Yugoslavia Vs Spain at Euro 2000. It had everything from 7 goals and loads of chances to a sending off and a penalty. And last minute drama to add to it all. IMO it may very well be the best international match ever at least at a major tournement. The skill was also at a tremendously high level and all the goals were superbly taken.
Well that's my opinion what do you guys think. I know the BBC pundits agree with me that did the match.
Also name other matches that might be candidates for this title.
I'll look forward to read your opinions on this.

 

[nrk]

the game was so excited, is a game that make football fans love this game, but the best international game is a litle so much, football history has qa lot of good games and say 1 is beter than other is only from who has been watch it

 

[Robban]

Sweden-Bulgaria 4-0 1994.

 

[romafan53]

Guys are u serious??As a neutral fan to see 7 goals is quite bad, the defending is generally ****ty, there was a lot of excitment about the game but the score line kinda hammpered the game

 

[Kiyan]

I thought of the exact same game when I read the title of this thread. It was simply amazingroud: What an incredible match:star: It's been touted as the best European match ever(internationaly, club wise of course Real Madrid 7-3 Frankfurt)

But the best ever? I think I wasn't aruond long enough to know that

 

[annax]

The quarter-final of Mexico'86 between France and Brazil was one of the best. Throughout the tournament Brazil had been getting better with each game and were now beginning to assume the look of potential World Cup winners. Socrates in midfield and Careca up front were the stars of a talented squad. But France also had no shortage of skill in their ranks with Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana alongside Platini in midfield (one of the greatest midfields ever?)

The game went back and forth, with one team getting the upper hand then the other eventually ending in a 1-1 draw, going to extra time....then penalties

With a few penalties miss/saved by each side the score was 3-3 following Brazil's fourth kick, Platini stepped up to the spot. But for once his composure deserted him and he hit it over the bar.
Brazil failed to capitalise though. French goalkeeper Bats was the hero again with a brilliant save from Julio Cesar leaving Luiz Fernandez to finish it off with the final penalty of the contest.


Its probably the earliest game I can remember and i've seen it replayed on tv recently and its still as good as my memory has it!

 

[Dule]

How many people actually care about defending if they are a neautral. Defences just make games boring and dull. All credit showed really go to Vujadin Boskov in that match because if he wanted to he could have played a defensive game and just sat back to get a draw but that is not Yugoslavia's style. Yugoslavia also had one great comeback against Slovenia and was even featured in a trailer for a movie. I think it was Gone in 60 Seconds.
Ok, my point is, if you are a supporter of a team then yeah worry about the defence but if you are a neutral you should just sit back and enjoy watching great football. But I guess you big on defence since your details show that you are a fan of Italian football. I believe the two matches I mentioned and many others in the tournement made that a great tournementto watch. There was Eng Vs Por, Eng Vs Romania, Hol VS Fra and many more.

 

[romafan53]

dusan im getting annoyed too cause i cant understand why half of the population hate defending so much, when i see a striker runnin through clear on goal and a defender coming from behind him to his side and sliding him for the tackle then keeping possesion i get up and clap like if i see a marvelous attacking play, are you saying good defending for you isnt as enjoyable as good attacking??

 

[annax]

poor defending may make the game more exciting, but to be a really great match the defending has to be good as well, meaning that the goals are created through magnificient skill or team play rather than just about some defenders making mistakes

it can of course be more exciting to watch high scoring matches, but that doesnt necessarly make them better matches as such, in my opinion

A mix of great attack and great defence is what is best

 

[Dule]

Of course I enjoy good tackling but if it's all defence then it is usually a dull match. For example that tackle that Wes Brown made against Ipswish was great and I also don't enjoy seeing bad mistakes. But in the Spain Vs Yugoslavia match the goals were not really scored because of bad defending. For example the 1st Yugo goal. It was opened up firstly by Piksi with a great back heel through though Spanish players, a great 50 yrd pass by Jugovic and cross by Drulovic for a good finish by Milosevic. Spain's 1st goal had a bit of luck but I don't think the defence was to blame for that goal. As I said it was a great match because the goals were good. A 7 goal thriller doen't always mean bad defending and may just mean that the attacking was great. Liverpool have got a lot of stick for winning games by 1-0 or just sitting back and defending and playing on the counter. What game will be remembered in Euro 2000, Yugo Vs Spain or Belgium Vs Sweden. I don't know if it's because in Yugoslavia and England more emphasis is placed on attack but I enjoy great attacking football more than great defensive football because at the end of the day to win a match you need to score more goals than the other team and isn't that the whole point of the game of football.

 

[Bastin]

The majority of fans prefer attacking to defending, and who can blame them? As an Arsenal fan, I get plenty of stick about my team being "boring", and "defensive", and "a bad example for football", but, to aim of the game is to win. If a team defends, and plays well, then they deserve the plaudits.

A team defending well, is a team playing well

The general misconception that a defensive team cannot be entertaining flatters the idealists. Not every team will go all-out attack away from home, when they're 1-0 up. Not every team will defend in these circumstances. Football is a game of choice, when it comes to tactics. Otherwise, what would be the point of the manager. To oversee training? That's a coach. To motivate players? That's a personal motivator.

I, for one, would like to see more defensive play in some areas, as long as to achieve this, attack is not sacrificed.

Austria 7-5 Switzerland (1954)
Uruguay 4-2 Argentina (1930)
England 4-2 West Germany (1966)
Brazil 5-2 Sweden (1958)
Portugal 5-3 North Korea (1966)

These games were all played in an attacking frame of mind, but all (except Austria-Switzerland) were due to excellent attacking flair, and virtuoso performances, rather than Yugoslavia's naive defending in 2000.

 

[David]

Spain vs. Yugo? The ref abused his powers and extended the time till Spain scored... I gues he was prepared to let it run till next morning.

Romania vs. Argentina in 1994 is amongst the best. It had it all. It was terrific.

 

[Prewitt]

There's no such thing like "best international match ever". There are no right criteria... And we can't rate games that we have never seen. I started watching greatest tournaments in 1982. There have been a lot of great games since then, but I can't pick just one. Can you?

As to Spain - Yugoslavia. I didn't like it, honestly. Defending was horrible, the ref made too many mistakes and those late Spanish goals seemed to have been a bit suspicious.

 

[Adriano]

Italy 3-2 Brazil in the 1982 WC Quarter Final (Paolo Rossi hattrick)
England 4-2 West Germany 1966 WC Final (Geoff Hurst hattrick)
Portugal 5-3 North Korea 1966 WC Quarter Final (Portugal 3-0 down, Eusebio 4 goals
Hungary 8-3 West Germany in 1954 World Cup, then lost to Germany in the final after leading 2-0

And there are others which I can't remember at the moment

 

[Jun-Lei]

Perhaps there are no "best international matches ever", but there certainly are exciting matches!

One heart-stopping match would be the England v Argentina match in WC 98... I nearly had a heart attack watching it! It was really a thriller.

Another one I remembered was Italy v Holland in Euro2000. It may not have been a classic, but I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time!

 

[Mendieta]

One of the most exciting I can remember was Spain vs. Italy at USA'94! That was European football at it's best! There was even some nice drama at the end when LE got his nose broken by Tassotti.

 

[Super Puyol]

One of the most exciting I can remember was Spain vs. Italy at USA'94! That was European football at it's best! There was even some nice drama at the end when LE got his nose broken by Tassotti.

...And I'll remember all my life Salinas' missen oportunity Even my grandma could score that (no offense Robban )

 

[IL TORO]

Even though I was too young to watch it live I think that Italy-Brazil in the '82 world cup was one of the best games I ever saw. I wish I was in that stadium to give a nice :ass: to the Brazilians and their fans who couldn't get over themselves.
I hope we will meet them in this coming world cup and have payback for '94. :fero:

 

[IL TORO]

Yeh I agree the world cup games are the best to watch, so much passion.
Have you ever seen the whole game? It's a very good one especially for the Italy fans. Would have been really good to see live.

 

[Mendieta]

...And I'll remember all my life Salinas' missen oportunity Even my grandma could score that (no offense Robban )

What you expect from Salinas? He was such an awkward striker! Thank God, we have guys like Raul & Tristan now.