#5 Geoff Hurst vs West Germany 1966
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It does not get bigger than the World Cup final and it definitely does not get better than old foes facing off each other for pride. England and Germany had been the teams to beat in the FIFA World Cup 1966 and deservedly met in the final of the world’s premier footballing competition.
(Video Courtesy: Matthewcoates459 YouTube Channel)
With the scores tied at the end of the 90 minutes, and both teams scoring two goals each, the game went into extra time and what followed was a moment that still manages to anger the German football fans. Geoff Hurst, who had scored England’s opening goal in the 18th minute, found space in the box off an Alan Ball cross and swivelled and shot at the Germany goal. The ball hit the underside of the goal and bounced on the line and was cleared by the German defenders.
The referee on the evening, Gottfried Dienst was uncertain whether the ball had crossed the line and consulted his assistant Tofiq Bahramov, before awarding England the goal to the surprise of numerous football fans. The English, buoyed by the goal, went on to add another to their tally via Hurst, who completed his hat-trick and took the coveted Jules Rimet trophy.
If not for an error from the referee and his assistant, which could have been rectified with the usage of technology, the game could have gone in another direction and perhaps, England would still remain devoid of a World Cup victory.
Honourable Mention: Cristiano Ronaldo vs Spain
After being dumped out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by Spain, Portugal were keen to extract some revenge from their Iberian rivals when the two sides met in a friendly in November 2010. One player, who drew a lot of attention prior to the game was the Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been singled out for underperforming against the big guns.
However, the evening did not go as per plan for Spain, as the side succumbed to a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Portuguese. While that might in itself, prove to be a pleasing fact for most footballers, Ronaldo was not too impressed by the refereeing as well as the acts of his teammate Nani, who apparently robbed him of a goal.
The former Manchester United man skipped past two defenders before chipping the ball over Iker Casillas, in what would have gone on to become another wonderful goal scored by him. However, Nani had different plans as he continued with his run to ensure that the ball crossed the line, albeit from an offside position.
The goal was ruled out. However, video evidence suggested Nani only contacted the ball after it had crossed the goal line and the goal should have been allowed to stand. Ronaldo was infuriated and given the skill he put in to score the goal, we see no reason why he shouldn’t have been.
If the goal had stood, it might well have been the Portuguese’s greatest solo goal!!
