Best Goal Ever...?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

While I agree with Celtic getting kudos for being the first British club to win a European trophy (but come on, Spurs were one of the first as well.... )

However Rangers get into the European Cup because 9 seasons out of 10 it's a two horse race and they both get into Europe.

[Lineker]

Favourite? Allan Nielsen, Worthington Cup Final 1999 v Leicester.

Best has to be Robbie Keane last year v Blacknurb for me. http://youtube.com/watch?v=o98QAth9j6A

[Guest Ringley Whitford]

Yeah, Keano's goal against Blackburn is one of the few that really left my mouth hanging when I saw it last year. Total mark out moment.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

The first touch is just magnificent.

[rdarnz]

What about this one?

If only for what it meant to a nation, though for the time, this seems to be a pretty damn good goal!!

Also, gave life to possibly the most memorable line of commentary in football EVER.

And this gave bragging rights to us!! Ah, the fun I had!!

Edited December 13, 2006 by rdarnz

[therockbox]

Gary Mac's freekick vs. Everton for Liverpool. Came out of nowhere and won it, brilliant.

Neil Mellor's last minute winner against Arsenal as well. I can remember watching this, I went mad. I was so pissed off we were only going to draw when we'd dominated the match, then Mellor does that.

[Guest Ringley Whitford]

I like that Mellor goal. It's also funny because it's the only good thing he's ever done

[METALMAN]

What about

piece of skill?

[Farmer Reil]

Sorry Kraigy, but I laugh in the face of anyone who calls Rangers the most dominant team in European history based on the fact that they've won the largest amount of domestic titles.

If the Scottish league was worth a shit and dominating it was any great feat, how come no Scottish side has been past the second round of the Champion's League post '91 (when it started to have a group stage. Any lucky fluke can win a knockout competition. Both Dundee's got to the semi's pre-'92 ¬_¬). This of course is assuming Celtic lose, but being a Rangers fan I don't think you'll have much trouble assuming that ¬_¬.

Surely if your league is so great, the champions of it would be at least a fair challenge for the champions of the best leagues in Europe, right? So how come your champions can't qualify from a group consisting of four random teams, some of which weren't even champions of their leagues? Two teams have done it once each. Once != great.

Scottish football is obviously improving, but until a Scottish team qualifying for the CL second round stops being a surprise, you're not a 'strong league'. Definately a lot stronger than five years ago, sure.

Two good teams don't make a great league. Two second round qualifications don't make European success.

And ancient history doesn't count for anything. So what if a Scot created the football league? A Frenchie created the Champions League, does that mean the French are the best at football? Hell, a Frenchie created the World Cup too, they must fucking own face. Face, but not the World Cup, eh? Maybe they own chest instead.

Edit: Hmm, apparently there was another page to the thread and this is now beating a dead horse. Oops. Oh well, better late than never? ¬_¬

Edited December 13, 2006 by Farmer Reil

[METALMAN]

Rangers qualified for the second round last year.

[Farmer Reil]

Hey, I found a bug with the board software. It says I edited the post, when in fact I didn't. Metalman was just seeing things. Fix it, kliq ¬_¬.

[METALMAN]

damn. I wish I quoted you

[Farmer Reil]

I also edited it before that, and even wrote "Edit:" before the edited bit. I think that slightly gives it away too ¬_¬

[Guest Pringle]

Giggs vs Arsenal

[The Kraig]

Sorry Kraigy, but I laugh in the face of anyone who calls Rangers the most dominant team in European history based on the fact that they've won the largest amount of domestic titles.

Edited December 14, 2006 by The Kraig

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

While the French national team is undoubtably highly skilled, their league is not of such a high quality (I watch it sometimes late night on channel 5). It's not surprising that the vast majority of their international squad play abroad.

Unlike England and Italy. In fact Italians often find themselves overlooked if they go abroad to play. It's how they keep their team and league so strong for long periods of time.

Netherlands also suffers from a mediocre league with the same three teams deciding the champion year after year, in so much that it's a race between them to NOT finish third to end up in the UEFA cup.

The German league is rightly considered very strong, any German teams often reach later stages of the Euro Cup, same with Spain (though they're too stop start and airy fairy).

Therefore I'll go down the usual line and say the best four European leagues are the Spanish, English, Italian and German (not neccesarily in that order).

Internationally the first World Cup I remember watching was 1990 when England got to the semi finals. In 2002 we got quarters and 2006 quarters again (each time without performing to our best). Therefore it's fair to say that England are definitely one of the best eight international teams in the world, and we constantly qualify from qualifying stages and from group stages.

So while, of course, it's foolishness to say England are the best in the world cos of our 1966 triumph it's very fair to say that our international team is ONE OF the best in the World, and our league, which is shipped massively wordwide, is one of the highest quality and most entertaining.

Let's look at the Champions League / European Cup since it formed.

The most successful country is Spain (11 winners, 9 runners up).

2nd - Italy (10 winners, 14 runners up).

3rd - England (10 winners, 3 runners up).

4th - Germany (6 winners, 7 runners up).

5th - Netherlands (6 winners, 2 runners up).

6th - Portugal (4 winners, 5 runners up).

7th - France (1 winner, 5 runners up).

8th - Scotland/Romania/Serbia (1 winner, 1 runner up). For Scotland both clubs were Celtic.

[Guest Ringley Whitford]

There's a reason the French league's not nearly as good as the others: taxes. Most other "footballing powers" provide football players with tax cuts because they have relatively short work careers. Since the socialist regime of the 80s, France doesn't. Juninho (who I think is the highest paid player in France) told reporters the government taxes 76% of his salary. Now I know footballers make a lot of money, but 76%?! That's a bit excessive. To give a comparison, Pierre-Alain Cignac, who earns a more standard Ligue 1 salary pays 56% of his salary to taxes. Add to the fact that the French government will tax 5% from your bank account every year if you earn more than 250K Euros a year. If you're a footballer, you can make a lot more money elsewhere, even playing for lesser Premiership or Liga teams. In conclusion, don't play in France .

[The Kraig]

The French leagues also limit the number of foreign players in their teams, which means an emphasis on home talent (no matter how shit it might be).

And I quite like the Dutch league, but if you rate that as mediocre, then yes the Scottish league must be laughable.

[Guest Ringley Whitford]

But Italy, Spain and Germany also limit the amount of foreigners so it's not that major really.

I also like the Dutch league. Granted, outside 4 teams, the quality is kinda shit, but they play attractive and attacking football so that's always fun.

[Chasing Lamely]

Best goal ever? Maradona's second against England in 86.

Say what you like about him, call him a cheat, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that he's the greatest player ever to lace boots. Pele isn't fit to wipe his arse.