A few finals in the FIFA CWC and its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup,
have been undoubtedly more entertaining clashes than the others with their goal
galore.
There is nothing better than an entertaining showdown in the summit. Such is
always expected in all competition, including the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
final, as Chelsea is taking on UCL champion PSG.
Unfortunately, it is quite rare to see goal galore in the major tournaments,
where both sides are at their peak in the last game of the competition and
trade goals more than once, resulting in an even duel without too much
difference between both teams. However, there has always been anomaly. The 2022
FIFA World Cup final is one example and is tipped as the best one in the
tournament's history. The 2005 UCL final in Istanbul is another one with an
even more thrilling display on the pitch.
In FIFA CWC and its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, the goal galore
did exist in some editions, although such were not as often as the cagey
encounters leading to narrow wins with only a single goal. Here are those
clashes deemed as the most entertaining finals so far.
Juventus vs Argentinos Juniors (1985 Intercontinental Cup)
The first goal galore in the final took place in 1985 as Juventus and
Argentinos Juniors faced off in the Intercontinental Cup. The Italian giant
came with their star-studded squad. Under the tutelage of Giovanni Trappatoni,
they had Michael Platini, Gli Azzurri stars such as Gaetano Scirea, Aldo
Serena, and the World Cup winner Antonio Cabrini, plus the young Michael
Laudrup. Meanwhile, the Argentine sides had the Argentine international Sergio
Batista and the talented Claudio Borghi. They were led by one of Argentina’s
top managers, Jose Yudica, one of the few South American managers who won
league titles with three different local teams.
The game was exciting from the beginning as both sides employed offensive
football. The first half ended goalless. Yet, it was the opposite in the second
half. La Vecchia Signora were stunned first as they conceded in the early
second half. Carlos Ereros lobbed the ball into the back of the net.
Trappatoni’s men had to rely on Platini’s penalty to find the equaliser. The
French skipper had a chance to put them in the lead. Unfortunately, his goal
was disallowed.
Argentinos Juniors once again struck and restored their lead with Jose
Castro’s goal initiated by Borghi’s penetration into Juventus’ backline in the
75th minute. The Italian finally responded with Laudrup’s goal, which showcased
his technical ability and great one-two passing combination with Platini. The
Frenchmanprovided the assist as the Danish star rounded the goalie and tapped
into the far left side of the post as he made a run into the edge of the goal
line.
The match was eventually decided on penalties. Lady luck was on the Italian
powerhouse. Their shot stopper, Stefano Tacconi, saved two shots from Batista
and Jose Pavoni, which sent them into raptures. Platini was then named the man of the match.
Nacional Montevideo vs. PSV Eindhoven (1988 Intercontinental Cup)
The similar story was about to repeat until the shootout. This time it was
the CONMEBOL side who laughed last. The showdown between the Uruguayan and
Dutch clubs indeed delivered another goal galore.
Nacional opened the scoring from Santiago Ostolaza in the seventh minute.
The scoreline remained the same till the interval. Guus Hiddink’s PSV bounced
back in the second half as the young Romario bagged an equaliser in the 75th
minute. It was a 1-1 tie for 90 minutes. The game continued in the extra time.
This time, PSV scored to take the lead from Ronald Koeman’s penalty. Yet, it
was Ostolaza who came to save the day. He put his team back on level terms only
three minutes before the final whistle.
The penalties, however, saw a different end. The protagonist was Nacional’s
goalkeeper, Jorge Sere, as he made four saves from Wim Kieft’s, Soren Lerby’s,
skipper Eric Gerets’, and Berry Van Aerle’s attempts. Such contributed heavily
to their 7-6 victory since his three teammates failed to convert.
Sere might not have been named the MVP, although he did deserve it. Sadly,
his form in the 120 minutes was not a particular highlight compared to his
clinical saves in the shootout. The Golden Ball award was eventually given to
Ostolaza, who netted a brace.
Sao Paulo vs. AC Milan (1993 Intercontinental Cup)
This was the only entertaining match in the competition, which was completed
in 90 minutes! Tele Santana’s Sao Paulo, who was also the defending champion,
was taking on the team Rossonerri. They were considered the ‘Dream Team’ of
that decade. AC Milan was not exactly the Champions Cup winner. They were the
runner-up, replacing the 1993 champion, Olympique Marseille, which was banned
from international football following their involvement in the match-fixing
case in Ligue 1.
The match was indeed dubbed one of the best in history as both sides traded
goals and chances to score. Palhinha broke the deadlock first to give the
Brazilian the lead in the 19th minute before Daniel Massaro’s goal equalised in
the early second half. Seven minutes later, Sao Paulo regained their lead as
Toninho Cerezo bagged a goal from his header.
As the game entered the last 10 minutes, Fabio Capello’s men once again
found the equaliser through Jean-Pierre Papin’s header. After the series of
attempts, Tele Santana’s side was finally on the front once more as Muller
tappedthe ball into the back of the net in the 87th minute. He managed to slot
it home by taking advantage of Sebastiano Rossi’s failed clearance in the
six-yard box.
Sao Paulo at last clinched the title back-to-back and had beaten not only
one Dream Team but two. Previously, it was Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona.
Interestingly, some of Sao Paulo’s men would later play for the Italian Serie A powerhouse. They
were Leonardo and Cafu.
Real Madrid vs. Kashima Antlers (2016 FIFA CWC)
The last entertaining final was rather unexpected, as it did not involve a
South American side. Rather, it was the Japanese side competing as the host,
and it became the first unlikely finalist from Asia.
In the 2016 FIFA CWC, everyone knew that Real Madrid would be unstoppable in
lifting the trophy. They did not have much difficulty trashing any side,
especially when Cristiano Ronaldo was at his peak. Nevertheless, they struggled
to beat their opposition in the summit, Kashima Antlers.
Their performance in the competition stunned the world, especially their
convincing 3-0 win over CONMEBOL champion Atletico Nacional in the semifinal.
Antlers’ top form was expected to continue in the summit until CR7 himself ripped them in pieces by scoring a hat trick.
Los Blancos took an early lead in the 9th minute through Karim Benzema,
following a rebound from Hitoshi Sogahata’s block on Luka Modrić’s shot.
Zinedine Zidane’s side was unable to add up their tally. Antlers finally found
their equaliser through Gaku Shibasaki’s strike just before halftime. He even
added his tally to give his team the lead. Real Madrid had to rely on a penalty
to draw level—Cristiano Ronaldo converted with ease. The game went into extra
time, where Ronaldo bagged a brace to seal the win.
Comments
Post a Comment