The Greatest Soccer Performances Of All Time

This station is portion of a larger database looking astatine immoderate of nan apical individual performances successful each of sports history. Check retired nan afloat database here.

When two-way awesome Shohei Ohtani turned his slugging slump into nan top crippled successful shot history successful Game 4 of nan National League Championship Series, it started a chat successful nan Sports Illustrated newsroom: What are immoderate of nan different apical individual performances successful sports? And really do they comparison to Ohtani’s 10 strikeouts and 3 location runs?

Here are our picks for nan men’s and women’s soccer.

France’s World Cup quarterfinal against Brazil successful 2006 was not yet 40 seconds aged by nan clip Raymond Domenech realized thing typical was unfolding earlier his eyes.

France’s head had conscionable watched his skipper Zinedine Zidane return his first touch of nan crippled by planting nan studded sole of his aureate boots connected nan ball. Holding Zé Roberto disconnected pinch 1 arm, Zidane pirouetted past Juninho earlier a flurry of stepovers sent him beyond a 3rd bamboozled Brazilian.

That dazzling series group nan reside for a one-man masterclass, a litany of flicks, drag-backs and deft prods of nan ball, each while nan aging talisman was carrying a thigh injury. Even much awesome was really he turned nan defending World Cup champions—a squad considered 1 of nan astir talented of each time, header by superstars Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Nazário, Roberto Carlos and Kaká—into specified observers.

Then, Zidane’s free footwear group up Thierry Henry for nan only extremity of a crippled that nan Real Madrid icon was capable to predominate pinch a consciousness of freedom. Gliding astir knowing this was his past tourney earlier retirement, this was Zidane unshackled.

“I wanted to bask each second,” he said. Everyone not of a Brazilian persuasion besides had a beautiful bully time.

Greater than Ohtani? Zidane surely enjoyed nan aforesaid consciousness of awe but couldn’t rather lucifer nan Dodgers prima for that constituent of unsocial effectiveness. —Grey Whitebloom

Women’s Soccer: Marta Stuns nan USWNT astatine nan 2007 World Cup

They were meant to beryllium unstoppable, but past location was Marta. 

The United States women’s nationalist squad was connected a 51-match unbeaten streak erstwhile it walked retired to look Brazil successful nan semifinal of nan 2007 Women’s World Cup, wherever 47,818 group astatine Yellow Dragon Stadium, successful Hangzhou, China, gazed retired astatine nan transportation assuming nan favored Americans would advance. Instead, nan fans were treated to a Brazilian forward, diminutive successful frame, but not successful gravitas, delivering a mesmerizing manifesto of accomplishment and confidence. 

Marta recorded 2 goals and an assistance successful nan 2007 Women’s World Cup semifinal to extremity nan USWNT’s tally of dominance. / Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

What made Marta truthful malevolent that nighttime was that she smelt blood. After nan USWNT went down via an ain extremity successful nan 20th minute, Marta seized her moment. She weaved done nan achromatic shirts effortlessly and changeable debased into nan area for her first goal. Next came nan cerebral cardinal walk connected nan halfway line, meticulously watching some nan USWNT and nan runners successful yellowish to clip nan cleanable one-touch done shot for Formiga to assistance Cristiane for different goal. 

One of nan top individual performances successful World Cup history was capped disconnected pinch Marta’s top goal, her 2nd of nan night. The flicked touch astir nan defender to play herself into abstraction successful nan box, nan dropped enarthrosis and power to time off different U.S. subordinate down and this clip her lesser-used correct ft doing nan harm to make it 4–0.

Two goals, an assistance and nan top powerhouse successful women’s shot tasting its biggest-ever tourney defeat. A female possessed, a bequest made.

Greater than Ohtani? Of course, shot to shot isn't apples to apples. Marta's panache connected her location runs much than matches Ohtani connected his, but it's difficult to comparison a forward's mightiness successful nan onslaught to nan mastery of a pitcher astatine nan mound for six playoff innings. —Theo Lloyd-Hughes

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