Neymar 7 minute hat-trick vs Goiás, Brasileirão 2010
On 21 November Brazilian side Goiás faced a must win game against Santos in the 36th round of the Brasileirão 2010, without a win they were certain to be relegated. After 11 minutes things were looking good for the home team, they had established a 1-0 lead and looked like extending Santos' run of 6 games without a win.
Danilo equalised for Santos after 19 minutes but Goiás still had a chance of saving themselves until the referee awarded Santos a penalty. Brazil's latest wonder kid 18 year old Neymar scored it on 75 minutes and by the 82nd minute he had completed his hat-trick to make the score 1-4 and Goias were relegated to Serie B.
Golazo: Mauro Zárate vs Belgrano 2007
In 2007 Vélez Sársfield striker Mauro Zárate was a hot prospect. He was the joint top scorer in the Argentine league in Apertura 2006 at the age of 19 and he started 2007 with this magnificent goal in a pre-season 3-0 win against Belgrano, his other goal in the game was also pretty good.
Within 6 months Qatari side Al-Sadd made him an offer he couldn't refuse, enough money to set himand his family up for life to sign for them. He did sign and was soon loaned out to Birmingham FC in England who inexplicably only played him in a few games as they were relegated from the Premier League. He then joined Lazio on loan and eventually signed a permanent deal with the club in 2009.
Pelea: Vélez Sársfield vs Flamengo, Supercopa Sudamericana 1995
In 1995 Argentine club Vélez Sársfield played Brazilian side Flamengo in the last 16 phase of the Supercopa Sudamericana. Brazilian striker Edmundo must have realised that he'd chosen the wrong man to make obscene gestures at and slap in the face as Flavio Zandoná slapped him back and then punched him to the ground sparking off a mass brawl between the two teams. Flamengo won the tie 6-2 on aggregate but were beaten by Independiente in the final.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Golazo: Renato Abreu vs Guaraní, Brasileirão 2010
On 20 November 2010 Guaraní faced a tough trip to Rio de Janeiro to face Flamengo in the 36th round of the Brasileirão 2010 championship. They desperately needed the 3 points in their battle to avoid relegation, however they ended up losing the game 2-1 in which former Guaraní midfielder Renato Abreu scored this magnificent free kick for Flamengo only 2 minutes into the game to add to his collection of brilliant free kick goals for the club.
Partidazo: AC Milan 0-2 Velez Sarsfiled, Copa Intercontinental 1994
In 1994 Argentine club Vélez Sársfield became one of the most unlikely Copa Libertadores champions ever when they beat Brazilian side São Paulo on penalties in the final. They qualified for the competition after winning their first league title since 1968 but under manager Carlos Bianchi they won the South American championship winning three penalty shoot-outs in the knock-out stages.
That win qualified them to play the Copa Intercontinental in Tokyo against the then best team in Europe AC Milan. Reading back through the Milan line-up in that game it is easy to see why they were considered overwhelming favourites against the virtually unknown Vélez side.
The starting team for Milan was Rossi, Tasotti, Maldini, Albertini, Costacurta, Donadoni, Desailly, Boban, Massaro and Savićević with Paulo Di Canio (a man so right wing that he couldn't even get along with Silvio Berlusconi) on the bench and one Fabio Capello as manager.
The Vélez lineup by contrast is full of unfamiliar names, European fans knew little about eccentric Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert as Paraguay hadn't qualified for the 1990 or 1994 World Cups, mainstream coverage of South American football in the UK was even worse than it is now and there was no Youtube.
Vélez Sársfield won the game 2-0, it was not the most thrilling or enthralling game but it was almost certainly the biggest shock in the history of the Intercontinental Cup.
Aftermath
Most football fans should be reasonably familiar with the careers of Fabio Capello, Paulo Maldini, Marcel Desailly, Alessandro Costacurta, Zvonimir Boban and the rest of the star studded AC Milan lineup that day. I am going to take a look at what happened to the Vélez Sársfield squad.
Carlos Bianchi (Manager): Joined Argentine giants Boca Juniors and led them during the most successful period in their history, winning 3 more Copa Libertadores titles to become the most successful manager in the history of the competition. He won 4 league titles with Boca to add to the 3 he won with Vélez, he also led Boca Juniors to 2 further Intercontinental Cup titles, making him the most successful manager in the history of the tournament and the only manager to win it with two different clubs. Remarkably for a man with such an impressive list of achievements he has not worked as a head coach since he left Spanish side Atlético Madrid in 2006.
José Luis Chilavert (Goalkeeper): Was the last of the side to leave Vélez in 2001 and he returned for a final hurrah in 2004. He eventually played in a World Cup when Paraguay qualified for France 1998 and is still the 2nd highest scoring goalkeeper in the history of football.
Roberto Trotta (Defender): Scorer of Vélez Sársfield's penalty in the game. On the back of his success he won three caps for the Argentina national team in 1995 and a move to Italian side Roma in 1996. He didn't settle in Italian football and returned to Argentina. He won two more league titles with River Plate in 1999 and 2000 before seeing out his career with teams in Mexico, Ecuador and Argentina. Since retiring as a player he has worked as a manager in the Argentine 2nd division.
Raúl Cardozo (Defender): Made well over 400 appearances for Vélez in his 13 years at the club. He eventually left in 1999 to join Newell's Old Boys. In 2002 he won his second Copa Libertadores medal as an underdog, this time with Paraguayan side Olimpia.
Héctor Almandoz (Defender): One of the first to leave in 1995 to join Estudiantes de La Plata, spent the rest of his career as an international journeyman footballer, playing for 16 teams in 8 different countries during the course of his career. Retired in 2007.
Víctor Sotomayor (Defender): Remained with Vélez until 1999 when he joined Talleres de Córdoba. He was part of the Talleres team that won the Copa CONMEBOL in 1999 to become the first team from outside the 3 powerbases of Argentine club football (Buenos Aires, La Plata and Rosario) ever to win anything major. Retired 2002.
Marcelo Gómez (Midfielder): Left Vélez in 1997 to play for River Plate. He also tried his luck in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal in 2001 and ended his career playing in Costa Rica in 2004.
Christian Bassedas (Midfielder): Won 22 caps with the Argentina national team between 1995 and 1999. He is probably the best known of the Vélez starting line-up in the UK having left Vélez to join Newcastle United in 2000. He retired in 2003.
Roberto Pompei (Midfielder): Left in 1995 to join Racing Club, also had spells with Boca Juniors, Estudiantes, Chacarita Juniors, Huracán and Real Oviedo of Spain. He was the last of the team to retire in 2008 after which he became the youth coach at Boca Juniors, he is currently in his second stint as interim first team Boca Juniors manager after the resignation of Claudio Borghi.
José Basualdo (Midfielder): The most famous and most capped Argentine player out of this team with 35 appearances for his country including games at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Left in 1996 to join Bianchi at Boca Juniors where he won another Copa Libertadores and Intercontinetal Cup in 2000. He also played for Extremadura and Real Jaen in Spain as well as several other clubs in Argentina. Returned to Vélez in 2001, retired in 2003.
Omar Asad (Striker): The man of the match and scorer of the 2nd goal. Played his entire career for Vélez between 1992 and 2000. Took up coaching after retirement and worked as a youth coach with Vélez until 2009 when he was given the opportunity to manage Godoy Cruz. Has just led them to their first ever qualification to the Copa Libertadores in 2011.
José Flores (Striker): A very popular player, left Vélez in 1996 to play in Spain. After 2 seasons with Las Palmas he joined Deportivo La Coruña where he was part of the team that won their first ever Spanish league title in 1999-00. He also played for Valladolid, Mallorca and Murcia before returning to Argentina. His last major club was Independiente in 2004-05, he saw out his career in the Argentine 2nd division with Aldosivi and had a disastrous spell on Norway with Lynn Oslo in 2007. He is currently assistant manager back at Velez.
Substitutes: Sandro Guzman was the goalkeeper that was sent off from the bench joined Bianchi at Boca in 1996 before disappearing into obscurity. Flavio Zandonda remained with the club until his retirement in 2000. Chilean striker José Sanchez was the only foreigner in the team other than Chilavert, he left in 1997 and continued his career in Chile, Spain and Italy, retired in 2002. Marcelo Herrera left in 1997, played in the MLS for Miami Fusion as well as a number of lesser Argentine team, has worked as a manager in Costa Rica and Bolivia since his retirement in 2001. Mauricio Pellegrino left in 1998 to join Barcelona and was part of the Valencia team that won the Spanish league in 2001-02 and 2003-04. Played for Liverpool under Rafa Benitez then became his assistant at Anfield. Currently works as Rafa's assistant at Inter Milan.
For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.
Lujos: Rúben Botta vs Estudiantes, Apertura 2010
On 13 November 2010 Tigre hosted league leaders Estudientes de La Plata in the 14th round of Apertura 2010. As the game was going into the last few minutes of the 2nd half the home team were down to 10 players after the dismissal of Román Martínez but 2-1 ahead.
Instead of running the ball into the corner flag to kill time they were intent on playing attacking football to the end, an approach epitomised by this play from 20 year old substitute Rubén Botta.
Partidazo: Liga de Quito 7-0 Emelec, Ecuadorian championship final 1998
In 1998 the team to watch in Ecuador were Liga Deportivo Universitario de Quito, (LDU Quito). They had played exhilirating attacking football, their young striker Iván Kaviedes hit an astonishing 43 goals that season and legendary Ecuadorian striker Eduardo Hurtado returned at the back end of the season on loan from LA Galaxy.
LDU faced Emelec in the 2nd leg of the 1998 Ecuadorian championship final on December 27 and had a 1-0 defecit to overcome. The star of game was an unlikely one, defender Ulises de La Cruz hit the first and only hat-trick of his career in an incredible 7-0 win. The other goals were scored by Eduardo Hurtado (2) Pavel Caicedo and club legend Néicer Reasco.
For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.
Luiz Felipe Scolari hit by radio thrown from crowd
Luiz Felipe Scolari would have been well chuffed with his side Palmeiras' 0-1 away win against Goiás in the semi-finals of the 2010 Copa Sudamericana thanks to this brilliant strike from Marcos Assunção. He seemed less chuffed to be hit by a portable radio thrown from the Goiás fans given his reaction.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Goalkeeper misjudgement, Sinop vs Operario, Copa Matogrosso
You have to feel a bit sorry for the Sinop goalkeeper in this clip, it was raining heavily, the pitch was covered in standing water and the floodlights didn't seem to be working properly, however it is still hard to fathom how he misjudged the flight of the ball so badly in this game against Opérario in the Copa Mato Grosso which finished 2-1 to Sinop.
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For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Golazo: Marcos Assunção, Goiás vs Palmeiras, Copa Sudmaericana 2010
On 17 November 2010 two Brazilian sides, Goiás and Palmeiras met in the first leg of the of the Copa Sudamericana 2010 semi-finals. There was only one goal in the game but it was a scorcher, at the start of the 2nd half Goiás allowed Marcos Assunção far too much time and space so he unleashed a blistering shot to give Luiz Felipe Scolari's team a vital 1-0 advantage going into the 2nd leg.
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