The Most Memorable Football Counter Attacks in History
No this isn't World War II's Operation Bagration, this is the best and most memorable football counter attacks in history.
6. Fernando Torres – Chelsea (2012)
This was truly remarkable. Fernando Torres was Chelsea's £50 million mistake, one of the worst transfers in football history. Chelsea hoofed the ball downfield to an unmarked Torres who was played onside by the fact he hadn't crossed the halfway mark at the time of the pass. He rounded Victor Valdes with the poise of an expensive striker to redeem himself.
The context to the goal is what makes this fascinating. Chelsea were down 2-0 on the night against the best team of the generation. John Terry was given a straight red card for an ugly tackle andthey had already lost Gary Cahill to an injury. The makeshift centre-back duo of Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa had to defend against one of the best attacks in football history.
Somehow, Chelsea scored a goal before halftime against the run of play and was sensationally leading the tie on the away goal rule. After parking the bus and miraculously keeping Barcelona at bay, Torres ended what was looking like another heartbreaking last minute Iniesta moment, finishing off a devastating and unlikely counter attack. Chelsea then went on to win the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.
This one was special as I remember watching it live. My stomach was churning as I truly thought Barcelona would score a heartbreaking last moment goal like in 2009. Unreal that Torres out of all people flipped the script.
5. Nacer Chadli - Belgium (2018)
Belgium were down 2-0 in the biggest tournament in football, the World Cup in 2018. One of the tournament favourites, Belgian was staring at defeat in the Round of 16 clash. Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini however scored two goals in five minutes to tie the game in the 74th minute.
In the 94th minute, Japan had a corner and was looking for the winner. From the cross, Thibaut Courtois grabbed the ball in flight and threw the ball straight to Kevin De Bruyne with what was to be the last passage of play until extra time. De Bruyne ran with the ball at speed, distributed the ball to Thomas Meunier who slid the ball into the box, Romelu Lukaku completing an epic dummy and Nacer Chadli finishing cleanly to end the game almost immediately.
The devastating counter attack took 12 seconds from Courtois catching it to Chadli scoring, finishing off one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history.
Check it out here.
4. Andrei Arshavin – Arsenal (2009)
This is stunning and is from my personal favourite Premier League game of all-time. Russian Andrei Arshavin was from a different planet on the day and played one of the best individual performances of all-time.
Arshavin single-handedly earned his team a draw, scoring all four goals for Arsenal in a 4-4 draw which ruined Liverpool's title chances. His tally included two goals in three minutes but it was his last goal in stoppage time on a devastating counter-attack which was most satisfying.
From a Liverpool corner, Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianksi punched the ball clear with Theo Walcott latching onto the ball and charging forward on the counter-attack. It had to be Arshavin who was the only Arsenal player surging ahead and was played into open space by Walcott before smashing the ball past a helpless Pepe Reina.
Arsenal went ahead with what was looking like the most unlikeliest of wins, before Liverpool equalised in the dying stages of the game.
...OK tribe, I'll be back tomorrow with the final part of the best and most memorable counter attacks in football history. Can you think what they may be?
YES, ANOTHER FOOTBALL BLOG...
Football Blog FC is a spin-off of Wolfgang Sport, an American and British sports blog I created in 2017. The beautiful game isn't what I remember it to be as a kid and using satire is my way of coping with it. FBFC was created to write about football with a bit of fun reflecting the current state of football.
Oh man did I enjoy number four!!! I remember that game so well and it really brings me back, Arshavin was unreal when he was on song, and boy was he on song that day, some serious finishes there from the little man, and yes the fourth was the pick of the bunch and the sheer speed they broke at with Walcott and Arshavin was devastating!! I also loved the look to two Pool fans give each other at 2:30... Gold.
El fútbol es el deporte rey. Cuántos hechos memorables.
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That one form Torres in 2012 was really a massive one, a full stop goal actually!
I love these football blogs! This really motivates me to write myself about football, thank you for that! :)
I think I know what number one will be (keyword: Deeeeney!) But I am very curious to see what the top three will be :)
Hi @wolfgangsport!! I hope you're doing great. Out of the three counter attacks listed in this post I would go for the one "el Niño" executed with Chelsea against Barcelona as with it, they went on to get their first UEFA Champions League facing Bayern München. I remeber Drogba running around the pitch with the trophy as if it were a steering wheel! Good memories! Thanks for bringing them back!
Seeing this post is like deja Vu. Man I vividly remember Torres' strike that night, all the way from the centre circle and boy was I pained (well, I support Man Utd, so what do you expect ☺️). The noise, the euphoria, the sheer joy on the Chelsea supporters' face almost made me choke, but that night was the stuff of champions. 10 plyers on the pitch willing to sweat and bleed for the sake of the jersey and that's always a beauty.
Needless I talk about arshavin against Liverpool. One of the biggest announcement the English game had ever seen. Scoring four against a prime Liverpool of that time was always going to be a memorable feat. To me that's one of the most crazy and scintillating games of this century.
These events is why we love this beautiful game!
I was so mad with that Torres goal cos I didn't want Chelsea to win and given that they had gone one mad down, I was hoping Barca would finish the job, but that's one thing about Chelsea, you never say never.
Arshavin was from on a diifdrent planet. I wish he played with a better set of Arsenal players and not during that transitioning period. He'd have been an Arsenal great. That match hurt too cos we allowed the lead slip in the last minute.