Robin van Persie: Netherlands vs Spain
Flying Dutchman Van Persie stunned the Spanish with his brilliant equalising goal in his team’s 5-1 group stage win. When Daley Blind picked his teammate out with a pinpoint cross-field pass, Van Persie was all alone on the edge of the area. There was no way he could power his header home so, spotting Iker Casillas was marginally off his line, the Manchester United man leapt athletically and looped the ball over the keeper and into the net, before crashing into the turf in spectacular style.
Tim Cahill: Australia vs Netherlands
Australia may have gone home early after suffering three defeats, but at least they have one perfect moment to look back on thanks to Cahill’s superb volley. The New York Red Bulls forward watched a long cross from the right all the way on to his toe to execute an immaculate strike — and it even went in off the underside of the crossbar for added effect.
Lionel Messi: Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
A typical moment of Messi magic amidst an otherwise subdued performance lit up Argentina’s opening win over Bosnia. The pint-sized attacker produced a Diego Maradona-esque goal as he dribbled the ball from just inside the opposition half, played a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain and drove a shot off the inside of the post.
Lionel Messi: Argentina vs Iran
When Argentina are having an ordinary day, they are lucky enough to know they can always fall back on Messi’s supreme talents. The Albiceleste were unable to break down Iran’s solid defence and were almost caught out on the counter-attack during their Group F encounter but, as the game ticked into injury time, Messi cut in on his famed left foot and unleashed a curling effort from 20 yards that snuck inside the far post to break Iran’s resistance.
Jermaine Jones: USA vs Portugal
Jones is better known as a destructive midfielder than one who can bang in a beauty from 25 yards, but that’s exactly what he did against Portugal. When a USA corner was only half cleared to him in the inside left channel, Jones shifted the ball on to his right foot and struck a perfect long-range drive that started outside the goal but bent back just inside the far post.
Giovani dos Santos: Mexico vs Netherlands
When the ball dropped to Giovani dos Santos midway inside the Dutch half during Mexico’s round of 16 clash with the Netherlands, there didn’t appear to be much danger. But the little forward seized on the loose ball, showed good strength to hold off Daley Blind and managed to fire off a long-range shot that squeezed between defenders and into the corner of Jasper Cillessen’s goal.
Wesley Sneijder: Netherlands vs Mexico
The Netherlands were just a handful of minutes from elimination in the round of 16 when a right-wing corner was redirected by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar towards the edge of the area. The ball bounced awkwardly as Sneijder ran on to it, but he met it perfectly on the volley with his right foot and his unstoppable shot rifled into the bottom corner despite the mass of Mexico defenders between him and the goal.
James Rodriguez: Colombia vs Uruguay (first goal)
Rodriguez’s first goal against Colombia was a thing of beauty, worthy of winning a World Cup final, never mind a round of 16 match. As Abel Aguilar’s header dropped to the Monaco maestro with his back to goal 25 yards out, he looked over his shoulder and realised Uruguay defender Diego Godin had dropped too deep. The 22-year-old swivelled as he cushioned the ball on his chest, before instinctively hitting a powerful volley that keeper Fernando Muslera could only fingertip on to the underside of the bar and in.
David Luiz: Brazil vs Colombia
Luiz’s unusual side-foot free-kick technique produced a spectacular result in his side’s quarter-final win over Colombia. The frizzy-haired defender was more than 30 yards from goal when he struck the dead ball, but he got superb contact and, as well as power, the ball dipped dramatically just before the goal and sneaked in under the crossbar.
Andre Schuerrle: Germany vs Brazil
Schuerrle rounded off Germany's semi-final humiliation of Brazil with a wonderful strike. After a quick throw-in released Thomas Mueller down the left wing, Schuerrle ghosted past David Luiz, controlled an awakward high ball and, from the narrowest of angles, rifled an unstoppable shot past Julio Cesar and into the top of the net.
Brazil fans look away now, because here are all the goals in the 7-1 mauling:
