Franz Beckenbauer and the best 11 non-Everton players to score at Goodison Park
Chris Beesley picks the best 11 non-Everton players to score a goal at Goodison Park
As football marks the sad passing of one of the game’s true giants this week, it’s fair to say that Franz Beckenbauer would walk into any list of the bext 11 non-Everton players to score at Goodison Park.
‘Der Kaiser’ who died on Sunday aged 78, netted on his only appearance at the first purpose-built ground in English football when, after Helmut Haller’s 43rd-minute opener, he doubled West Germany’s lead against the Soviet Union on 67 minutes before Valeriy Porkuyan’s 88th-minute consolation in the World Cup semi-final on July 25, 1966. In terms of what was at stake, it was the biggest game in Goodison’s history but despite the prestige of the occasion, the fixture attracted the venue’s lowest crowd of the tournament with angry fans staying away because of a switch a mere 48 hours earlier to move England’s last-four encounter with Portugal to Wembley.
Beckenbauer was no stranger to big occasions though, as along with Brazil’s Mario Zagallo (who took to the field twice in 1958 and 1962) and France’s Didier Deschamps, he is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach. Credited with inventing the modern libero role in the way he would push forwards out of defence to carry the ball upfield and instigate attacks from deep, the Munich native also lifted the fourth of his Bundesliga titles and the first of three successive European Cups in 1974 with his home city club Bayern.
Here is this correspondent’s personal list then of the best 11 non-Everton players to score at Goodison Park with the disclaimer before we start that nobody representing Liverpool is being considered so for the purposes of this exercise, the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard are all omitted – if indeed they would have even made the cut – because their potential inclusion would only open up an entirely different can of worms.
Are there any other notable absences though who would make your list? Let us know in the comments section below.
There aren't many images floating around of Franz Beckenbauer's solitary appearance at Goodison Park, let alone his goal but here he is watching on with Wolfgang Weber over his shoulder as their West Germany goalkeeper Hans Tilowski clutches the ball in front of the Soviet Union's Eduard Malofeyev with a few empty seats clearly visible in the upper tier of the ground's former Main Stand
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Pele, considered by many to be the world's greatest-ever player, ended up being hacked out of the 1966 World Cup at Goodison Park by Portugal's hatchet men as Brazil, winners of the previous two tournaments, headed for an early exit, but he opened his account at the ground with a low-struck free-kick in front of the Gwladys Street against Bulgaria in the game shown here
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Garrincha, Brazil's tricky winger who was considered one of the greatest dribblers in football history and played in both their 1958 and 1962 triumphs, then doubled his side's lead against Bulgaria with this free-kick which was caught on camera as his short curls around the defensive wall and beats goalkeeper Georgi Naydenov
(Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)3 of 11![Eusebio of Portugal, who plundered six of his nine goals at Goodison Park to finish top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, is shown here outjumping Orlando of Brazil to head past goalkeeper Manga and the prolific marksman hailed Everton's home ground as "the best stadium in my playing life" when he returned there for former club Benfica's Europa League match in 2009]()
Eusebio of Portugal, who plundered six of his nine goals at Goodison Park to finish top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, is shown here outjumping Orlando of Brazil to head past goalkeeper Manga and the prolific marksman hailed Everton's home ground as "the best stadium in my playing life" when he returned there for former club Benfica's Europa League match in 2009
(Image: Keystone/Getty Images)4 of 11![Moving back to Brazil, here's Tostao who was one of Pele's attacking foils in their 1970 World Cup triumph, netting an equaliser against Hungary on July 15, 1966 as team-mates Alcindo and Jairzinho look on but this would not be the prolific forward's day as his side would lose 3-1]()
Moving back to Brazil, here's Tostao who was one of Pele's attacking foils in their 1970 World Cup triumph, netting an equaliser against Hungary on July 15, 1966 as team-mates Alcindo and Jairzinho look on but this would not be the prolific forward's day as his side would lose 3-1
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