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Top Five Goals That Never Were Ft. Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, and... Peter Schmeichel!?

Top Five Goals That Never Were Ft. Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, and... Peter Schmeichel!?

Rivaldo and Frank Lampard make up the rest of the unlikely list...

Max Miller

Max Miller

Everyone remembers the best goals that they've seen, but what about those that didn't quite count?

Lionel Messi v Getafe, Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League final, Tony Yeboah v Wimbledon... all amazing feats of footballing skill that have been remembered for decades in some cases.

However, there are times when the amazing so nearly happens, but just doesn't quite make it. An offside call, a dodgy goal line decision pre-technology, the smallest margins can change history.

Some of football's greatest players have suffered from this, as well as some names that might surprise you. Take a look below at the five top moments that were so close to being incredible goals...

Edinson Cavani - Napoli v Barcelona, 2011

An unbelievable hit from Cavani could have put Napoli 1-0 up in the pre-season Joan Gamper Trophy in 2011. Marek Hamsik's cushioned header set the Uruguayan up perfectly for the overhead kick, which he put away with aplomb.

However, sadly the offside flag was up... and to rub it in Barcelona went on to win 5-0 against the Serie A side thanks in part to a 15 minute Lionel Messi hat trick in the second half.

Rivaldo - Barcelona v Deportivo De La Coruna, 2002

This goal did end up counting thanks to a Javier Saviola tap in, but had the original effort gone in people would definitely be talking about it a lot more.

In an impressive season that included 36 goals, Rivaldo could have had one more. Against defending La Liga champions Deportivo, the Brazilian put Dennis Bergkamp's famous effort to shame with two unbelievable touches before he went ahingly close to lobbing the stranded goalkeeper.

Luckily Saviola was on hand to finish it off, but you could see on Rivaldo's face just how disappointed he was not to have scored.

Frank Lampard - Germany v England, 2010

To this day can anyone believe that this didn't count!?

2-1 down to Germany in the World Cup last-16 in 2010, England suddenly found their form. For a glorious ten minutes the Three Lions had their opposition on the run, and it was capped by an audacious lob from Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.

However, the officials didn't seem to be watching the same game as everyone else, and England went on to crash out of the competition after a schooling from the more dynamic Germans in the second half.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Spain v Portugal, 2010

Now here's one that people may remember, simply due to Ronaldo's impetuous reaction to Nani's completely unnecessary effort to snatch his goal.

After Ronaldo had done all the hard work with a mazy dribble and lovely finish, his teammate attempted to steal in and get the goal for himself... only to be told that he was offside.

Ronaldo was so angry in the aftermath that Nani ended up having to publicly apologise - despite it having no effect on the result, with Portugal ending up easy 4-0 winners over the then reigning world champions.

Peter Schmeichel - Wimbledon v Manchester United, 1997

Manchester United were 1-0 down in the dying minutes of their FA Cup fourth round replay against Wimbledon in 1997 when Schmeichel decided to go up for a corner.

With 60 seconds to go, the Old Trafford icon performed an inspired overhead kick after Gary Pallister's looping header, just for it to be disallowed for offside.

"I'm very, very disappointed, but the linesman was right. I was offside," he told FourFourTwo in 2003. "And yes, it would have been the greatest goalkeeping goal ever!"

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Topics: Frank Lampard, Football News, Football, Manchester United, Rivaldo, Barcelona, Peter Schmeichel, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo