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Top 10 most iconic passes that changed football matches

The Champions League final from 1999 also features high on this list of great passes

Perhaps the most important aspect of football is the simple pass. Just ask Paul Scholes, as he so duly proved to Cristiano Ronaldo in a training session for Manchester United. As legend has it, Scholes called Ronaldo over after watching him do a bunch of step overs, and showed him a tree 50m away and hit it with deadly accuracy.

Ronaldo tried his best to do the same but could not. Scholes or Sat-Nav as he would be nick-named was spot on there. How important is that killer pass? Whether from open play or a free kick or a corner, some passes have made legends of the goal scorers and have turned games and ties on their head. 

Here is a look at some iconic passes that changed games and made history. Kindly note the videos start exactly at the pass. 

#10 The pass – Dennis Bergkamp to Patrick Vieira  

The game – 2004, Arsenal vs Leicester City

The story – Arsenal needed to avoid defeat in their last game of the season, at Highbury, to accomplish a feat no other team had ever done – To finish a season unbeaten in the league. They found themselves 1-0 down to Leicester, courtesy a Paul Dickov goal. Thierry Henry promptly equalised from the penalty spot to draw level, but the final goal that cemented them in the history books was a sublime move.

Dennis Bergkamp took the ball in the opposition half, waited for a Patrick Vieira run and slid an arrow of a pass through the Leicester defence to find his captain. Vieira, casually finished off the move by rounding the keeper and scoring. Brilliant.  

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