The one-club-man and now Sky Sports pundit is one of our favourite Premier League footballers, we look back at some of the moments that elevated Matt Le Tissier into 'Le God' like status.
The man from Guernsey is 46 today and he has had a remarkable career as a footballer with his beloved Southampton, the only club he ever played for at the top level. Christened 'Le God' by the Saints faithful, it wasn't hard to see why because his loyalty coupled with a knack for scoring breathtaking goals made him a legend at Southampton.
He seemed to be a regular winner of Goal of the Month/Season competitions and with goals like this one against Blackburn, it's easy to see why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-bxrIoxg-w
Or how about this glorious effort against Newcastle showing skill, inventiveness, instinct and utter composure.
http://youtu.be/9M--5rbdCBk
This free-kick against Wimbledon is the kind of stuff you might try in a kick-about with your mates. It''s technique, poise and execution at it's very best:
http://youtu.be/DuIX5iB16GI
He's been the bane of Manchester United keepers too but for very different reasons. This stunning chip was against probably the best ever goalkeeper United have ever had, the Danish man mountain that is Peter Schmeichel:
http://youtu.be/VY1IF3zImlY
At the other end of the Manchester United goalkeeping spectrum was the Italian Massimo Taibi who will always be remembered for this blunder when trying to save a Matt Le Tissier shot:
http://youtu.be/dMpjRfOmTjM
He never really made the break through at international level and only managed to win eight caps during his 16 year career at Southampton. Prior to the World Cup in 1998, Le Tissier was selected for England B in a friendly with Russia. He went on to score a brilliant hat-trick in a 4-1 win, but despite this, he was sensationally overlooked by Glenn Hoddle when the final squad for France was announced:
http://youtu.be/JAjGyTHLgK4
Widely regarded as one of the best penalty takers of all time, he had a record of 48 goals from 49 penalties. His only miss? This one against Mark Crossley of Nottingham Forest, a rare collector's item:
He is now a regular fixture for on the Soccer Saturday panel with Jeff Stelling on Sky Sports and despite his role, he never hid his love for old club Southampton. This is a classic clip of him reacting to a goal they've scored against bitter south coast rivals Portsmsouth:
http://youtu.be/fFXQFJuruS8
As well as being an affable man and a very brilliant footballer, he also destroyed the myth that all footballers are not very bright by solving the numbers game on Countdown when nobody else could, including Rachel Reilly:
http://youtu.be/rteww8eyplQ
Matt Le Tissier is an all-round legend in our books and he will above all be remembered for scoring sensational goals. Just like these:
http://youtu.be/XAjgL0YIXUg
