In what was to be a routine match against Malawi, the Elephants left their biggest names on the bench and found themselves down 1-0 in the 63rd minute. Enter Didier Drogba. Two minutes on the pitch and the Ivorian superstar equalized, sending his homeland into the finals for the second suc ...

Strikers are judged on goals. But on Sunday, Drogba demonstrated the importance of every area of a centre forward’s game. His electric pace and storming power laid on the two goals that gave his team all three points and left them standing at the top of the league.

Didn’t take him long. After just four games in the white of Madrid, Cristiano has stamped his name in the club’s record books. Last night he became the first player ever to score in all of his first four games for the club. Who knows what he’ll do in the next 34.

Great players can Make the Difference almost immediately. Within two minutes on Saturday, Ibrahimovic pulled off an audacious flick with the outside of his boot to spark a 5-2 rout of Atletico Madrid. Zlatan doesn’t do tap-ins.

When all eyes are on you, what do you do? If you’re Cristiano Ronaldo, you do what you’ve always done. Just 27 minutes into his European debut, he fired in a trademark free kick. Then added another in the second half. Same again next time?