It was a great year for soccer, in the United States and abroad. Here are a few of the leading story lines:
— Lionel Messi: The FC Barcelona and Argentina star proved his worth on the world’s stage, dominating Europe and the Spanish La Liga. Barcelona is regarded as the top club side in world soccer, and Messi led Barca to the La Liga title with a staggering 47 goals. His 17 goals in the first 16 games of this season have them in first place again.
The FIFA World Player of the Year at 22, Messi made the UEFA Champions League his personal playground — his four goals in Barca’s 4-1 rout of Arsenal might have been the great individual performance of the year. Messi did not score in the World Cup, but was the catalyst and playmaker for Argentina’s run to the quarterfinals.
— ‘The Special One:’ The self-proclaimed nickname for Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho, he once again put his money where his mouth is. Regarded as the great manager in world football because of his creative tactics and brash personality, Mourinho had led FC Porto (Portugal) and Chelsea FC (England) to great heights before taking over Inter Milan of Italy. After assembling a squad that included playmaker Wesley Sneijder (Holland), defenders Maicon, Lucio and goalkeeper Julio Cesar (Brazil), and strikers Samuel E’to (Cameroon) and Diego Milito (Argentina), Mourinho orchestrated one of the great upset victories in UEFA Champions League history by defeating FC Barcelona en route to the title.
Inter’s Cinderella run included victories over the champions of the top leagues in Europe- England (Chelsea), Spain (Barcelona), and Germany (Bayern Munich).
Mourinho capped Inter’s run of a European title victory over Bayern Munich and second consecutive Serie A Italian League title by skipping town to take the manager’s job at Spanish giant Real Madrid, where he currently has them nipping at the heels of La Liga leader Barcelona.
— Cristiano Ronaldo: the Portuguese star casts a large shadow, and has the goal-scoring pedigree to back it up. His LeBron-like move from Manchester United to Real Madrid for $130 million created huge headlines and crowds, but he put his money where his feet were by scoring 33 goals in 35 matches this past 2009-10 season.
He is off to a hot start this season, with 25 goals in his first 25 games. His rivalry with Messi has evolved into soccer’s version of Magic versus Bird.
— African Cup of Nations: Angola hosted the continental championship tournament for Africa, which was marked by tragedy as the bus containing the Togolese national team was attacked by gunmen and their driver killed.
Despite not qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, Egypt defeated Ghana 1-0 to win the African title for the third consecutive time.
— South Africa hosts the World Cup: Great culture, stadiums and the buzzing of vuvuzela horns will ring in the hearts and minds of the millions of fans who tuned into this past summer’s World Cup.
An opening match 1-1 tie versus Mexico led South Africa into their tournament, and despite not advancing out of the opening stages, created a great foundation for the African teams. Ghana defeated the U.S. in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Both of the finalists from the 2006 World Cup underachived, with defending champ Italy and France falling in the first round. Italy’s aged nucleus looked rundown and really struggled to score goals. France was ravaged by infighting and a lack of unity from players, as well as poor management from coach Raymond Domenech.
Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben had tremendous club seasons in Europe, and carried that form into the World Cup to propel the Netherlands into the finals.
Huge expectations always surround the English national team, and it failed to meet them again. Marred by off-field controversies (captain John Terry’s affair with a teammate’s girlfriend), injuries to key players (captain Rio Ferdinand) and poor performance (Wayne Rooney goes goalless), England was bounced in the round of 16.
Spain was ranked No. 1 and lived up to it, overcoming an opening-round loss to Switzerland to take the title behind David Villa , Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Landon Donovan led the United States into the second round with a late goal to defeat Algeria.
— Qatar? In a shocking decision to soccer fans all over the world, Qatar received the bid to host the 2022 World Cup over the United States. This came amid major controversy, knowing the proven success the United States has in hosting the 1994 World Cup and their great playing venues.
No comments:
Post a Comment