In the world of football, plenty of drama, excitement and intrigue happened in 2012. However, I have captured a few newsworthy events that stood out the most this year.
SACKED
Harry Redknapp (Tottenham Hotspur)
Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea)
Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea)
HIRED
Rafael Benitez (Chelsea)
Harry Redknapp (Queens Park Rangers)
Andre Villas-Boas (Tottenham Hotspur)
Gordon Igesund (South Africa)
TRAGEDIES
1 February 2012, in Port Said, Egypt; Al-Ahly and Al-Masry fans hit each other with rocks and chairs (±74 died)
Threats of racial violence, were a part of Euro2012
Rio Ferdinand struck by a coin
TITLES
Africa Cup of Nations - Zambia
English Premier League - Manchester City
La Liga – Real Madrid
SERIE A - Juventus
Bundesliga –Borussia Dortmund
French Ligue 1 - Montpellier
FA Cup - Chelsea
UEFA Champions League- Chelsea
UEFA Europa League – Atletico Madrid
Euro2012 – Spain
FIFA Club World Cup – Corinthians
EMBARRASSMENTS
Luis Suarez dive
Chelsea out of UEFA Champions league group stages
Chelsea losing FIFA Club World Cup
DISCUSSIONS
Goal line technology
(used for the first time during FIFA Club World Cup)
South African Football Association President, Kirsten Nematandani suspended
Match fixing (Italy, Zimbabwe)
Racism in Europe
(John Terry, Mark Clattenburg)
ACCOLADES
Lionel Messi won his third consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or award
Ryan Giggs' 900 appearances for Manchester United
Fernando Torres won Euro2012 Golden Boot Award
Sir Alex Ferguson statue at Old Trafford
Mexico won Olympics gold medal
Lionel Messi scored 91 goals
OTHER
Moment of silence for any footballer, manager, official, team staff and journalist who passed
Joey Barton 12 match ban
Zlatan Ibrahimovic goals (Sweden vs England) & (Sweden vs France)
Robin Van Persie to Manchester United
Pep Guardiola left Barcelona
FIFA Ballon d’Or finalists: Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo
Johannesburg stadium known as Soccer City (2010 Soccer World Cup), FNB Stadium (2012) and National Stadium (Africa Cup of Nations)
If I missed anything important, I apologise. We all know there’s always something new each day with football.
Looking forward to the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa and Confederations Cup in Brazil.
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.
In the New Year may all your dreams turn into reality and all your efforts into great achievements.
PS. I hope Manchester United wins the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League.
