What In The Football Happened In 2012?

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.

Supporter Delinquency

 Before any match starts, the referee does a coin toss and the team captain who wins the toss gets to choose his side of play. The team that loses the toss gets to start the match via the kickoff. The second half is then started by the team that won the toss.

That is the only time a coin is/should be used on the field.

The Manchester Derby can be described as two football clubs competing to see which one of the clubs is the better club. These comparisons range from who won the most derbies, to who won the most titles, but that doesn’t bother me because we all know Manchester United, instead of better, is the most successful club. The derbies are hostile, well, Manchester City are the hostile ones. It's supposed to be a fight with feet and a ball, but some just take to a disappointing level.

Craig Bellamy - Manchester Derby Carling Cup

During the Carling Cup Manchester Derby January 2010, Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy was struck by a coin as he was preparing to take a corner. I'd say he was lucky because the coin was not the only thing thrown at him. I don't know how the beer bottles managed to miss him. These items were thrown from a section at Old Trafford where Manchester United supporters were seated. However, it's either the people who threw the bottles cannot aim properly, or Bellamy can ward off bottles but attract coins instead. Anyway, the coin seemed to have hit him on his head, but Bellamy is a tough fellow, I doubt any damage was done by that coin.

After picking up a bottle, a brave Edwin Van der Sar asked the Manchester United supporters to calm down and restrain themselves.

Rio Ferdinand - Manchester Derby English Premier League

December 2012 during the English Premier League Manchester Derby, Rio Ferdinand was struck by a coin as he celebrated Robin Van Persie's late winner. It appeared that Ferdinand was ready to kiss the Manchester United badge on his jersey when the coin hit him above his left brow. Sadly though, it was upsetting to see blood streaming down Ferdinand's face that day, it makes football seem so violent at times. Other than that, Ferdinand could’ve lost his sight had the perpetrator been accurate in his throw.

Strangely enough, this is what Ferdinand tweeted:

"What a result, 3points! Sweet! Whoever threw that coin, what a shot! Can't believe it was a copper 2p....could have at least been a £1 coin!"

According to Ferdinand, Manchester City goal keeper Joe Hart protected a fan that had run onto the field during the incident.

For interest sake, read this, trust me, it is worth it. It's about former Manchester United midfielder Paddy Crerand on the Manchester Derby incident on Ferdinand: Former Manchester United player Paddy Crerand in radio outburst over Rio Ferdinand coin incident

On a lighter note, maybe Bellamy and Ferdinand should've pulled a Jamie Carragher and hurled the coins back into the crowd where they came from.

Unlike in Europe, South African supporters choose to charge onto the field of play and challenge everyone. It’s like disappointment in their club consumes them and want to sort things out with their fists. Similar to Europe, the football club whose supporters started the brawl get charged by the football association.

Coins were also thrown at these footballers (and more):

Jamie Carragher - FA Cup vs Arsenal

Eric Abidal - Copa Del Rey vs Athletic Bilbao

Ryan Giggs - EPL vs Chelsea

Javier Garrido - Manchester Derby

This recent strike on Ferdinand has raised a lot of concern on the safety of the footballers targeted by upset supporters.

On a more serious note, the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Gordon Taylor said, football authorities should consider introducing protective netting at football grounds. This came after Rio Ferdinand was hit with a coin during the most recent Manchester Derby. This protective netting is commonly seen in most European leagues such as the German Bundesliga. It is a good safety measure since the chances of a supporter striking a footballer with a coin are slim; unless they have been trained in the arts of throwing-a-coin-through-protective-netting-to-hit-a-specific-footballer.

I say let’s try the protective netting; we have nothing to lose but something to gain. This is about safety and keeping football violence free. Besides, you can hardly see the netting in the stadiums that already have it.

PS. I am so sorry that this post took a while.

FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 Shortlist

According to Goal.com, the 3 Ballon d'Or finalists will be announced on the 29th of November 2012. Nonetheless, what's the point of having a 23 man shortlist if only 3 make the final list. Some of these footballers know for a fact that they will not be one of the 3 finalists, and that's just sad. Nevertheless, I bet everyone has an idea of what the final list will look like.

In alphabetical order, here's the 23-man shortlist:

Andrea Pirlo

Andrés Iniesta

Cristiano Ronaldo

 Didier Drogba

Gerard Piqué

Gianluigi Buffon

Iker Casillas

Karim Benzema

Lionel Messi

Manuel Neuer

Mario Balotelli

Mesut Özil

Neymar 

Radamel Falcao

Robin van Persie

Sergio Agüero

Sergio Busquets

Sergio Ramos

Wayne Rooney

Xabi Alonso

Xavi Hernández

 Yaya Touré

Zlatan Ibrahimović

I can't help but wonder:

§      Have the 3 finalists of the prestigious award become a cliché?

§      Will we see the same finalists as last year?

§      Will the third finalist be different this time around?

I hope this year will be different because, besides the usual 2 finalists, a few other footballers are making their mark in the world.

According to me, only 8 footballers from this list are worthy of such an honour:

Andrés Iniesta

Iniesta has been a extraordinary in midfield, for both Barcelona and Spain. Iniesta played his part to win Euro 2012 with Spain, and was voted best player of Euro 2012. He shows the same skills for Barcelona as an attacking midfielder, getting himself in front of goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo

As skipper of Portugal, CR7 lead his team from the front, scoring a brace twice for Portugal during Euro 2012, and taking his team to the semi-finals. At Real Madrid, he scored 46 goals and played a major role in helping Real Madrid lift the La Liga title and aid them in their race for the Champions League title which ended in the semi-finals.

Iker Casillas

For the past 10 years, Casillas has been at the top of Spanish football. He has been an exceptional leader, as captain of both Real Madrid and Spain. With him in front of goal, Madrid won La Liga and Spain won Euro 2012.

Lionel Messi

Barcelona only won Copa del Rey this year, however Messi has been scoring goals and breaking records at the same time. He has won Ballon d'Or three times. He's good for Argentina, but not as impressive as he has been for Barcelona. Messi has played an important role in helping Argentina in the South American FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Radamel Falcao

With a nickname like El Tigre, Falcao has proved his worth as a forward for both Athletico Madrid and Colombia. Lately, he's been the only footballer put in the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Falcao has been scoring goals a lot like Ferenc Puskás of Hungary. He's also grabbed the attention of big European clubs who want to sign him during the next transfer window.

Xabi Alonso

Xabi has played a vital role in the success of both Real Madrid and Spain, at midfield. Madrid won La Liga and Spain won Euro 2012. Alonso determines the pace of the game. His outstanding performance was when Spain played against France in the Euro 2012 quarter-final, he scored twice, and it was his 100th cap.

Xavi Hernandez

Xavi has played the most league matches for Barcelona, and won the most titles too. This midfielder has been part of the game for a long time, however, he still has the ability to make Barcelona and Spain win major titles.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic ended the 2011/12 season as the top goal scorer of Serie A. He scored 28 goals for AC Milan, before leaving for the French League as a Paris Saint-Germain player. Ibrahimovic was also a key player for Sweden during Euro 2012, with quite a remarkable volley he scored against France. He has been the name on people's lips, a goal scoring machine for both PSG and Sweden.

These statistics and facts sound amazing but after reading this article, Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta or Casillas - The Clasico that decides the 2012 Fifa Ballon d'Or winner, I get the feeling the winner of Ballon d'Or will come from La Liga. I just don't get it. What about all the other leagues; Barclays Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, French League etc?