A to Z: Football’s headline makers of 2011
A to Z: Football’s headline makers of 2011
Alex Ferguson
This past 6th of November marked Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25th anniversary since taking charge of Manchester United. While many managers are fads at other clubs (Chelsea, Real Madrid), Manchester United have been fortunate enough to have a single manager lead the club to 12 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two Champions League trophies. For his service and all his accomplishments, the Old Trafford stand has been renamed “Sir Alex Ferguson Stand”. A high point in Ferguson’s career came in May of 2011 when he led the Red Devils to their 19th league title making the Manchester side the most successful team in the history of English football. In October, Ferguson’s men got thrashed 6-1 by “noisy neighbors” Manchester City at Old Trafford—a low point the Scotsman would sooner like to forget. He was left even more red-faced than usual after crashing out of two competitions within a week of one another—first, a defeat in extra time to Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup, and second, a defeat to FC Basel in the Champions League. The defeat to Basel sent Manchester United crashing into the Europa League–the only trophy Sir Alex has never won. While Sir Alex may never forget those painful defeats in the first half of the 2011-2012 season, he can look forward to the possibility of adding new championships to his CV in 2012: a maiden Europa League trophy, a sixth FA Cup and that record 20th league title.
Balotelli
“Why always me?” Indeed, why always Mario? Why is the footballing world so enthralled with him? The Italian youngster had worn out his welcome at Inter Milan and was considered a gamble by many when Mancini brought him into the new-look Manchester City squad in 2010. Although his talents on the pitch have quieted many a doubter, there are still some who believe that his volatile nature will sooner or later lead to major trouble in the dressing room. Some of the youngster’s antics include throwing darts at youth team players, attempting a back-heel in a friendly against the LA Galaxy, nearly burning his home down when lighting fireworks in his bathroom and unveiling a T-shirt after scoring saying the now infamous “Why always me“. There was also the training bust up with teammate Micah Richards and rumors of him handing out £20 bills to passers-by dressed up as Santa Claus in Manchester that made headlines in December. Love him or hate him, Super Mario sure has made this year in football a lot more entertaining.
Copa Del Fail
It had been 17 years since the last time Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey. When Los Blancos triumphed 1-0 over the Blaugrana to win the tournament there was cause for a raucous celebration throughout Madrid in which players showed-off their new trophy atop a double decker bus. In an ode to the opening scene of Disney’s “The Lion King”, Sergio “Rafiki” Ramos raised Real Madrid’s 18th Simba, er “The King’s Cup”, only to drop the precious thing in front of the moving bus. Ten sad pieces of silver were recovered.
Dortmund
2011 saw the Borussians win the league and make their Champions League return for the first time in 10 years in what was touted to be a mouth-watering group with Arsenal, Marseilles and Olympiacos in the mix. With an average age of just over 24 years old, Dortmund stunned the German league and world by topping the table after the 10th game of the 2010-2011 season and staying there until the season’s end to finish with a seven-point lead. Although the year also saw the team bid farewell to their talismanic captain Nuri Sahin in the summer and eventually get knocked out in the group stages of the Champions League, there are still many positives to take away for the fans of the Ruhr valley club. They now sit second in the Bundesliga and can enjoy the meteoric rise of the home-grown 19-year-old midfielder Mario Goetze.
El Clasico
For millions, 2011 was the year of the rabbit. For Harold Camping and his followers, 2011 was the year of the rapture. For Madridistas and Culés, 2011 was the year of El Clasicos. With one La Liga match, the Copa Del Rey final, and two legs of the Champions League semifinal on-hand, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola’s teams would meet an astounding four times in 17 days. The last time these clubs saw such a packed schedule, Santiago Bernabeu was a young footballer in his fourth year at Madrid—not a stadium. With all the hype and anticipation surrounding El Clasico even celebrities were enthralled. During a fictional end-of-the-year VIP fan meeting, the ever-objective Spanish media managed to gather quotes from famous Madridistas and Cules, a diverse list which included Rafael Nadal, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber and Captain Hook. When asked how many Clasicos took place in 2011, Captain Hook began to count his fingers and list the matchdays one-by-one. He turned a deep shade of crimson (perhaps, grana) when he got to the second leg of the Supercopa de Espana. “There were a lot,” he growled.
Fenerbahçe
On September 20, 2011, the Turkish club did something that had never been done before in the history of football: it banned men from their grounds during their match against Manisaspor and instead opened their doors to more than 41,000 women and children. The Istanbul side was originally being punished by the Turkish FA by having to play 2 games behind closed doors after fans invaded the pitch during a game with Shakhtar Donetsk. The authorities later softened their stance and decided to let women and children attend. The players were very appreciative of the wonderful atmosphere generated by their fans that day and were eager to show it as the game kicked off with players from both teams throwing flowers at the fans. Fenerbahçe’s captain, Alex de Sousa, said: “This memory will stay with me forever. It’s not always that you see so many women and children in one game.”
Gary Speed
Perhaps nothing shocked the football world this year more than the apparent suicide of Wales national team manager Gary Speed. Touching tributes poured in from his former clubs (Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton, Sheffield United), teammates and anyone who had ever crossed paths with the Welshman. Wales, managed by Gary Speed until his untimely death in November, climbed to 48th place in the rankings with bright performances in the second half of the year, with wins over Montenegro, Switzerland and Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Speed had only taken the job on after their final match of 2010 and under his stewardship they rose from being 116th in the world. Although nobody really knows why Speed took his own life that fateful day, they were sure that they had lost an inspirational and thoughtful manager who had taken the Welsh team to new heights and this will be Speed’s legacy.
Hazard
Eden Hazard. He even sounds like a superhero. And many Lille fans will say that he is. The electrifying young Belgian lit up Ligue One this year and was instrumental in Lille’s historic domestic campaign (check letter L). In November 2007, he became the youngest player to appear in Ligue 1 at the age of 16 and he was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in his breakthrough season in 2008-2009 and again in 2009-2010, becoming the first player to win the award two years in a row. This of course has inevitably attracted interest from other top clubs in Europe. Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool are among those who have been keeping an eye on the speedy wingman. Zidane even gave his stamp of approval by saying, “…there’s little doubt that he’s a future star. He’s very quick, has a lot of individual class and I’m convinced that he’ll become a great player.“
Italian scandal (again)
Just as Hollywood movies thrive on franchises no matter how poor the script (The Human Centipede II), Italian football seems incapable of moving forward from the black cloud of Calciopoli. The 2006 match fixing scandal saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and stripped of two Scudetti, with the 2005-2006 league title awarded to Internazionale instead. Five years later, corruption is still alive in Italian football with the Calcioscommesse—match betting scandal. On 1 June 2011 Italian police arrested 16 people on suspicion of match-fixing and illegal betting. The most high-profile arrest was that of Guiseppe Signori, a former striker for Lazio, Bologna and the Italian National Team. In August, Signori and Benevento goalkeeper, Marco Paoloni, were handed five-year bans from football by the Italian FA. Atalanta captain Cristian Doni was given a three-year ban while his club was also given a six-point deduction at the start of the Serie A season. Just before Christmas, Doni and 16 others were arrested by the Italian police in an operation called “Last Bet” for alleged match-fixing and illegal betting. Claiming he was innocent at first, Doni has since acknowledged his part in fixing matches for Atalanta. With shining examples of morality in the first and second divisions of Italian football, fans of the Lega Pro Prima Divisione should expect to unearth major news about their league in five years time.
Japan Women’s National Football Team
On 17 July 2011, Japan became the first Asian country to win a FIFA World Cup. During the tournament, however, it was difficult to see Japan progress beyond the quarterfinals where hosts and heavy favorites, Germany, were waiting. Prior to the knockout stage, the Japanese team had never before beaten a European side in a World Cup. Yet there is always a first time for everything. “The Nadeshiko” were resilient against Germany and won the game in extra-time. The Japanese went on to beat the Swedes 3-1 in the semifinals. In a thrilling finale to the sixth FIFA Women’s World Cup, Japan came back from behind twice to draw level with the USA 2-2. The match went to a penalty shoot-out where goalkeeper, Ayumi Kaihori, made two spectacular saves. It was Saki Kumagai, however, who clinched victory for her team when she rifled a shot past Hope Solo. For a nation still recovering from the earthquake and tsunami disasters of March 2011 and the nuclear crisis that followed, the Japanese Women’s National Team gave its people something to take pride in and celebrate.
Klinsmann
After two failed attempts in signing their man, US Soccer finally succeeded in signing former German national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann in July. Klinsmann had an illustrious career both as a player and as a manager. His time as the Mannschaft’s coach led many in Germany to consider him ‘too American’. He had hired an American fitness coach, used sports psychology, emailed players and gave PowerPoint presentations while living part of the year in California. Although the American camp has yet to reap the full rewards of the change at the very top, Klinsmann has surely made a significant impact on the culture of soccer in the America by encouraging young American talents like Tim Ream, Juan Agudelo and Brek Shea to go off on training spells abroad during the off season. "In Europe or in South America, they live and breathe soccer all day long so I want them to understand there is a social responsibility to their job. In order to get to the next level, I need them to understand there is more than just training and games to their jobs.”
Lille
Dominant in the 1940-50s, Lille had slipped down the pecking order in France but the northerners have had a stellar year ending their 56-year silverware drought with a stunning league and French Cup double in the 2010-2011 season. The summer saw the departure of Gervinho and arrival of Joe Cole, who joined on a loan from Liverpool. The Englishman’s floundering career was rejuvenated in France. His debut as a substitute against St. Etienne led to his first assist and he quickly followed that up with a goal against Lorient two weeks later. At the moment Lille sits third in the table, four points adrift from the summit, and own an impressive unbeaten run in the league that stretches back to August, their only loss coming at the hands of title contenders Montpellier. Although their inability to close out matches has been worrying as they’ve earned seven draws in 17 matches and dropped points from winning positions to lesser opposition, their big wins over Marseille and Lyon have kept things positive and optimism high.
Mullan suspension
On 22 April 2011, Brian Mullan of the Colorado Rapids made a horrific tackle on Seattle Sounders’ Steve Zakuani, which left the latter with a fractured right tibia and fibula. Mullan received a straight red card for his recklessness, and was suspended for 10 games by the Major League Soccer disciplinary committee. He was also fined $5,000. The 10-game suspension set a new precedent in MLS history. Prior to Mullan’s case, the record for the longest suspension was nine games with a $10,000 fine given to former Houston Dynamo, Richard Clark, for intentionally kicking former FC Dallas player, Carlos Ruiz. While Mullan’s actions were deserving of suspension, the disciplinary committee still needs to establish consistency in their rulings. Regardless of personal opinion on whether Mullan’s suspension was overly harsh or too lenient relative to past rulings, the MLS disciplinary committee are at least making good on their promise to promote attacking soccer and provide better protection for players.
Neymar
Touted as the new Pele, the 19-year-old inspired Santos FC to heights never seen since Pele himself departed for New York. The Brazilian club won the Copa Libertadores for the first time since 1963 and made it to the final of the Club World Cup against Barcelona at the end of the year, establishing itself as the biggest team in South America for the first time in decades. The comparisons with the Brazilian legend don’t just end there. Much like Pele, inquiries for the young striker have been made by the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona. And much like the Brazilian hero himself, he plans to stick around for a while, signing a two-year contract extension with Santos in November which the club funded through the help of seven different companies, including national bank Santander. Keeping Neymar at home had become a national issue. Although Santos was humbled by Barcelona in the Club World Cup final, Neymar is projected to only improve with time and already has the hopes of an entire nation pinned on him. According to Romalho, “Every world champion has a different player, a special one. Brazil in 2014 will have Neymar who will make the difference.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Following Southampton’s line of illustrious graduates that include Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or ‘The Ox’ as he is now fondly referred to by those of the Gunners faithful, joined the Saints when he was seven. He made his debut in March 2010, just 16 years and 199 days old when he came on, making him the club’s second youngest player ever, only beaten by Theo Walcott. The similarities between him and the Gunners wingman don’t just end there. They both play on the right flank and have been touted as the next best thing in English football. He accrued 38 appearances for the Championship side and scored 10 goals in his full first season on the first team. This led to a bidding frenzy over the summer, with interest being shown from all of the Premier league’s top sides and even Italy. His father Mark Chamberlain’s vocal preference for him to join the North London side led to a £15 million transfer in July. Although he’s had limited chances so far in the season with the Gunners, he’s shone brightly with his appearances with the England U21s, assisting with numerous goals and scoring a hat trick himself against Iceland in October. Arsene Wenger predicts 2012 will be “the Year of The Ox”.
PSG
French giants Paris Saint Germaine were revitalized over this summer when they were taken over by Qatar Investment Authority, thus transforming PSG into one of the world’s richest football clubs. Former player Leonardo was soon installed as sporting director and the club went on a shopping spree which saw 9 players arrive at Parc des Princes, costing the club 90 million Euros. Their new acquisitions included Lorient’s Kevin Gameiro, Saint-Etienne’s Blaise Matuidi and most famously Palermo’s shining star, Javier Pastore, who became the most expensive signing in French football history at 42 million Euros. Although the new-look PSG started the season with a 1-0 loss to Lorient at home, they have quickly turned things around and are now competing to top the league as the year draws to a close.
Qatar
When the news of Qatar’s winning bid was made public last year, there were a few concerns about the nation–their extremely hot climate, their stance on homosexuality, and their regulation of alcohol. In May 2011, the Qatar bid team came under fire for allegedly bribing FIFA executive members. These allegations were brought to light by Phaedra Almajid, who had previously worked for the Qatar team as an international media specialist. She later retracted her story and claimed she made the accusations to hurt her former colleagues. In addition to Almajid’s original accusations, an e-mail by Jérôme Valcke, FIFA’s general-secretary, was leaked. His e-mail suggests that Qatar “bought the World Cup”. Valcke asserts he was referring to Qatar’s large budget and not to potential corruption in the nation’s bid. Even before the rest of the world can experience a summer in Qatar, the heat is on the Middle Eastern country to prove its expensive bid was only a hint of better things to come.
Racism 
It is a Herculean task to “Kick It Out” when footballers are not setting the best of examples for their fans. During a Champions League semifinal, Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets cupped his mouth and allegedly called Madrid’s Marcelo “mono” (monkey). UEFA launched a disciplinary case against Busquets, but quickly dismissed the charges due to a lack of evidence. In England, the FA recently suspended Liverpool’s Luis Suarez for eight games and fined him £40,000 (pending an appeal) for racist insults directed at Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. The ruling has since elicited strong reactions from anyone with a mouth or a keyboard. Liverpool released an official statement staunchly defending Suarez (“It seems incredible to us that a player of mixed heritage should be accused and found guilty”) and criticizing the FA. Kenny Dalglish and his players also wore “Suarez 7” t-shirts before a match. There was more reaction on Twitter where pundit Stan Collymore highlighted racist tweets directed at Evra and later, himself. The Twitter incident comes a month after two teenagers were found guilty of racially abusing Newcastle player, Sammy Ameobi. Chelsea’s John Terry also stands accused of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand–for which there is video evidence. Terry has not been suspended like Suarez, but he has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked to give his perspective on racism in football, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said there is no racism problem in the game that cannot be resolved with a handshake: “On the field of play sometimes you say something that is not very correct, but then at the end of the game, the game is over and you have the next game where you can behave better". Fortunately, many people do not share the same stance as Blatter. Zero tolerance of racism is the foreseeable future as evidenced by the FA’s tough ruling in the Suarez case and CPS’s charges against Terry. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the FA will punish the England captain if he is found guilty of racism. Until racism within football is consistently regarded with zero tolerance, ignorant acts from fans including monkey chants (Ashley Young playing for England in Bulgaria) and throwing bananas at world-class players (Roberto Carlos on two occasions in the Russian league) will continue to happen. At the moment, there are local and international collaborations that discourage such acts and promise a positive direction for the sport. UEFA and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network have marked ten years of partnership this fall and British football continues to support the Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card campaigns. With continued action perhaps one day racism will indeed be given its final red card.
Sian Massey
When Andy Gray and Richard Keys’ off-air remarks before the Wolves-Liverpool game on female assistant referee Sian Massey were leaked in January they caused an uproar in the world of football and re-ignited the debate on whether sexism was still rife in sport and society in general. The comments led to the suspension of the duo and their eventual termination from Sky Sports. The 25-year-old Massey is one of 3 women officials in professional football in England and had been officiating at the Football League level for two years before running the line for Sunderland vs. Blackpool last December. The Wolves-Liverpool game was her second appointment and she proved her ability in front of a TV audience by getting a marginal offside decision absolutely correct. Although this saga highlighted some of the glaring bigotry still present in football, it was also refreshing to see the number of footballers and high profile figures who had come out in support of Massey including Rio Ferdinand, Graham Poll, Sir Alan Sugar and Robbie Savage.
Torres
For Fernando Torres, 2012 can’t come soon enough. The past year has been painfully unproductive for the Spanish striker in front of goal. At Liverpool, Torres had been the fastest player in its history to score 50 goals for the club. At Chelsea, his breathtaking performances have led to…5 goals in 22 appearances. After completing the move from Liverpool to West London on 31 January 2011, it took the once-prolific striker a painful 903 minutes to score his first goal for his new club. In stark contrast, it took him 16 minutes to score his first Premier League goal for Liverpool, whose opponent that day (funnily enough) was Chelsea. With Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou likely to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, Torres will soon get another chance to prove his worth in Chelsea’s starting XI.
Here’s a potential script for an upcoming commercial with Mastercard (which will hopefully have a higher production value than that Spanish hair salon commercial from 2009):
Blonde highlights? £50. Nike T90 Laser IV boots? £140. Record-breaking British transfer fee? £50 million. Shooting wide of an open goal? Priceless.
Uruguay
At the start of Copa America, many people expected Brazil or Argentina to win the tournament. After all, Brazil had won four of the last five tournaments so it was not a stretch to imagine them winning again. Argentina has Lionel Messi. Thanks to La Celeste, the 2011 Copa America was spared another Brazil versus Argentina showdown, which was unfortunate for the fans of the tournament hosts. Uruguay overcame Argentina in the quarterfinals on penalties, beat Peru 2-0 in the semifinals, and vanquished Paraguay 3-0 in the finals. With Oscar Tabarez’s leadership, Uruguay have achieved a record 15 Copa America titles–the most of any CONMEBOL member. They have a potent attacking partnership in Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, the Copa America MVP. After Uruguay’s success in the Copa America and their fourth place finish in the FIFA World Cup the year before, La Celeste are proving they can bask in the spotlight as well as those other two superpowers of South American football.
Van Persie
The Dutchman has been simply electric this year since returning from what seemed like a never-ending run of injuries to finally fulfill his potential. He was also the receiver of what many consider the most ridiculous red card decision in years when Arsenal met Barcelona at the Nou Camp in March. As I am writing this, he has just equaled Arsenal’s calendar year goal tally of 34 goals by club legend Thierry Henry and is 3 goals away from beating Alan Shearer’s league record. Many have touted Arsenal as a one-man team since the striker has been on his incredible run of form, averaging a goal per game and Arsene Wenger has lauded the skipper’s rising influence on a team that is still recovering from a major revamp over the summer. The Dutchman’s captaincy has brought stability and a sense of team spirit to the Gunners and their faithful. “For me Robin is a great leader,” Wenger told the club’s official website. “If you had asked me seven or eight years ago I would not have predicted that he would become captain of Arsenal Football Club. That’s credit to him. His evolution has been outstanding, not only as a human being but as a player too.”
Wambach 
Abby Wambach can now add the Associated Press’ 2011 Female Athlete of the Year award to her list of achievements from 2011. To date, she has scored 13 goals in three World Cup appearances–the highest tally by an American. Her experience and composure helped the USA to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Although the Americans fell short of victory against Japan, Wambach can at least take solace in the fact that she was the only American player to convert a penalty kick. By the end of the tournament, Wambach had four goals (all headers) to her name, which earned her the Bronze Boot and Silver Ball. A personal highlight in the tournament was against Brazil. Trailing As Canarinhas 2-1, Wambach restored her country’s lifeline by scoring a superb header after the 120th minute of extra time. Wambach’s goal in injury time is the latest goal ever scored in a FIFA World Cup.The US team went on to win 5-3 on penalty kicks. For her record timing, ESPN awarded Wambach with the 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year.
Xherdan Shaqiri 
Xherdan “powercube” Shaqiri is an attacking midfielder for FC Basel and the Switzerland national team. Only 20 years old, he has played more matches for his country’s senior team than he has for the U-21 team. In the 2011 European U-21 Championship, the Denmark versus Switzerland match was regarded as a battle between Shaqiri and another promising playmaker, Christian Eriksen. The skilfull Swiss came out the champion of that contest after scoring the winning goal in Messi-esque fashion. Shaqiri helped his team top Group A and eventually reach the finals. While Switzerland did not leave Denmark as U-21 champions, Shaqiri did leave with two man of the match trophies and a place in the all-star squad. He continued his fine form in the UEFA Champions League, running European defences ragged with his blistering pace and power. Shaqiri was especially instrumental in the two goals that saw FC Basel triumph over Manchester United and deny the English club passage into the knockout round for the first time in six years. Not surprisingly the Swiss playmaker’s performances for Basel and Switzerland have caught the eye of several clubs, including Liverpool and Manchester United. For the time being, however, the only destination outside of St. Jakob-Park that is certain for Xherdan Shaqiri is Germany, where Bayern Munich are waiting in the Round of 16.
Yaya Touré 
With countless options for “Y”–yellow card, yo-yo, Yorkshire pudding, the list goes on–it was not easy to pick Yaya Touré. Recently named the 2011 African Footballer of the Year by the Confederation of African Football, the younger Touré has been an exceptional player for Manchester City since his £24 million transfer from FC Barcelona. Any confidence that he lost under Pep Guardiola’s management has been regained in Roberto Mancini’s starting XI. In the FA Cup semifinals on 16 April 2011, it was his goal that ensured Manchester City victory over bitter rivals, Manchester United. In the FA Cup Final against Stoke City, it was Yaya who capitalized on a fortuitous deflection and made no mistake of smashing the ball past a helpless Thomas Sorensen. With two goals in two matches in the FA Cup, Yaya Touré helped his club accomplish a few things: take out their greatest rivals, win a trophy for the first time in 35 years, and thus force said city rivals to take down a banner with the mocking words “35 years”. To fuel the legend, however, let’s hope City fans can sing Yaya’s name and come up with something more thoughtful than that Munich chant.
Zlatan
The Swede has never been one to hold his tongue and his autobiography aptly titled “I am Zlatan Ibrahimovich” was a testament to that. Although the book won’t be in the running for the many literary awards handed out at the turn of the year, it will no doubt be quoted for many years to come. Some of the more interesting excerpts that have surfaced in the news involve his unsavoury dealings with Pep Guardiola and Barcelona. In addition to questioning Guardiola’s manhood and referring to Messi, Xavi and Iniesta as “schoolboys”, he also claimed that Guardiola hardly looked at him during his last few months with the Catalan giants. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that he announced that the fact he did not get nominated for the Ballon d’Or this year did not bother him one bit: “In my head I am the strongest of all. I certainly don’t need the Ballon d’Or to prove that I am number one.” And perhaps he is right. The man did win at least one trophy with every club he’s played in for the last 10 years.
