Memorable moments of 2014

Only days left before 2014 is confined to the history books. Its been a year that has been entertaining and one of those years were monumental experiences (good and bad) occurred for teams. So without boring you too much here are my 5 moments of 2014:


5.    Atletico Madrid clinching their first league title in 18 years was a feat that at the beginning of the 2013/2014 felt like a laughable task- a task that got less humorous as the season plugged along. Their win wasn't just important for the fans (obviously) but also for the league. La Liga rightly or wrongly has been accused of being a two horse race and the league for the last 10 years has fluctuated between Madrid and Barcelona. Atletico winning on a smaller budget and the sheer will of Diego Simeone (who won the league as a player) is something to be applauded and acknowledged as the Barca fans did at the Nou Camp. The runs and finishing of Diego Costa, the assists of Koke and the defensive marshalling of Godin and Miranda with Courtois in goal. Atletico Madrid almost made a great season an excellent one in the Champions League final if not for Sergio Ramos. Skeptics speculate that last season was a one off, 2015 will either confirm or deny that.



4. Madrid winning La Decima. Sergio Ramos 92nd minute. After that the rest was history. Zidane's picturesque volley in 2002 was the last time Madrid held the trophy with the big ears aloft. Even as someone who is a confessed Barca supporter, 10 European cups is an impressive trophy haul of the biggest club competition in Europe. Players such as Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Modric, Ramos, Pepe, and new comers like Kroos, and James Rodriguez means that they could dominate for the foreseeable future as long as their sporting decisions are sound and do not repeat the failed Galatico experiment in 2003.

3. Messi breaks scoring records. People with more articles and several accolades than me will argue this wasn't Messi's year, no league title, no Copa del Rey, no Champions League yet he ends the calendar year with 58 goals and 21 assists for both club and country. All time Champions League scorer, and all time La Liga scorer at the age of 27. We judge him on his atmospherically high standards but those numbers speak for themselves. I am just happy I live in an era of Messi and Ronaldo. I was too young to witness Maradona in his prime and only have video evidence of Pele's time. To fully appreciate these players I believe you have to witness them as they break records. The real question is what will his records look like when he hangs his boots?

2.Brazil humiliation. This was one of those moments when you remember exactly what, where and who you were with when it happened. I was at Smithfield in NYC with friends. The amount of goals the Germans scored could have made for a very useful drinking game that would have landed you in the ER. I've been following football since my earliest memory and Brazil has always had an aura of invincibility mixed with outrageously skillful players. Growing up in Nigeria you wanted to play like a Brazilian player not a German player. You wanted to emulate, Ronaldo (original) Rivaldo, Romario, Bebeto, Denilson or even shoot like Roberto Carlos. Going into this past tournament only player I assume you'd wish to play like was either Neymar or Oscar. I told a friend that if Brazil won the World Cup with Fred as the No 9 it'd be a travesty, but I didn't expect the assault that Germany laid on them in the semifinal. I felt I watched a snuff film.

1. "If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in Him. There will be blood in the water, the sharks will come. All I have to do is sit back and watch as the world consumes you." Ivan  Vanko (Iron Man 2)  That's what Spain felt this year as they bled all over the pitch in Brazil. There were signs in 2013 at the Confederations Cup, be it aging players or success dulling an athletes hunger for or teams finally finding out how to counter their tactics. Either way no one expected Spain to be humiliated at against Netherlands. The Dutch were quick full of invention and looked like what Spain looked like in 2008.  I didn't expect Spain to retain their World title this year but a first round exit in dramatic fashion wasn't something I counted on either. Del Bosque was faced with keeping with the veterans that brought so much success or giving the new guard a chance at the tournament, hindsight is always 20/20 and unfortunately that decision cost Spain dearly.

    That's it for 2014, hopefully 2015 will be as if not more intriguing as the past 12 months have been.
 

I'm back.

     Its been a while since i posted but next year i will strive to be more active on this blog. Lots of things to review and discuss that occurred this year. From Atletico Madrid's first league title in 18 years to Madrid's decima, Spain's catastrophy in the World Cup only to be bettered by Brazil's display vs Germany. Its been a good year for football and here's hoping next will be too. I'll post the top 5 stories of 2014 tomorrow.  Until next time.