Preview: It is enough to give me headaches. Trying to review the year that was in football. There was action on the pitch, and there was also action off the pitch too. The final, final word on whatever headlines in the world of football that has caught this female football fan's attention this year...including the teams she support and how they did this year in her eyes (and together with that pair of spectacles). It is the unofficial football focus series's look-back special, the final edition for the year.
One. One goal that ended Spain's 44 years of hurt. One also stands for a football coach whom make his adopted country having more self-belief on its national football team once again. One can also stand for being first, the first time Vietnam becoming the kings of South-east Asia football after they beat favourites Thailand on Sunday. Congrats to them, considering my country Singapore (the defending champions even) met them in the semi-finals and they were really that good.
But first on the goal that ended Spain's 44 years of hurt in a major footballing tournament. If I have to pick only one favourite football picture of the year, it has to be when the players of the Spanish national football team threw their coach Luis Aragones up in the air during the Euro 2008 final. This was after Fernando Torres's eventual only goal against Germany in Vienna eventually ended the 44 years of hurt for Spain. Of course in the immediate moment at that time, I was alarmed at what led to the goal (how I remembered the final at that time). As a Germany supporter, I was naturally not happy then. As a Manchester United supporter, I was not amused that it is a Liverpool player who scored the goal (given you know, the rivalry between the two clubs and Torres was playing in his maiden season at Liverpool at that time). But as someone who does also watches the Premier League too, it has in a way vindicated England's no-show at Euro 2008. Even with the large number of footballers actually playing their club football in Germany (Germany's Bundesliga actually outnumbered the Premier League when it comes to footballers and where they play their club football) and it was hyped in my German football sources, it was actually someone who plays his club football in England helping his country winning the trophy. England having a hand in Spain's win? That was actually one of my many post-Euro 2008 final thoughts.
Six months ago, I said this - I can't stand the look on my father's face after the final whistle has been blown. But then again, his prediction went right this time. I will have to learn to deal with it for probably the rest of my life if he ever reminds me that Spain won Euro 2008. But six months on, I actually said this - The supposedly chokers (after another supposedly choker in England), without the burden of the past of the 1964 European Championship triumph...had taught us that the beautiful game is still alive with how they play. The right team won - period. Looking back, the so-called German virtures do not play a part in winning a trophy. It is much more than that. Even if the German players were physcially bigger than their Spanish counterparts, it never worked in the end. It might had worked against Portugal in the quarter-finals, but that was it. In the end, Germany was caught out in the cold by the Spainards...being taught a lesson in football. In the end, tactical nous from the coach, teamwork from the squad win the match. Speaking of teamwork, few days ago I was just reading how I reviewed the Germany-Spain final (it is in the link of 'Six months ago'), I was reading the link I got from the Reuters Soccer Blog on how the Euro 2008 title was won by Spain, and this stood out for me - 2. Team spirit: This Spain team doesn’t believe in galacticos — stars who are bigger than the team itself. This wasn’t Ballack’s Germany, Beckham’s England or Ronaldo’s Portugal. This was Spain’s Spain. When asked why Villa was left out for the game against Greece, when the Valencia striker might have made all but certain of finishing as top scorer, Aragones said he wasn’t after individual awards, it was a collective trophy that he sought. The old football cliche still rings true - No one is bigger than the team.
Teamwork was also one of the recurring themes in Fabio Capello's first year in charge of the England squad. Until the Italian's arrival, I was actually wondering when was the last time the England squad when they are on the pitch...they play as a team. I still remembered it was the day after England beat Croatia 4-1 at their own backyard when I asked that aloud - Now, when was the last time England play like a team like they did against Croatia? It still made me want to cry happy tears whenever I think back of that result. And I shall raise both my hands up - I only watched the match on repeat telecast here. It was actually shown live here back then, but I did not watched it. Only towards the end (I got my thoughts on the day after the match by reading the match reports and the like). So if one asks me what is my most favourite England match this year...it is not that. Tempting to say that actually given that was the turning point in England's fortunes but, the 2-1 result in Berlin against Germany will be it. First of all, any matches against the old rival is never a (meaningless) friendly. Secondly, England (not participating at Euro 2008) even with an almost second-team (because of the injuries to the regulars)...beating the Euro 2008 finalists! How is that? *whistle*
Bringing back what I said on the year that was in the England squad (or rather, my final word on the year that was under Fabio Capello) before I am off to talk about the year that was in the German national team. This - It is a good year. A good year for the England squad, even if they never took part in the Euro 2008 tournament. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise. What a difference a Fabio Capello makes! Until February 2008 where England will meet Spain for a friendly, Signor Capello...grazie. Thank you for what you have implemented since you stepped in on the so-called 'impossible job'....Usually I keep my feelings to myself, but until the more rocky road ahead of more 2010 World Cup qualifiers and though I know England have not won anything concrete yet, I have to say - Fabio Capello actually made me believe in the England squad once again. England has always been my first love in international football after all. Even in pre-Capello times.
It is a very complicated thing. *attempting to sing Kelly Clarkson's The Trouble With Love Is* I know on my alternative look-back special I said this - Suddenly the year that was in the German national team did not looked so bad after all. But that was an alternative look-back at the year that was in football for me. There is a reason why in my entry on the year that was in the German national team, I called it - Like a roller-coaster. It is inspired by what happened to the Mannschaft at Euro 2008. I know Germany is the only team among the 2006 World Cup's semi-finalists which went all the way to the final in Vienna (France out in the group stages, Italy losing at the hands of Spain in the quarter-finals on penalties, Portugal out at the hands of Germany in the quarter-finals), but I remembered what I said on my own reflections of my two footballing worlds in England and Germany in regards to the latter - and it was some adventure indeed. Back then in my attempt on a poem on the year that was in the German national team, it included this - Remembering the mistakes made/This year/And don't make the same mistakes/Next year. But in view of what happened in October especially with all that public spat in the national team, with human tempers can be volatile (I should know, I can be very bad-tempered if I have a very bad day)...so I do not know. Germany coach Joachim Loew had said before that it would not happen again. Okay, I will leave it as that. I rather remember the nice little things which happened to the German national team this year, especially during the Euro 2008 tournament...because I was also part of the ride (even if it may be stressful at times that I really wanted to tear my hair out). In the lyrics of ABBA's Our Last Summer - Living for the day, worries far away/Our last summer/Memories that remain
Anyhow still, my most favourite match from the German national team this year...the Euro 2008 quarter-final against Portugal. A 3-2 thriller though with the old issues of defending coming up again, it's actually interesting given Loew was actually suspended for this one. One can say that the team worked well when he is not in charge, or one can also say that the team want to do well for him. Well, my final word on the year that was in the German national team - In the year when the ups and downs is like how England had been before and after Fabio Capello became the England coach, it's very eerie. But while there is no change of guard in terms of who is the coach of the German national team, I had learned that...and it is something which is a case of the common sense - Never wash your dirty linen in public.
The year that was in football...Euro 2008 was definitely the most biggest highlight for me. Oh the drama, oh the emotions. In fact, 'Expect emotions' was the theme of the tournament. A great showpiece for football given attacking football is definitely back in fashion again (eventual winners Spain had showed that it is possible, with style as well), much to the delight of the purists and fans (me in this category) alike. England may not be there (I had mentioned before) but still, it was exciting from the start to the end (with the occasional controversy in between which I rather not talk about it). A great festival of football, and it was much more than that and also, what they said of the tournament. If I have to pick what was my most favourite match as a football fan during the tournament, tough to decide. Any matches involving Turkey from their encounter against Switzerland onwards. Germany almost became their scalp in the semi-finals! You got to hand in to the Turks. They and their never-say-die spirit, courtesy of coach Fatih Terim (who looks like someone from some gangster films, serious!). Not only that, there were also other surprises for me during the tournament.
Russia, Croatia, France and Holland at Euro 2008...all for various reasons. For Russia, switching from defence to attack under a Dutch coach who has the Midas touch in Guus Hiddink. Semi-finalists eventually, and the best achievement since the 1988 European Championship final as the former USSR losing to Hiddink's native Holland. Slaven Bilic's boys (Croatia) showed what they can do after denying England the Euro 2008 spot, claiming a famous scalp in Germany during the group stages. A pity they eventually lost to comeback kings Turkey in the quarter-finals on penalties. As for France...what happened to the Les Bleus, the 2006 World Cup finalists? Out in the group stages. The Dutch earned my respect apart from their amazing fans, given it was 'Total Football' all over again with how they played in the group stages. Germany fans can shoot me now, even though I know Holland lost to Russia in the quarter-finals. To end my final thoughts of Euro 2008 - My team may have lost in the final but, it was still a great tournament. What a crazy ride of all proportions! I was referring to Germany over there, in regards to 'my team' (given England did not took part).
While Germany never won Euro 2008, I took heart in the fact that Manchester United (the club I support when it comes to Premier League football for like, six years now) had a very good year this year. Champions of England (and back then I said this in how I reviewed the 2007/08 Premier League season - For me being a Manchester United supporter, at least it's good that the trophy will remain at Old Trafford for another season.), champions of Europe, and just recently, champions of the world. In fact I can be accused of being biased by saying the Champions League final being my most favourite match of the year because my team won. But considering two English teams (Chelsea was the other, and to imagine they came close to winning it themselves during the penalty shoot-out) were contesting for the trophy back then (the first all-English final on the Champions League scale), it has all the makings of a Shakespearean epic...coming from the country which gave the English language to the world. I know Chelsea's John Terry's penalty miss has been seen as one of the worst footballing moments of the year (and bringing up the old issue of when will the English ever do well in penalties) but come to think of it, it was actually raining in Moscow (the venue of the final) and the weather got worse during the time of the penalty shoot-outs. Even if I ended up celebrating my team winning European club football's most coveted prize, I did felt for him. And it was actually the Chelsea and England captain who signed off the year in international football on a good note when he was the one who scored the eventual winning goal in England's 2-1 win over their old rival Germany in Berlin last month.
That is, me. But coming back to my most favourite match of the year...there seemed to be similarities to how Manchester United won nine years ago (against Bayern Munich) and this year in May. In the end, luck swung onto United's favour...both times. In fact, manager Sir Alex Ferguson (who lifted the trophy nine years ago in Barcelona and in May in Moscow) had conceded that "fate had played its hand". This year actually marked the 50th anniversary of Manchester United's most darkest moment in its history which the Munich air disaster which killed many of legendary manager Sir Matt Busby's famous 'Busby Babes', and also, it has been 40 years since for the first time in the club's history...Sir Matt's new generation of 'Busby Babes' won the then-European Cup (the predecessor to the Champions League) at the Wembley (home of English football even) with even one of the original 'Busby Babes' Sir Bobby Charlton had a hand in the triumph (he scored twice against Benfica then). 50 years on since the England legend survived the Munich air crash, he managed to see the class of 2008 winning it...for only the third time in the club's history (rivals Liverpool had done it five times). Sir Alex Ferguson being for who he is, he had already been thinking further ahead after that triumph in Moscow.
Well, what did I said after Manchester United confirmed their status of being in the Champions League final - It has been nine years of wait and I have to admit, Manchester United was not ready for it last year and losing to AC Milan at that time in the semis of the Champions League only took me a while to sink in (when Germany lost to Italy in the World Cup semi-finals, it took almost 12 hours before it really sink in for me). This time round from the start of the tournament, I want to see my club in the final. Even all the more it has been 50 years since the Munich air disaster which almost took away much of the late manager Sir Matt Busby's famous 'Busby Babes'. We had won the most coveted European club competition trophy twice (1968, 1999) and this time round, we had reached the final and...Sir Matt, this is for you. It was your birthday when United beat Bayern Munich in the last minute and this time round, it has been 50 years since you took the boys on an European adventure in which it has a tragic end of sorts. I was only a schoolgirl, 11 going on 12 years of age when United completed the historic Treble and didn't know much of the journey of achieving that till much later (only knowing it's a history in the making for Manchester United then). I'm almost reaching the age of an adult over here now and want to witness something special. Nothing's going to stop the club now. Well, nothing stopped my team from winning the trophy (though it could had not almost happened because of Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty miss) eventually and what I said after the match in Moscow - We have finally make it now. Only after watching ESPN Sportscenter Asia earlier (in the early edition) and watching the footages of the final...I almost wanted to cry, happily. Sure, we didn't score a lot of goals en route to the final but, our defence record became among the reasons why we are in the final. No one can take the trophy away from us now. It's ours....Manchester United...champions of the Premier League, and now Europe as well. We may be two short of Liverpool's five European Cup honours now but, it will be case of a never-ending chase for more honours, more trophies, more glories. Well done, guys. I am happy to call myself a supporter of the club.
Honourable mentions in events in English football this year has to go to Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth. And Manchester City with their new-found riches which actually happened on the final day of the summer transfer window. And the time when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær whom both retired from football this year...both guys were famous for scoring the two dramatic late goals in the 1999 Champions League final and a certain Juergen Klinsmann had once said that Sheringham has always been his most favourite striker-partner (the current Bayern Munich coach used to play for Tottenham Hotspur at one time, alongside Sheringham). Even if Juande Ramos ended his time in England with a real bad run of results (he is now at Real Madrid on a six-month contract), I will always remember him for his success with Totttenham Hotspur in the League Cup final where they beat Chelsea in extra-time. Ironically enough his successor Harry Redknapp was the one who led Portsmouth to FA Cup glory in May where they beat second-division side Cardiff City. It was actually the first time since 1995 where the FA Cup was won by a football club not from the 'Big Four' (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal). Redknapp might not had expected after his side claimed a scalp in Manchester United in the quarter-finals...they would be heading to the Wembley soon after. His side had proven that a football club need not to be one of the big guns in English football to do it. Pompey helping to restore the 'romance of the FA Cup' in the process.
2008 in German football...it definitely has to go to Hoffenheim. Or rather the name in full, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. What a breath of fresh air they are. Good things come to those who wait, and it was certainly in the case of the 'village club' (the place where the football club comes from...it has about 3,000-over inhabitants). Hang on, give them some respect given they has been actually leading the pack for just about each of the Bundesliga matchdays (except the times when Hamburg temporarily led the standings in September). But then again, consider this - In the 90s, they were still an amateur side playing in the eighth tier of German football before a certain Dietmar Hopp stepped in (he was a former player of the football club who is now more famously known as the co-founder of software giant SAP). Hopp's former club had never looked back since after he heavily invested in the club's infrastructure (and no, he did not have a say in the club's transfer policy actually). In 1996, they were in the fifth tier of German football then four years later, promotion followed. Just the following year in 2001, they were in the now-third division. They made their first-ever appearance in the DFB-Pokal (German FA Cup) in 2003 and recorded a shock 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen to reach the quarter-finals.
Dietmar Hopp's wish of seeing his former club in the top flight of German football soon almost became a reality. The 2006/07 season was when they were in the second divison (with a certain Ralf Rangnick being the coach). But the race to be among the big boys of German football soon went down to the final day of the same season. After finally making it to the big time, the football club's main aim was just to remain in the top flight in its first season. But, the achievements which followed in this season...had slowly earned them fans after the initial backlash from fans of other football clubs who accused them of buying their way onto the top. The occasional complaints still remain but as I had said in my review of the Bundesliga season so far - With how Hoffenheim had been doing under a coach who just simply likes to attack (in the footballing sense), they made the 2006 World Cup's so-called summer fairytale surrounding the German national team look so ordinary. Ralf Rangnick's side is then the real-life German football fairytale, re-phrasing how the AFP news service call it. Actually it was in the summer of 2006 where the whole of Germany was in a 'summer fairytale' (it was the World Cup then), Rangnick arrived at Hoffenheim. As much as I admitted that the summer of 2006 became the reason why I follow the Bundesliga since (*cough Juergen Klinsmann cough*), Ralf Rangnick and Hoffenheim had made us fans of German football believing that...German football need not to be that boring after all as often perceived.
To be honest (even as a VfB Stuttgart supporter myself when it comes to Bundesliga football), I really want to see Ralf Rangnick's side playing European football in the future. It will definitely be a real good advertisement for football. And then I can proudly say that I was there when they made it to the top flight of German football. Now the German football fraternity and us fans of German football had seen how they had did in the first-half of the season, the second-half of the season will see whether the 'winter champions' can continue in the same momentum. When there are two players who had already been called up to the German national team last month, you know it is something. Marvin Compper and Tobias Weis were called up last month ahead of the England friendly (Compper even featured from the start of the match in Berlin as well).
At least now Bayern Munich will know that they have a major challenger on their hands when it comes to the title race. Hoffenheim, I mean. Because in the previous season, they practically ran away with the title. Okay, they might had also won the DFB-Pokal too (beating Borussia Dortmund in the process) and earning a domestic double in the process...things had never been the same since Ottmar Hitzfeld stepped down (he is now coaching the Swiss national team) and former Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann stepped upon the mantle. The person whom till now is still my most favourite coach from the 2006 World Cup (the one now at Bayern Munich) being in charge and it has never been quiet in Munich since Klinsmann came in. Speaking of Bayern, goalkeeper and former captain Oliver Kahn retired from football altogether at the end of the previous Bundesliga season. He had his testimonial match in September against the current German national team. He might be a TV pundit now but, I will never forget when I actually first really knew of him - the 2002 World Cup final. I had heard of his name during the tournament, but not until I watched the final. Funnily enough, that final against Brazil was actually the first time I watched the German national team in action before forgetting about them soon after...until the summer of 2006.
Before I give a shout-out to what has happened this year in Singapore football (I mean, we created some sort of history this year), a brief look-back at the current Champions League season so far. As much as the regular suspects advance to the last 16 of the tournament, the current season began with three new debutants (Cyprus's Anorthosis Famagusta, Romania's CFR Cluj and Belarus's BATE Borisov) in the group stages. Those three football clubs I mentioned in the brackets had really given the big guns in European football for their money (most famously in the opening group stages, CFR Cluj beating Italy's AS Roma) during the group stages and it has taught us all over again with that old cliche - anything is possible in football! While this time last year I was pinching myself that for the first time in our local football scene, my country national team created history by reaching the third qualifying rounds in the 2010 World Cup qualifying stages, the national team got down to work this year and though we never progressed beyond that...the boys from Brazil arrived at our shores ahead of the Olympic football tournament in China (they were here as part of their preparations for the Olympics and even played against a Singapore selection as well). Since then, I can brag that AC Milan's Ronaldinho was once here too (he was part of the squad which came here). Hello, it is not everyday footballers like Ronaldinho are here (psst, I actually almost squealed when I realised he would be here).
Now for action off the pitch. The worldwide financial crisis has also hit the world of football as well, as much as we like to deny it. Politics also played into football this year, and it need not always be a bad thing. The example is that the infamous G-14 (often seen as being elitist) was abandoned and it has since been called the European Club Association (ECA). It was decided this year that from the 2009/10 European football season, the UEFA Cup will be known as the Europa League. UEFA has given the go-ahead for the 2016 European Championships to be expanded from 16 to 24 teams. As much as the Premier League chief executive Richard Scuadamore was initially widely condemned earlier this year for the infamous '39th game' plan, there could be compromises in the horizon. Though I know football clubs are the ones who pay their footballers their salaries...club-versus-country conflicts took on a whole new level this year ahead of the Olympics in China with especially Germany's Bundesliga hitting the headlines for all the bad reasons (especially Schalke...considering they still want to push ahead with claims over the case of Rafinha, who plays for the Brazil Olympic football squad even with his club insisting he is not heading to China). As much as I am singing the praises of how the Bundesliga had went so far with attacking football in the league itself, that situation was when I realised...it would never go down well among the South Americans (considering they view Olympic football as a big deal, though this will never go down well in Europe where Olympic football is often seen as a disturbance to their domestic schedules which always begin around the time the Olympics begin). Or maybe not since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul has Germany got a male squad competing in Olympic football tournaments (Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann was among those part of the squad in the 1988 Olympics and the bronze medal he won was something he cherished the most out of his entire playing career). Anyways, I still find it funny (or maybe I am not a German in the first place) where its women Olympic football team was widely adored during the Olympics itself in China (though they came in third place eventually)...so much for a country pride itself in being a sporting nation.
For the soundbites which surfaced this year which has make us laugh or cry...this one will be my footballing quote of the year. What England coach Fabio Capello was saying after England's away win in Belarus during one of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers this year - "Humility, is very important for [those who purport to be] a big player.'' Take it as something heading into the new year.
Whatever your footballng world has done to you, for you this year...as Doris Day sings, Que Sera Sera. *sings* Whatever will be, will be. Hey, but then again, since when the world of football is ever perfect in our eyes? I know in my case, it has not always gone the way I wanted this year...but I accepted for what it is. I believe things do happen for a reason. I will now leave behind some links of interest before saying...Happy New Year, everyone!
2008 Roll of Honour (uefa.com salutes all the clubs and national selections who won trophies this season with our annual breakdown of who won what where during the year which saw Spain end their 44-year wait for Europe's top prize.)
'A huge and irreplaceable loss' (Football mourned the loss of some cherished figures during 2008, among them Constant Vanden Stock and Tommy Burns, men synonymous with their clubs, while the death of Maksym Pashayev at 20 shocked Ukraine.)
2008 Review (The football year in review, as according to Soccerlens)
Quotes of the Year Part One (Kevin Keegan leads the way in 2008's best one-liners)
Quotes of the Year Part II (Rio Ferdinand leads the way in part two of the year's best lines)
