* Most Disappointing Game: Copa America Final - July 15th
without question the 3-0 loss by Argentina to Brazil in the Copa America final was the year’s most heartbreaking. Despite being the class of the tournament AND fielding a full strength squad, Argentina were simply played off the pitch by a Brazil side that showed little of the brilliance of that country’s famed footballing history. It was the worst kind of loss imaginable; lousy defence, an own goal, and the disappearance of top players Riquelme, Messi and Tévez. All of Argentina would do well to sweep that disaster under the rug and focus on 2010, but like their early exit in last year’s World Cup, it was another reminder in which an Argentine squad loaded with world-class talent was unable to get it done when it really mattered. A distant second: As a Congolese fan I was appalled by their embarrassing ouster from the upcoming African Nation’s Cup by drawing at home with Libya. While I won’t take anything away from the team from Tripoli, The Leopards looked like 11 players who were playing together for the first time, and barely able to show any signs of life. A fitting way to end a forgettable year for the Leopards.
* Best Performances: Cristiano Ronaldo
Without a doubt the best player I saw all of last year was Ronaldo. Simply look at what he was able to accomplish with Manchester United and Portugal in 2007.His performance in the EPL makes me my clear choice as the world player of the year. Considering the he was booed in every Stadium he played in except for Old Tafford and Portugal for much of the year and his accomplishments are even more impressive.Under great stress that he endured shortly following his “hand” in the Rooney sending off at the World Cup. Ronaldo literally won the title for Man United in 2007 and 20 years from now we will all remember the 2007 trophy as Ronaldo’s title.
* Best Goal: Lionel Messi v Getafe April 18th
The best goal that I saw in 2007 had to be Messi’s goal against Getafe in the Copa del Rey. It’s hard not to pick that goal, considering the beauty of his run past the defenders and its comparisons to Maradona.
* Breakout Player - Juan Juan Román Riquelme I’m going to have to sound like a skipping record and go with Riquelme. I think many people, including myself, felt that his loan back to Boca was a sign that he was washed up, but you can’t argue with the results.
* Next big player: My pick will have to be Argentina U20 striker Sergio Agüero is my pick to be the star of tomorrow. I had the chance to see him play in Canada in july and I think that he was a man playing with boys and with that I think that he will be the player with the most impact in 2008
The shortlist for the 2007 African player of the year is out, and current holder Didier Drogba is in contention again. The five players shortlisted are:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast) Michael Essien (Chelsea and Ghana) Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo) Frederic Kanoute (Seville and Mali) Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid and Mali)
The coaches of all 53 nations in the Confederation of African Football will vote, and the winner will be announced at a fancy dinner on Februaury 1st in Togo next year. Bizarrely, that’s in the middle of the African Cup of Nations so the players shortlisted will hope to be busy around that time (with the exception of Emmanuel Adebayor, since Togo failed to qualify.)
Drogba stands every chance of holding onto the award, looking unstoppable in a Chelsea shirt until his recent knee surgery. Last years runner up Samuel Eto’o is out of contention for the 2007 award having spent most of the season on the injury list. Kanoute is an interesting inclusion, as he’d be the first European born winner having been born in Lyon and represented French youth teams before switching to Mali, where he’s teamed up with Mahamadou Diarra, “the heart” of Real Madrid’s midfield. Not sure about Emmanuel Adebayor’s chances. He’s been good on his day for Arsenal, but hasn’t contributed much to Togo thanks to the infamous row over bonus payments that nearly ruined Togo’s World Cup. So I’ll be pulling for Michael Essien. This will be the third time in a row the Ghanaian midfielder has been shortlisted, finishing behind Eto’o and Drogba in 2005 and 2006, so it’s about time he finally got his hands on the award.
The current format of the Champions League is set to be scrapped.
The new set up would see the league winner from Scotland gain automatic entry into the group stages with the Cup winner going into a mini knockout phase that would see a further 10 clubs join the 22 teams who already gained automatic entry into the group stage.
The runner up in the league would immediately go into the UEFA Cup group stage.
It is said the SPL are not in favour of this new structure, nor are the Dutch, because they fear that the divide in the domestic league would become too much if one team won the league a couple of years in succession.
The financial rewards of being in the Champions League are such that the winning team would then have so much more money that the other clubs in the league would find it difficult to compete.
I think this will be a great change and put a breath of fresh air into both the domestic league and the Champions League.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the Congolese youngster Tresor Mputu is on trial at Arsenal's London Colney training ground and by the sound of what Arsene is saying, he could be added to the squad in January.
“He is on trial and I have to go down to test him,” Wenger told the official Arsenal website. “He is a creative player and wants a chance in Europe. He has impressed so far.”
Mputu is just 22 in a fortnight's time, but he is one of the African continent's hottest talents, being the star player for both his club, TP Mazembe and his nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo .
He was the top scorer in African’s version of the Champions League as Mazembe reached the last 16, while he has also hit five goals in 10 appearances for Congo.
Whether Wenger would be willing to disrupt the squad by bringing in a new striker when his team are so clearly unified is questionable. But there is the option that he could sign Mputu with the proviso that he moves to London in the summer rather than risk jeopardizing dressing room confidence when it is obviously so healthy.
But with a price tag of only about £500,000, the risk in financial terms is negligible and it could well be that Arsene Wenger has found yet another diamond in the rough that he can help shape into a footballing superstar.
After reading the now infamous list of the 100 best palyers, i decided to make my own list but instead of 100 i decided to make a list of my top 10 greatest football players.
1. Diego Maradona (Argentina) 2. Zinedine Zidane (France) 3. Edson Arentes de Nascimento (Brazil) 4. George Best (Nothern Ireland) 5. Franz Beckenbauer (West-Germany) 6. Bobby Charlton (England) 7. Ronaldo de Lima (Brazil) 8. Ruud Gullit (Netherland) 9. Ryan Giggs (wales) 10.Romario (Brazil)
Diego Armando Maradona is without a doubt the game’s most controversial character. Like Best, Garrincha and many others, Maradona was in the news for his off field antics as much as he was for his exploits on the field. In my eyes Diego is the best player to grace the football pitch, even better than Pele. Various football pundits have questioned the circumstances behind some of his actions, and although various theories have been propounded, none have been actually clarified.
The English version of Maradona’s autobiography is now available for his fans to read. It provides an insight into his life- right from the streets of Buenos Aires to his Goal of the Century to his near death battles with obesity.
Yours truly happened to read a particular chapter, where Maradona candidly admits that the quarterfinal clash in the 1986 World Cup was more than a simple football game between two nations. He says that the Falkland Islands war was at the back of their minds when they took the pitch, and describes the way he dribbled past England’s defence and beat Peter Shilton to score a goal that has, so far, found no threats to its status as ‘ Goal of the Century.
Before I start with this list, I just want to clarify that I had no say in this list….DUH!!! First of all Maradona would be numero uno. I was reading ESPNsoccernet this past weekend and came up on this an article about the 100 greatest footballers . Personally I think that this is the most ridiculous list that I’ve ever seen…erh…Figo ahead of Zizou and Diego…ahahahahah
The list was compiled by The Association of Football Statisticians and used a points based all time player ranking system. The AFS' system of awarding points for goals scored by forwards, clean sheets from defenders and honours won - including cups and caps, but there are so many variables in football that their method appears more flawed than FIFA's world rankings for national teams. They also made a best team list according to AFS. I fully don’t understand how they compiled the list but either way they made it points system, honours, etc they did a pretty poor job from what I see. There are players that are ranked too high and some too low, and some great players aren’t even on the list, and then there are some that shouldn’t even be on the list.
Those in Red should not be on that list according to me.
