2013 was a massive year in football, the number one sport in the world continues to captivate the world wide audience. Players and teams continue to look at how to gain that little bit extra on their opponents in a year where we saw individual and collective performances reach a whole new level. On the other hand, the world game is now arguably at its most controversial with its diving, bribing and biting!? Football is never short of heated discussion. Domestic leagues continue to have a religious like following while the international stage in 2013 was always going to draw attention as we lead towards the World Cup in Brazil. These are my highlights and lowlights for the year that was.
The main highlight of the year for the A-League was without a doubt the Wanderers and their fairy tale journey to the grand final. A club that was built from nothing achieved what many thought would be impossible, the premiers plate and a grand final appearance in their first season. Amazing! It was also great to see some big marquee players adding plenty of class to the league, Del Piero and Shinji Ono were unreal to witness live.
The lowlight of the A-League season was the continuing crowd trouble, which included a stabbing after a Sydney FC - Melbourne Victory match and huge street brawl before a Melbourne Victory - Western Sydney Wanderers match. The Australian mainstream media continues to portray the game in a negative light.
Overseas
Watching Bayern Munich and Barcelona play in the past year has been an absolute highlight, for me the two best teams in the world at the moment. Bayern Munich won the treble (league, champions league and German cup) playing fantastic football. Barcelona continues to impress with their style of football, new coach Gerardo Martino gave them their best league start of all time. Gareth Bale's and Neymar's transfers gave El Clasico added spice, a match that now contains arguably the top four players in the world, it was a magnificent spectacle.
The biggest let down in football worldwide was the various match fixing allegations and supposed criminal rings that bribe lower league players to affect the outcome of matches. Just when I thought the Serie-A match fixing scandal would put an end to all this it unfortunately re-surfaced in 2013.
International Stage
The highlight of course was the final world cup qualifiers and the playoffs that gave us the final 32 teams that will be going to Brazil. Portugal vs Sweden and France vs Ukraine provided us with some of the most exciting matches of 2013. Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Italy continue to impress in Europe while Ecuador, Chile and Colombia emerged as football superpowers. Argentina had a flawless year, only losing once against Uruguay in their final qualifier. Brazil had a fantastic year winning the Confederations Cup on home soil and gaining momentum towards the world cup. Japan look very strong in Asia while the USA topped a close CONCACAF qualifying campaign.
The lowlight has to be the format and method of the world cup draw, people once again were left questioning FIFA and their power. Was the draw fixed? Possibly.
The Socceroos
The highlight of the year was the take over of Ange Postecoglou as coach of the national side. After the match against Costa Rica people saw a glimmer of hope that we might produce a few surprises in Brazil 2014. However, it left people asking "what if" he had come in earlier and been given more time.
The lowlight was without question the back to back 6-0 losses against Brazil and France. It was embarrassing but at the same time many said they were the losses we had to have. It got Holger Oesick sacked and allowed the start of a new era.
Australian Player of the Year: Mile Jedinak, he lead Crystal Palace to promotion to the premier league and continued to grow as a player.
Australian Coach of the Year: Tony Popovic, took the Western Sydney Wanderers to the grand final in his first season.
Australian Team of the Year: Western Sydney Wanderers, premiers in their first season and had the best fans throughout the year.
Player of the Year: Lionel Messi, even though he was injured a lot throughout 2013 I still think he is the benchmark, no other player gets you on the edge of your seat as often as he does.
Coach of the Year: Jupp Heynckes, lead Bayern Munich to the treble, enough said.
Club Side of the Year: Bayern Munich, won the league, champions league and German cup.
International Side of the Year: Brazil, although they had a few questionable losses throughout the year they completely dominated and won the Confederations Cup, which proved they could win a big tournament on home soil and confirmed themselves as clear favorites for the World Cup.
Quote of the Year: "I don't need the Ballon d'Or to know I'm the best. It matters more to some players." - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
2013 was a great year for football and 2014 will be even better, after all nothing beats a World Cup year!
2013 was a great year for football and 2014 will be even better, after all nothing beats a World Cup year!
