A superb World Cup featuring one of the greatest upsets in the sport’s history, Germany’s fourth title and the duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be the world’s best were among the soccer highlights of the year.
Real Madrid’s long-awaited 10th European crown — la decima — secured after they equalized late in normal time before winning the Champions League final 4-1 after extra time against Atletico Madrid in Lisbon was another dramatic moment.
However, far too often in a turbulent 12 months, the headlines made for unsettling reading.
Photo: Reuters
Allegations surrounding corruption within FIFA never end with world’s soccer’s tarnished governing body lurching from one drama to another over the decision it took in 2010 to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 finals to Qatar.
A report into alleged corruption has only created more problems for the game’s rulers with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, 78, unwilling to make the findings public.
Racism and match-fixing also blighted the game but, unless sweeping changes are made next year and Blatter is voted out of office when he seeks a fifth term as president in May’s elections, it is hard to see where real reform will come from.
Luckily for the millions of fans, though, the problems affecting the men who run the game were not apparent on the field when the World Cup started in June.
Brazil beat Croatia 3-1 in a thrilling opener that set the tone for a fantastic tournament in which invisible spray, the innovation to mark distances at free-kicks and goalline technology, made their debuts.
The civil unrest that marred the Confederations Cup, last year’s dress rehearsal tournament, was not repeated and Brazil’s progress to the semi-finals played its part in keeping rioters off the streets.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari had pledged Brazil would win the World Cup as hosts to eradicate the painful memory of losing out at home in 1950 to Uruguay, but a traumatic defeat ended that dream as Germany, already 1-0 up, scored four goals in six minutes to lead Brazil 5-0 after 29 minutes, before winning 7-1.
Five days after one of the greatest upsets in the game’s history, Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final at the Maracana, with substitute Mario Goetze scoring a brilliant extra-time winner.
The losers in Brazil included Uruguayan Luis Suarez, banned for four months for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, Argentina skipper Messi and Portugal captin Ronaldo, whose rivalry in Spain for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively continues unabated.
Ronaldo picked up winners medals with Real winning the European Cup and King’s Cup, while Messi set scoring records in Spain and in the Champions League.
Two men who dominated the European Cup in a previous era passed into history, with all-time greats Alfredo di Stefano, who played in Real’s five winning finals from 1956 to 1960, dying at 88 a few months after his old rival, Eusebio of Benfica, 71, the top scorer in the 1966 World Cup, who died in January.
Tom Finney, one of England’s greatest players, passed away aged 91 in February, while South Africa captain and keeper Senzo Meyiwa, 27, was murdered in October. Peter Biaksangzuala, 23, also died after falling on his head attempting an acrobatic somersault goal celebration in India in the same month.
Among the losers this year were David Moyes, who was fired as Manchester United manager less than a season into a six-year contract at Old Trafford where Ryan Giggs, 41, ended his 24-year playing career after 963 appearances for the club.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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