image source: skysports.com
2016 has been an earth shaking year for football as we have seen some ponding performances from players and teams around the world. While Cristiano Ronaldo bettered his long time rival Lionel Messi, teams like Leicester City and Bengaluru FC stamped their class.
However, there were some isolated moments for Football fans that we hope not to see in coming years.
Leicester City started the season being the underdogs and the team that never ever won a English Premier League Title. However, after being circling the top teams of the league for five long years, Leicester City’s 2015-2016 season will go down in the history books as one of the most unprecedented tales of English Football.
Leicester City started their run on a positive note and defeated state rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, early in 2016. They eventually ended their season with the title in hand and with a margin of 10 points from the second placed team Arsenal.
At the starting of this season, bookies were offering 5000:1 on Leicester City and the team’s title victory gave bookies and the critiques, a reason to go underground.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick resulted in Real Madrid’s win over Atletico Madrid and his club lifted the European Cup for the 11th time.
2. Ronaldo took Portugal through the 16 round European Championship but was ruled out for the final due to a knee injury. However, his substitute, Eder struck the last blow in the final against France, giving Portugal their first ever win in any major Championship.
3. Last but not the least, Cristiano Ronaldo defeated his rival Lionel Messi to reclaim the Ballon d’Or award for the fourth time.
With Mohun Bagan being the synonym of Football in India, nobody was shocked when the club won the Federation Title but it was Bengaluru FC which gave Indian football fans the best moment to cheer in 2016.
Bengaluru FC defeated Mohun Bagan for their second Indian League Title in the last three years and qualified for the Asian Football Confederation Cup 2016.
Bengaluru continued their remarkable performances throughout AFC Cup 2016 and entered AFC finals as a dominating force after defeating the defending champions,
Johor Darul Ta’zim Football Club of Malaysia.
However, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, an Iraqi football club defeated Bengaluru FC by a solitary goal and Indian fans had to satisfy themselves for finally setting an Indian club in the AFC finals.
These are the most defining moments of World Football in 2016 but the year also took an integral part of the fraternity away from us on 28 November, when three Brazilian club Chapecoense’s players died in a plane crash during their journey to Colombia for the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana, the second most prestigious competition in American Football.
Football had its share of ups and downs in 2016 but life is all about going forward and we hope that 2017 gives us more moments of joy and football brings Worldwide fans together.
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30 December 2016
Rohan Jaitly
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