Soccer Blogger would like to wish all our readers from across the world a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
2012 was an eventful year in the world of football, starting with legendary striker Thierry Henry sending all of us down memory lane with a goal on his “second debut” for the Gunners against Leeds.
The Chipolopolo of Zambia stunned Africa and the rest of the world by beating mighty Ivory Coast to lift the 2012 African Cup of Nations.
Fabrice Muamba showed that the football world still has a heart despite getting increasingly commercialised. While he did recover, the lad will unfortunately not be playing professional football in the future.
This was followed by Man City winning the 2011/12 Premiership in stunning fashion with practically the last kick of the campaign against Queens Park Rangers.
Chelsea made it a great year for English football as they created history by beating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena. Interim boss Roberto di Matteo was able to do what Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Luis Felipe Scolari, Carlo Ancelotti and Avram Grant before him were not able to do.
However Di Matteo was not to remain in the hot seat for too long as he made way for Rafa Benitez less than six months later.
Spain made it a unique hat trick of trophies as they successfully defended their European title with a thumping 4-0 victory over Italy. Vicente del Bosque’s side were perhaps not as pleasing on the eye as previous Spanish teams, but boy, they certainly were efficient as they strangulated opposition teams with their brand of possession football.
The Premier League looks more closely contested than ever ( keep saying that every season, don’t we!) and the 2012/13 Champions League promises to be a riveting one with the likes of Dortmund and Malaga joining the usual suspects in the Round of 16.
There were plenty of great goals scored during the year. A certain Mr.Ibrahimovic is certain to feature in every highlight reel for 2012 ( thanks to this and this ), but let’s not forget Mr.Mexes and Mr.Crouch amongst others.
And yes, the small matter of Lionel Messi writing another chapter in the history of the beautiful game with his 91 ( YES NINETY ONE) goal tally for the calendar year.
Here’s hoping 2013 brings another fabulous year of football.
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