Happy new year!!!! As all pass the hangovers, we must reflect back on the year gone in football. I must personally admit, that for me this has been a bad football year: I have not been able to follow much, had difficulty updating my site, and so on.
Still, looking back, I must attempt to do a list of what I considered the ten most important/best teams of the year 2007.
Note, it is a very personal list, as is more based on my personal impressions and thoughts on the year gone, and not as objective as I would like it to be. And well, surely some surprises for those who know me!
10. Arsenal: I am in awe at what Arsene Wenger is creating with this team of youngsters. They are very young, and have been on top of the Premier League and on in the Champions League. Surely this is a team heading towards great victories.
9. FC Barcelona: They still play beautiful, but have been unable to win anything this year: Real Madrid took the Spanish title ahead of them.
8. Argentina: Argentina´s national team only lost two games the entire year, and ended top of the FIFA world ranking ever. With some amazing players, they will be a team to watch up to the 2010 World Cup!
7. Boca Juniors: Winners of the Copa Libertadores.
6. Sevilla: Won the UEFA cup, ended top in the Spanish League, and have been playing wonderfully in their first Champions League.
5. Brazil: Any list without Brazil...? While not top on the FIFA World ranking, they managed to win the Copa América defeating the top ranked team, Argentina.
4. Real Madrid: Under Fabio Capello the team was stabilized and won the Spanish title for the first time for many years. Under Bernd Schuster the team has started to play beautiful as well, and they may be on the way of finding their former greatness, not from huge investment but as a team.
3. Liverpool: While not winning, they were again able to surprise in the Champions League, pulling some really intense and entertaining matches.
2. AC Milan: Deserved winners of the Champions League, they have slipped in the second half of 2007, but with a wonderful Kaká and a team of very experienced players still won the Club World Championship in December.
1. Brazil (women): This will surprise many... A women's team as my most important team of 2007!? And for that a team that didn´t win the World Cup? (They lost to Germany). But why I put them here, is that because of them, I think Women's football has become much more entertaining and interesting to watch.
Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
World Rankings 2007
The FIFA 2007 Galla Awards are an occassion for looking back at the foregone year in terms of football: which teams did well, which players were outstanding, and all other things for us football nerds.
One of the more interesting things for me, personally, was the World Ranking standing, where two countries that interest me a lot, had a quite prominent positions:
Argentina (where I lived as a child), has ended the year on the top spot on the world ranking, a position it has held for the first time since the establishment of the ranking. This has somehow surprised me, due to the fact that Argentina, in July, lost the final of the Copa America 0-3 to Brazil, in Venezuela. But besides that, and a loss to Colombia here in November, Argentina has had a quite impressive year, and the top-ranking at the end of the year may be a prelude to great things for the coming World Cup in South Africa (and I hope so with my heart!).
The other country prominently mentioned in the world ranking, was, to my great surprise, Mozambique (where I am currently residing). I have before said that I have a great positive influence on the football of countries I live in, and that I would do it for Mozambique, and seems I have already fulfilled my promise: Mozambique was the single best mover on the world rankings in 2007, with 245 points and moving from 128th to 75th place on the world ranking. This was mainly due to some good results on their qualifiers for the 2008 Africa's Cup in Ghana, which will nevertheless not see the participation of the Mamba's. Mozambique is on the right track though, and I shall do my best next year as well!
One of the more interesting things for me, personally, was the World Ranking standing, where two countries that interest me a lot, had a quite prominent positions:
Argentina (where I lived as a child), has ended the year on the top spot on the world ranking, a position it has held for the first time since the establishment of the ranking. This has somehow surprised me, due to the fact that Argentina, in July, lost the final of the Copa America 0-3 to Brazil, in Venezuela. But besides that, and a loss to Colombia here in November, Argentina has had a quite impressive year, and the top-ranking at the end of the year may be a prelude to great things for the coming World Cup in South Africa (and I hope so with my heart!).
The other country prominently mentioned in the world ranking, was, to my great surprise, Mozambique (where I am currently residing). I have before said that I have a great positive influence on the football of countries I live in, and that I would do it for Mozambique, and seems I have already fulfilled my promise: Mozambique was the single best mover on the world rankings in 2007, with 245 points and moving from 128th to 75th place on the world ranking. This was mainly due to some good results on their qualifiers for the 2008 Africa's Cup in Ghana, which will nevertheless not see the participation of the Mamba's. Mozambique is on the right track though, and I shall do my best next year as well!
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