2009 was a year of contrast in international sports, a year of controversies and excellence. From Thierry Henry's Hand of God Part II to Usain Bolt's amazing recordbreaking sprints; from Diego Maradona's angry outburst at the press to Roger Federer's surpassing of Pete Sampras's 14 Grand Slam titles, 2009 was truly a remarkable year in sports.
Talking about excellence it has to start with the all-conquering Barcelona. Barcelona dominated the football world like no other in a very long time. They won everything there was to win playing a brand of football which Pele's Brazil of the sixties and seventies would be proud of.
Barcelona under the guidance of young coach Pep Guardiola have a simple footballing philosophy which is to keep possession of the ball under all circumstances (even if they aredown to lOmen due to a red card) and to regain control of the ball as soon as it is lost by pressing their opponents. Barca play a pass-and-move game where their players love to keep the ball by receiving and passing it around and move on with the play. And the most impressive part is that Barca can play this kind of football with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique, Messi — all homegrownplayers.
In total Barcelona won six trophies (Spanish: La Liga, Cup, Super-Cup; UEFA: Champions League, SuperCup and the Club World Cup). So much success was bound to make eternal rivals Real Madrid jealous who suffered an astonishing 2-6 defeat at the hands of Barca in May. Real responded by electing the flamboyant Florentino Perez as their new president who is a firm believer in the term 'money can buy success'.
Perez quickly flashed the cash with the world record signing of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a mind-blowing 94 million euros. He also bought Brazilian ace Kaka from Milan for 65.8m euros, Liverpool's Spanish stalwart Xabi Alonso for 35.4m euros and French rising star Karim Benzema for 35m euros from
Only time will tell if spending over 250m euros is worthwhile as Real Madrid are trailing Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Liga going into the New Year. Barcelona are also looking like the team to beat in the Champions League.
The success story of Barca won't be complete without a special mention for the Argentine wunderkind Lionel Messi. The 22-year-old was an integral part of Barcelona's accomplishment scoring an astounding 38 goals with numerous assists which earned the little man the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year accolades.
International football also had its fair share of controversies. France forward Thierry (Le Cheat) Henry controlled the ball with his hand not once but twice to set up teammate William Gallas for the goal that shattered Ireland's World Cup dreams in Paris. The Irish cried foul and asked for a replay. Even Henry offered a replay but it was not to be and the Irish were left heart-broken as the French rejoiced.
In another part of the world, Argentina struggled all the way to qualify for the World Cup and the world's media heavily criticised football legend Diego Maradona. After the last match in Montevideo where Argentina confirmed their participation in South Africa with a scrappy 1-0 win over Uruguay, Maradona let all his frustration out on the journalists present at the press conference by using obscene language with a rude gesture.
FIFA took notice of the incident and subsequently banned Maradona from all football related activities for two months. Maradona is currently serving his punishment.
Controversies also touched other
sports like golf which was quite a shock and especially when a US icon like Tiger Woods was right in the middle of it Woods admitted to infidelity and announced an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage. Several companies including Gillette suspended big money endorsement deals with Tiger Woods.
In stark contrast to the lows, Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt took athletics to unbelievable heights. 'Lightning' Bolt bettered his own 100m world record to an incredible 9.58s. He followed that up by breaking his 200m world record in an equally impressive 19.19s at the World Championships in Berlin.
Similar to Usain Bolt, Swiss master Roger Federer took tennis to another level. Federer regained the Wimbledon crown fighting off the stiff challenge of American star Andy Roddick in an epic five set battle winning the final set 16-14. Not only was it Federer's sixth Wimbledon title, the Fed Express broke Pete Sampras's all-time record of 14 Grand Slam titles. American great Pete Sampras never won a single French Open. In 2009 Federer managed to capture the French Open (the only Grand Slam that was also missing from his trophy cabinet) on way to his new world record 15 Grand Slam singles titles. It is safe to say that for now Roger Federer is the greatest ever men's tennis player.
2009 is ending on a high for the fans of Formula One. Only on 23rd of December German legend and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher confirmed his comeback for the 2010 season. Schumi will drive alongside teammate Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.
From the highs to the lows, from the controversies to the excellence, all in all 2009 was a contrasting, memorable and an unforgettable year in the international sports calendar.