Football YearEnder 2021 – Top10 Football Moment 2021: As the year 2021 comes to an end, we take a look back at the best, controversial & magical moments from the world of football. From Lionel Messi’s chaotic and emotional Barcelona exit to Ronaldo resigning for his former club in England with also the Coca Cola incident being a one to remember. Follow InsideSport.IN for all the latest from the World of Football
Football has given us many memories to cherish some filled with joy, entertainment, heartbreaks but in the end, it’s all part of the sport. Let us take a look at the best moments from 2021 in the Football YearEnder.
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Football YearEnder 2021: The best moments in Football from the year 2021
Messi leaves Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain:
One of the most unexpected farewells that nobody expected to happen. Although, it wasn’t Messi’s decision to leave his boyhood club but because of the club’s financial instability he had to agree to move with a heavy heart. Lionel Messi had scored 672 goals in 778 appearances and won four Champions Leagues and 10 La Liga titles with Barcelona.
He then left to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a two-year deal, with an option for a third year. Messi was the best at Barcelona and he played with some of the legends of the club such as Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Puyol and others. Even though he wasn’t from the Academy he was treated as one of their own.
Messi was the top scorer of the club in 2021 with 28 goals despite leaving Barcelona months ago for PSG and no other player came close to the tally set by him. While Barcelona fans were left in tears, there were contrasting emotions in Paris as the Argentine superstar was given a hero’s welcome by PSG supporters who had gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of their new signing.
Football YearEnder 2021 – Top10 Football Moment 2021
Christian Eriksen’s collapse during a Euro 2020 match: The third match of the Euro 2020 witnessed one of the scariest scenarios as Danish and Inter Milan footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed midway in the first half during his side’s match against Finland. Medical teams rushed to the Inter Milan midfielder who was given CPR. The match was immediately paused and later suspended.
Eriksen was lying down unconscious as the medical team was summoned on the pitch which at the time was unclear. His teammates surrounded him in order to provide privacy as the doctors were treating him.
As Eriksen lay unconscious on the field, Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen was prompt in his action. “He was breathing, and I could feel his pulse. But suddenly that changed,” Boesen was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “And as everyone saw, we started giving him CPR.” It was one of the scariest incidents that everyone witnessed during a football match.
Racial abuse for missing penalty-kicks in the Euro 2020 Final: Three Black players who missed penalty kicks for England against Italy in the Euro final were subjected to racist abuse online. Bukayo Saka, 19, was the youngest among them while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho also missed their spot-kicks were abused with disheartening abuse.
It was England’s third straight failure from the penalty spot in the shootout and denied them a trophy which has eluded them since the 1966 World Cup. The English Football Association did come out and issued a statement condemning the language used against the players.
Top10 Football Moment 2021
Football YearEnder 2021: The best moments in Football from the year 2021
Ronaldo and Coca Cola: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo made the headlines after moving two Coca-Cola bottles kept in front of him during a Euro 2020 press conference and asked people to drink water instead. The video footage went viral over the whole world after which many superstars followed Ronaldo while many embraced Coca-Cola.
Following Ronaldo’s act, the company’s market value dropped by $4 billion. While Italy’s Manuel Locatelli removed cola bottles just like Ronaldo, France’s Paul Pogba removed a beer bottle during his press conference. On the other hand, Ukraine skipper Andriy Yarmolenko moved both Coca-Cola and beer bottles closer, asking the sponsors to get in touch with him. Russian head coach Stanislav Cherchesov went the other way round and picked up the cola bottle and even took a sip at the press conference.
Football YearEnder 2021
The Super League which was just a plan
First came the grand plan, then came the grovelling apologies from the 12 clubs who started the European Super League plan. In the space of a few days, the European Super League went from ghastly reality to laughing stock, prompting red-faced club executives to come out, one after the other, and plead for fans’ forgiveness. “We got it wrong,” said Manchester United co-owner Joel Glazer. “I let you down,” offered Liverpool owner John W Henry.
The 12 founding clubs were AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham who would be unmovable members of a breakaway league intended to replace the Champions League and, ultimately, create more revenue.
Gary Neville labelled it “pure greed” and he was not the only one to see it for what it was. In England, fans put their loyalties to one side and joined together in condemnation of the idea, causing the Premier League’s big six to withdraw and leaving the plan in tatters. Players put up t-shirts and posts to speak up on the ESL plan.
The ESL was about increasing profits via global expansion with like-minded invitation-only clubs. However, what followed was a massive backlash from fans and former players. The Super League collapsed after all six English clubs withdrew from the competition and left the £4.5bn league to rot just in a paper.
Top10 Football Moment 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Manchester United: Many reports were suggesting that Ronaldo was headed for a move to the blue side of Manchester which caused disbelief amongst many Manchester United supporters and were hopeful that Ronaldo would rather come back to his old club. But an announcement by Manchester United completed shocked the fans in which they confirmed that the Portuguese forward will return to Old Trafford.
Pep Guardiola’s side turned their attentions to Ronaldo once their top target, Harry Kane, decided to remain at Tottenham Hotspur. However, City pulled out of the deal, allowing the 36-year-old to rejoin United after he was persuaded to make his Old Trafford return following WhatsApp conversations with former teammates and fatherly figure Sir Alex Ferguson.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to the Premier League club for the first time as an 18-year-old from Sporting CP in 2003 and won three Premier League titles and the Champions League before joining Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-world-record fee of £80 million. The Portugal international was United’s fourth signing of the summer, following Tom Heaton, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.
Football YearEnder 2021: The best moments in Football from the year 2021; Messi’s Barca exit, Ronaldo returns home & Eriksen’s collapse
The Ballon d’Or Injustice? – Lionel Messi won a record-breaking seventh Ballon d’Or but in his speech, the Argentine and Paris Saint-Germain striker made an honest admission and said that it was Robert Lewandowski who deserved the honour. “I would like to mention Robert Lewandowski, it’s been a real honour to compete with you. Everyone knows and we agree that you were the winner last year. I think France Football should award you your 2020 Ballon d’Or – you deserve it and you should have it at home,” he added.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time, beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer’s most prestigious trophy yet again.
Lewandowski lost by a margin of 33 points and was placed second. In a mind-blowing season, the Polish striker scored 41 goals in just 29 games and broke Gerd Mueller’s record. Lewandowski was widely viewed as the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or in 2020 but the awards were cancelled that last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision was heavily criticized with many players and fans asking for justice.
‘Ole’s not at the wheel’: Manchester United axed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following a string of poor results where the Red Devils recorded just one win in seven Premier League matches. While the club did make it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, what went against the Norwegian was United’s gradual decline of form in the domestic league. Further, key players who performed at the highest level arrived, many of his inconsistencies as a coach began emerging.
After taking the manager’s job in 2018, Solskjaer did make some considerable progress with the squad but failed to land any silverware. An embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Watford proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Solskjaer. Following his depearture many players and fans outpoured their love for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they didn’t like the way things ended but it was time for someone else to come in.
Football YearEnder 2021: The best moments in Football from the year 2021; Messi’s Barca exit, Ronaldo returns home & Eriksen’s collapse
Re-draw of Champions League Round of 16: In an unprecedented and bizarre sequence of events, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was forced to redo the Champions League Round-of-16 draw after an error surfaced in the original procedure. That first draw came up with eight matchups which included a dream match-up of PSG vs Manchester United, potentially making it a face-off between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, it was scrapped off due to errors that UEFA blamed on third-party software. Teams from the same group and country are not permitted to face one another according to tournament rules, but the software apparently failed to adhere to them. UEFA was forced to acknowledge the result as void and order a redraw three hours later.
Football YearEnder 2021: The best moments in Football from the year 2021; Messi’s Barca exit, Ronaldo returns home & Eriksen’s collapse