1. Robin van Persie’s headed goal against Spain in Salvador
In my book it was the best goal of the World Cup, though I recognise there was strong competition from James Rodríguez and Tim Cahill, but in terms of being memorable it is already becoming part of indelible tournament folklore, to be replayed for as long as World Cups last. Not only was the goal improbable, in that it came from nowhere and demanded incredible co-ordination and execution from the scorer, it was significant. It put the skids under Spain for the first time in four tournaments. As with Van Persie’s Superman act, no one saw that coming.
2. Gareth Bale’s sprint out of play and back to score the winning goal in the Copa del Rey against Barcelona
More bad news for tiki-taka. Spectacle, speed and strength are still enduring qualities in football, and when they combine to produce a stunning winner five minutes from the end of a cup final the result is irresistible, as was the commentary from Real’s in house television crew. Xabi Alonso confessed he had never seen a goal quite like it, and it is doubtful anyone else in the Mestalla had either.
Bale scored a goal in the Champions League final too, helping secure la décima and complete a memorable season for Madrid, but his Copa del Rey effort captured the imagination most.
3. Brazil 1-7 Germany
In the sense of remembering exactly where you were when this car-crash of a World Cup semi-final took place, Germany’s unforgettable demolition of the hosts may be the most memorable football moment of the century, never mind just 2014. It was not a complete surprise, as anyone who had been paying attention to events in Brazil would have known that Germany were running hot while the home team were struggling to live up to expectations, but since when have World Cup semis turned into routs? When was the last time Brazil took such a World Cup battering? (Don’t bother checking, they never have before.) “We froze for six minutes,” Manchester City’s Fernandinho admitted. “That killed the game for us, but we will probably be answering questions about it for the rest of our lives.”
4 England 0-3 Germany
Yes, another German rout, this time in a women’s international at Wembley in November, but at least this time the home side did not fall apart and concede a record score. Thanks in part to an early own goal Germany were two up after 12 minutes and had assumed an unassailable 3-0 lead by the interval, yet the game was never as one-sided as the men’s World Cup semi. The major talking point in any case was the crowd. Over 45,000 people turned up at Wembley to watch, and more might have come along had not a cap been put on ticket sales to prevent London’s transport system overheating. England Women have not beaten Germany in 20 attempts but as next year’s World Cup approaches there is no shortage of interest in their progress.
5. David Moyes and the Grim Reaper at Goodison Park
Not a particularly smart or tasteful stunt, but a reminder of what managers have to put up with these days, and a slick, if sick, image to conjure the living hell of Moyes’s final few games at Manchester United. To say Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans for the succession did not work out might be the understatement of 2014, although the botch began in the summer of the previous year when Moyes was made an offer he did not feel he could turn down. His task proved an impossible one and support almost visibly slipped away. Now United have a new manager, the sort of supercoach Ferguson originally tried to resist, and Moyes is having to remake his reputation abroad. With hindsight, what Ferguson should have realised is how much the club had grown since his own appointment in 1986. Sticking to the same recruitment template was never going to work.
6. Luis Suárez bites Giorgio Chiellini in Natal
The Uruguayan striker is no stranger to World Cup controversy – he handled on the line against Ghana in 2010 and joked about his goalkeeping ability once his side had survived his dismissal to progress at the Africans’ expense – but another bite on the biggest stage was the last thing anyone expected in Brazil. Once it happened it became clear that Suárez was out of control, unable to help himself and in need of a swift move to La Liga to prevent the English media making his persecution complex any worse. He got his way and since he has yet to seriously hurt an opponent with his teeth, let alone kill anyone, he probably deserves the benefit of the doubt. But still, not the sort of thing one can easily forget or forgive.
7. Crystal Palace 3-3 Liverpool
Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea is what everyone is still singing about, the symbolic moment when Liverpool’s unlikely challenge slipped away, yet the next game at Selhurst Park was even more dramatic and has the advantage, from the point of view of a review such as this, of killing two birds with one stone. Liverpool’s title bid was not the only story of the second half of last season, Palace’s incredible revival under Tony Pulis was another, which was why the Welshman rivalled Brendan Rodgers for manager of the year. Three goals up at one point, Liverpool conceded three late in the game, partly through trying to score more to boost their goal difference. At the end a distraught Suárez was too embarrassed to show his face, yet without his goals, as this season is proving, Liverpool would have been nowhere near the top.
8. Sergio Agüero’s hat-trick against Bayern Munich
Manchester City’s cause looked lost in their penultimate Champions League group game in November, even after having a man sent off the Germans had come back from a goal down to take control and lead 2-1. There seemed no point in even hoping, but Agüero is the sort of clinical finisher who thrives in those situations and given a chance almost always has the composure to score. His first goal in the game was a penalty, but he would most likely have scored had he not been illegally brought down. His second took advantage of a rare misplaced pass by Alonso, though he still had Manuel Neuer to beat, and by the time his third chance arrived in the closing seconds the entire stadium would have put money on him taking it. City have been hard work in Europe this season but they have had their moments of magic too.
9. MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United
You can’t beat a good giant-killing and, with respect to Wigan Athletic’s removal of Manchester City from the FA Cup for the second season running, here was one the whole country enjoyed.
Everyone likes to see expensive players given the runaround by enthusiastic journeymen and the expression on Luis van Gaal’s face alone was worth cutting out to keep. There is one photograph, in fact, where Van Gaal is fronting up for the cameras, looking straight ahead without displaying any emotion, while next to him on the bench Ryan Giggs is hiding his face in his hands. “I am not shocked, I know what happens in football,” the new United manager said after a comprehensive defeat to a side that cost £500,000 to assemble. “A new team is not built in one month.”
10. Chile fans break into Maracanã stadium via media centre
This is not a personal memory, I was not at the Chile v Spain game, but alarm bells ought to be ringing when ordinary fans feel priced out of a World Cup in Brazil.
Geographical proximity allowed Chile supporters to travel to Rio in numbers, only to be dismayed at the price and limited availability of tickets to see their team. Perhaps that was naive, but football, even at a World Cup, should be more accessible. This was the most high-profile protest, even if it was poorly planned and not particularly successful, and it chimed with black flags on the Kop and similar grumbles about high prices and absurd scheduling in this country. Friday night football, anyone? 2014 was not just about Fifa scandals, though heaven knows there were enough of those, it was another bad year for football as the people’s game.
