2000s: The Decade in Sports (Soccer) - 足球

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/09/soccer.hig
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Soccer: Highlights and lowlights

By Grant Wahl, SI.com

PLAYER OF THE DECADE: Zinedine Zidane, France
Zizou gets our Player of the Decade nod, barely beating out Ronaldinho, who
also won two World Player of the Year awards this decade but didn't have
anything approaching Zidane's longevity at the top of the global game. No
player since Diego Maradona has provided as much joy to viewers who love the
artistry of soccer. Case in point: France's stunning upset of Brazil in the
2006 World Cup quarterfinals, in which Zidane rediscovered his mojo on the
game's biggest stage. (Bonus points for scoring the greatest goal of the
decade in the 2002 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen.)

BEST MANAGER: Guus Hiddink
In Guus We Trust: That's the slogan that has defined Hiddink, who
overachieved with so many teams this decade, at both club and national-team
level, that it was easy to lose count. There was South Korea (World Cup '02
semifinalist), Australia (World Cup '06 second round), Russia (Euro 2008
semifinalist), PSV Eindhoven ('05 Champions League semifinalist) and Chelsea
('09 Champions League semifinalist). Hiddink may not have qualified Russia
for the 2010 World Cup, but he will be in demand everywhere the game is
played.

BEST WORLD CUP GAME: USA 3, Portugal 2 in 2002
If you weren't from this part of the world, you'd probably come up with other
choices here, such as Brazil's 2-1 win over England in the '02 quarterfinals,
Argentina's 2-1 extra-time victory over Mexico in the '06 second round,
Germany's thrilling quarterfinal victory over Argentina in '06 or Italy's 2-0
win over Germany in the '06 semis. But I'm going with the U.S.' upset special
over Portugal for a few reasons: 1) The U.S.' early 3-0 lead was absolutely
stunning (and deserved), 2) Portugal gave it drama by striking back twice, 3)
both teams actually played well, and 4) it set the stage for the Americans'
run to the quarterfinals, easily the most impressive World Cup performance in
U.S. men's history.

BEST NON-WORLD CUP GAME: Liverpool beats AC Milan, 2005 Champions League final
It seemed like an insurmountable advantage when Milan took a 3-0 lead that
night in Istanbul. But soccer is an unpredictable game, and Liverpool
proceeded to make history, scoring three unanswered goals before prevailing
on penalties. Easily one of the greatest games in the history of the sport.

BEST NATIONAL TEAM: Brazil
It may not feature the no-holds-barred attacking of its glorious teams in the
1960s and '70s, but Brazil was still the gold standard of world soccer in the
first decade of the 21st century. Paced by the remarkable comeback of
Ronaldo, Brazil won its fifth World Cup in 2002, and while the
yellow-jerseyed magicians crapped out in the quarters in '06, they also
managed to win two Confederations Cup titles (in 2005 and '09) and two Copa Am
érica crowns (in 2004 and '07). It would be nice if current coach Dunga
abandoned his two-defensive-midfielder approach, but why would he? After all,
Brazil is the odds-on favorite to win the 2010 World Cup.

BEST CLUB TEAM: Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson's magisterial outfit won only one Champions League title in
this decade, but those six English Premier League crowns are easily enough to
be recognized as the team of the decade. What's remarkable about Ferguson is
his ability not just to spot talent (Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy,
Nemanja Vidic) but also to know when to discard it (David Beckham, van
Nistelrooy, Ronaldo). Does anyone doubt that Ferguson will be able to
reinvent this team again?

CINDERELLA: South Korea, 2002
The South Koreans had never won a World Cup game until co-hosting the '02
tournament, but they made up for that in a hurry. the Reds won their
first-round group and took down European powerhouses Italy and Spain to reach
the semifinals. Soccer fever gripped the Korean peninsula, and even if there
will always be questions about the refereeing in the Spain and Italy games,
the South Koreans' march to the final four of global soccer (where they
finally fell to Germany) was a sight to behold.

BIGGEST OVERACHIEVER: Greece, '04 European champion
The European Championship is considered by most pundits to be the
highest-quality soccer tournament in the world (the World Cup has too many
also-rans), which makes the Greeks' out-of-nowhere triumph even more
stunning. Coached by a stubborn German (Otto Rehhagel) who favored stifling
defenses over entertainment, Greece took out France, the Czech Republic and
host Portugal in the knockout rounds to book its place in sports history. At
the '04 Olympics in Athens, you got the sense that the Greeks were prouder of
their soccer championship than of hosting the Games.

BIGGEST UNDERACHIEVER: Argentina
The magnificently talented Albicelestes may have won World Cups in 1978 and
'86, but this decade has been one long disaster. Favored by many to win the
World Cup before both the '02 and '06 events, the Argentines went out in the
first round in '02 and in the quarterfinals in '06 (on penalties to Germany).
Nor could Argentina even manage a triumph in the Copa América (losing in the
final to Brazil in both 2004 and '07) or in the Confederations Cup (losing to
Brazil in the '05 final). Has one of the world's great soccer countries
forgotten how to raise a trophy?

BIGGEST CONTROVERSY: Italian soccer scandal
The corruption in Italian soccer was deep-seated in the mid-2000s, but no
Serie A club was shadier than Juventus, which was demoted to Serie B in '06
after its director Luciano Moggi was found to have manipulated the
assignments of referees for Serie A games. Juve earned its way back to Serie
A for the following season, but the scandal caused dozens of players to
change teams and left a bitter aftertaste that continues to haunt the Italian
club game, which is a shadow of what it was a decade ago.

HOTTEST FEUD: Landon Donovan-David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy (2009)
It isn't often that the two biggest stars of a team get into a public war of
words, but that's exactly what happened when Donovan questioned Beckham's
leadership, effort and commitment in the book The Beckham Experiment. In his
European career, Beckham had never been called out so directly by one of his
teammates. Donovan and Beckham eventually patched up their differences,
Donovan apologizing for the way his comments were delivered if not for their
content. The Galaxy would go on to rebound and reach the MLS Cup final, and
even the commissioner of MLS would say that the publicity surrounding the
feud had been good for the league.

SIGNATURE PLAY: Zidane's pirouette
The greatest soccer player since Maradona could do many things with
unparalleled aesthetic grace, but none more so than the maneuver in which a
moving Zizou would place his toe onto the ball, turn and pivot in one fluid
motion to skin an unsuspecting defender. Zidane's move combined the spatial
awareness of Michael Jordan with the artistry of Rudolf Nureyev. No one today
does it like Zizou did.

UNDER-THE-RADAR STORY: The MLS players' lawsuit (2000)
In late 2000, a federal court in Boston ruled that Major League Soccer's
single-entity structure was legal, finding for the league owners in a lawsuit
brought by the MLS players with the help of the NFL Players Association. The
players claimed that MLS was an illegal monopoly designed to rein in spending
on players, but the court found otherwise, creating a precedent that may
eventually be followed in other leagues around the world. As European leagues
seek to rein in costs, they may try to follow MLS' example, if not by
becoming single-entity businesses but at least by instituting hard salary
caps.

BIGGEST MELTDOWN: Zinedine Zidane, France
In the final game of his remarkable career, minutes away from perhaps winning
his second World Cup, Zidane did the unthinkable. After a garden-variety
verbal exchange with Italian defender Marco Materazzi, Zidane turned and
head-butted his foe in the chest with so much force that it knocked Materazzi
onto his back. It was an obvious red card. Italy would go on to win the
trophy on penalties, and Zidane would leave us wondering how on earth he
could have lost his composure, leaving such an indelible final image.

BEST TRASH TALKER: Marco Materazzi, Italy
Not many trash-talkers are so convincing that their words can provoke targets
to respond with physical brutality. Dennis Rodman was one who could, but so
is Materazzi, who delivered his mot juste to Zidane with such conviction
("I'd rather have your sister") that the Frenchman lost his mind. Love the
Matrix or hate him, but you have to respect the fact that he knew how to sell
the line.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL STORY: U.S. women's team, 2008 Olympic gold medal
You could have forgiven the U.S. women for thinking their chances of winning
gold in China were dashed when leading scorer Abby Wambach -- by far the
team's most dangerous attacking threat -- broke her leg on the eve of the
tournament. But the Americans bounced back from an opening-game loss to
Norway and went on a stunning run to win the tournament, knocking off heavily
favored Brazil in the final. The star of the game was goalkeeper Hope Solo --
the same Solo who'd been involved in the team's greatest controversy after
being benched for the '07 World Cup semifinal, a 4-0 loss to the same
Brazilians. The lesson? Perseverance pays off.

BIGGEST VILLAIN: Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexico
The old string-puller for El Tri is the kind of cartoon villain you love to
hate. A tireless instigator whose job is to get inside his opponents' heads,
Blanco will do whatever it takes: diving, elbowing, kicking and even standing
over his foes with theatrical bravado. That he still has the skills to win
games makes him all the more maddening (unless he's on your team).

PYRRHIC VICTORY: France vs. Ireland, 2009
The historical record will show that France prevailed in its World Cup 2010
qualifying playoff against Ireland by an aggregate score of 2-1. But anyone
who saw Thierry Henry's blatant hand ball on France's decisive extra-time
goal will know that les Bleus and Henry lost far more than they won in this
game. When the whistle blows on France's opening game in South Africa next
summer, les Bleus and their biggest star will be playing without the world's
respect.

BEST CLUB RIVALRY: Manchester United vs. Arsenal
The venom going back and forth between United and Arsenal in the mid-2000s
was often just as entertaining as the majestic games themselves. Both teams
won multiple Premiership titles this decade, and Arsenal's undefeated 2003-04
season remains the league's greatest achievement of the past 10 years. Best
of all, the constant sniping between Ferguson and Arsène Wenger is
guaranteed to add a storyline to the pre- and postgame festivities.

BEST NATIONAL-TEAM RIVALRY: France vs. Italy
Even if we can't count the '98 World Cup quarterfinal, in which France
outlasted Italy on penalties, les Bleus and the Azzurri engaged in two of the
most memorable big games of all time this decade. In the Euro 2000 final,
Italy was seconds away from winning 1-0 in Rotterdam when Sylvain Wiltord's
last-ditch goal sent the game into extra time. David Trézéguet's golden
goal gave France a 2-1 win and made les Bleus the first team to hold the
World Cup and European Championship trophies at the same time since West
Germany in '74. The tables turned, though, in the '06 World Cup final, when
Italy came from behind to tie the game, then profited from Zidane's legendary
ejection to prevail on penalties.

OUTSIZED PERSONALITY: José Mourinho
Even before he dubbed himself "the Special One," Mourinho had established
himself as the new standard bearer for highly quotable, wildly arrogant and
undeniably successful soccer coaches worldwide. Knocking off Manchester
United and going on to win the Champions League in '04 with small-market FC
Porto gave Mourinho a launchpad and a soapbox, and he did not hesitate to use
both, whether he was leading Chelsea to two Premier League titles (and
filling the pages of the British tabloids) or guiding Inter Milan to
back-to-back Scudettos (and causing even the pink pages of La Gazzetta dello
Sport to blush).

BEST INNOVATION
High-definition soccer broadcasts. Soccer is all about creating and
maximizing space, and HD broadcasts are a revolutionary advance in presenting
those spatial relationships to soccer-addled viewers worldwide. No sport
improves more in HD than soccer does. It's that simple.

WORST INNOVATION: Tinkering with the ball
Before every World Cup we hear from the maker of the official ball that the
newest version represents some revolutionary technological advance that will
change the game forever. Just as predictably, goalkeepers will hate the new
ball, which they say knuckles and acts unnaturally. What's the point? Find a
ball design, stick with it, end of story.

BIGGEST NEAR-MISS: Torsten Frings' uncalled penalty
It's the great what-if question of American soccer: What if Frings' obvious
goal-line handball had been deemed a penalty by referee Hugh Dallas in the
second half of the U.S.' taut World Cup quarterfinal against Germany in '02?
Well, let's see: The U.S. probably would have tied the score at 1-1 on the
ensuing spot kick, and the Yanks could have taken control of the game with
the man advantage that would have resulted from Frings' ejection. Had the
U.S. won the game, in which it outplayed Germany, it would have set up a
semifinal matchup with South Korea, a team the Americans had beaten and tied
before. Long story short: If Frings's handball is called, it's not hard to
imagine the U.S. playing in the '02 World Cup final against Brazil.

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