2008 Football memories

If only the rain had not totally drenched Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. If only he had worn longer studs. If only.

When he is old and grey, with grandchildren racing round his knees, John Terry will still think about that fateful night in Russia. With love? Not even a hint of fondness.

Terry is a man anyone would want in their team. Strong, dependable. What he lacks in pace he makes up for in heart, tenacity and bravery.

But in the one split-second of his entire career when he needed everything to go right, it all went wrong.

He can amass as many England caps as he likes, lift all manner of trophies for Chelsea. It will never erase the memory of that night. Terry did not lose the Blues the Champions League final in the land that gave birth to Roman Abramovich, that ignominy fell to Nicolas Anelka.

But Terry stopped them winning it. Firing wide when to hit the net would have given Chelsea victory over Manchester United.

Instead, it was those two great knights of the realm, Sirs Alex Ferguson and Bobby Charlton who danced in the rain, along with about 40,000 sodden souls wearing red. The tears of those in blue just added to the soaking they suffered.

Terry's miss was the defining moment of 2008, a year of some extraordinary highs, with a few lamentable lows, of hyperbole beyond belief. And of an unspeakably horrific tragedy while, not part of the game itself, should forever serve as a reminder that with status comes responsibility.

Football cannot be blamed for the awful deaths of Arron and Ben Peak. Yet it has created an environment where some of its protagonists feel they are above the law. They are not and never will be. At the start of 2008, Luke McCormick was a goalkeeper of rich promise for Plymouth. He ends the year locked in a prison cell, knowing his seven-year sentence has an end, the same cannot be said for the parents of the two young victims of his drink-drive folly.

Should McCormick be fortunate enough to resume his career, he must devote every spare second to warn of the perils that affect every level of society but seem magnified in football players.

In acknowledging nothing that happens on a football field can come close to the utter devastation the Peak family must endure for the rest of their lives, there is still so much to discuss.

The Champions League was the icing on a Manchester United cake that was created around a 10th Premier League title win.

Apart from Ferguson, Ryan Giggs is the only member of the Old Trafford set to have been involved in all 10. How fitting therefore that the veteran Welshman should score the goal at Wigan - on the day he equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record - that sealed the championship for a second year running.

The big four were, once again, the top four and the signs since suggest the gaps that were opening inside it have, in Liverpool's case, been closed. Time will tell if Rafael Benitez's side can bring the title back to Merseyside after a 19-year wait but the mere fact they could make a fight of it is something to celebrate.

What is really intriguing is how long it will take, or indeed if, Manchester City can get themselves in position to gatecrash those four big names.

Everton have come close, Aston Villa are inching nearer. But you sense it will take the kind of riches now available at City thanks to the injection of cash from Abu Dhabi.

Yet the early signs are not that encouraging.

After outspending all his top-flight rivals in the summer, Mark Hughes presides over a team precariously placed just three points above the relegation zone, eliminated from the Carling Cup at Brighton and his backroom team suggesting agents are trying to stir up trouble as they scramble for a slice of Blue pie. As ever, nothing is predictable at City.

Sadly, some aspects of the game are becoming increasingly predictable. The weekly clamour for a 'crisis' has had quite an impact.

Sam Allardyce was given half a season at Newcastle, Paul Ince will do well to last that long at Blackburn. Such knee-jerk reactions fly in the face of logic seen through the eyes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, David Moyes and, to a lesser extent, Gareth Southgate, whose prolonged periods in charge of their respective clubs bear witness to the need for continuity and time.

Yet how difficult it must be for club chief executives when headlines scream and phone-ins whip up a fervour totally out of proportion to the events taking place.

At one point, immediately after the FA Cup quarter-finals when both teams who reached the European final in Moscow were knocked out, we were asked whether this was the best FA Cup? Ever? That's 136 years of history. And we had not even had the semi-finals! The concept is so ridiculous it is laughable. Yet over an hour was spent mulling over this illogical and ill-considered topic.

For the record, it was marvellous to hear the Pompey Chimes ring round Wembley, fantastic too that Cardiff should be there to play some part. But I don't think the occasion quite matched the epics of Stanley Matthews, Ricky Villa, Ian Porterfield and Lawrie Sanchez - and that's just post World War II.

To see Tottenham's name on the Carling Cup was a reminder of the days when they were a big four club, days Harry Redknapp will painstakingly try to recreate. Give the man time and he might just get there.

Time is one thing Fabio Capello will definitely get after a brilliant first year in charge.

To beat Croatia in Zagreb was fabulous. To cap 2008 by defeating Germany, in Berlin, with a second string squad, was in its way even better and hinted at far better to come.

2009 will be a bigger year for Capello. 2010 even bigger still.

Because if Capello returns from South Africa accompanied by a gold trophy, it will be the biggest thing in the universe. Ever.

(source espnstar.com)