Football in 2021: A Recap
By Jim James
What a year. The first major international tournament in 3 years, legends changing teams, near death experiences, goliath upsets, and unification of the community. 2021 had it all. Today, in the first few days of 2022, we’ll be recapping the year past, looking at all the major events in 2021, because there was no lack of them. Here we go.
#1: Madness in the Major Leagues
New ground was broken in many of the major leagues this year. Let’s explain some of them.
Lille wins Ligue 1 for the first time since they had Hazard
The 2020-21 Ligue 1 title race came down to the wire this year with a 1-0 win by Lille over PSG in April, the lone goal by Jonathan David, may have won Lille the title. This team didn’t have any stars, they worked well together. Players like former PSG GK Mike Maignan, Canadian Jonathan David, Jonathan Ikone, Sven Botman, and Yusuf Yazici all burst onto the scene this season while Burak Yilmaz, Jose Fonte, and Renato Sanches showed that they still have it. Although it has been a shoddy title defense this season, Lille are in the UCL knockouts after losing many of their title winners, and no one can take away the amazing season they had last year.
Antonio Conte’s Inter breaks Juventus’ title streak
The man who started the streak all those years ago was the only one that could break it. An uncharacteristically abysmal season by Juventus’ standards sees them only qualify for the Champions League by the hairs on their chinny-chin-chin, with Inter running away with the title. A revival season by Lukaku, Conte, de Vrij, and Eriksen as well as super seasons by Lautaro, Brosovic, Skriniar, Hakimi, and the rest of the Inter team got them to glory. How they placed 4th in their Champions League group that year I’ll never know.
Diego Simeone reminds the world he still exists
Even if Atlético didn’t win it, you could still make a case for the 2020-21 La Liga season being on this list. The 4 horse race for the crown ending with Atlético Madrid and Luis Suarez winning their first La Liga in over half a decade. Luis Suarez shows, Tom Brady-esque, that he can win without Messi, Messi’s Barca collapses to 3rd in the standings, and Real Madrid fall just millimetres short of the crown. But I think this season was meant to be.
Sporting breaks Porto and Benfica’s streak
Sporting are the Atlético Madrid of Portugal. They’re part of the big 3 of their league, yes, but they have to watch every year as Porto and Benfica hand each other the title every year. Like Atlético, this year they decided to take action and jump out of the shadows and intercept the league title. They had great youngsters, including Palhinha, Pedro Goncalves, Pedro Porro, Jovrane Cabral, Nuno Mendes, Luis Maximiano, Goncalo Inacio among others combined with great veterans, like Sebastian Coates, Joao Mario, Zouhair Feddal, Paulinho, and Adan. They deserved their title.
#2: Chelsea win the Champions League
Sure, this past Champions League was your average Champions League, great solo performances, upsets here and there, some entertaining matches, but an unforgettable moment was Kai Havertz’s counter attack before half time to put Chelsea up 1-0 and ultimately win them the game. I would never have put my money on Chelsea to win that final but they did. It was a great performance to keep Man City quiet, and they did it. Credit to them for that.
#3: Euro 2020
This was the first major international tournament since the world cup, and boy, it didn’t disappoint.
Cardiac Arrest of Christian Eriksen
I’m not saying this is a good thing, it most definitely is not. I just think it deserves a mention. I was watching the game live, it was only the 2nd day of the Euros, and I was not sure what to think when I saw Eriksen collapse. The ball had bounced off his leg so at first I thought he had just tripped over the ball. It was more than that. I give so much credit to the Denmark team, the medical staff, and Mike Dean for reacting the way that they did, especially Simon Kjaer, I’ll never forget his contribution. He had the idea of the wall, and was seen comforting Eriksen’s partner. Fair Play, in moments like these, we remember that this is more than a game.
The day Euro 2020 went mental
You know what I’m talking about. Monday, the 28th of June. Unai Simon’s mistake in the 20th minute to put Croatia up 1-0, Spain then making it 1-3, 2 late goals by Croatia to make it 3-3 at full time. Then 2 extra time goals by Spain, 3-5, an insane game. Then it was France vs Switzerland. A header in the 15th minute to put Switzerland up 1-0, France then making it 1-3, 2 late goals by Switzerland to make it 3-3 at full time. No Goals in extra time, and then Mbappe’s penalty miss to seal a massive upset for Switzerland. Crazy.
Italy winning Euro 2020
You can argue that they got an easy group and easy Round of 16 draw, by then they played 3 of the toughest teams on the planet and played them off the park. You could see this coming from a ways away, though. Italy looked like the only one of the teams that REALLY wanted to win. You knew that they wanted it more than everybody else. They were getting to more loose balls, winning more headers, mixing well, they just had all the necessary Components.
#4: Messi Wins his first international trophy.
Not MEDAL, Olympics, TROPHY. In the Copa America, he beat his old teammate Neymar in the final to get those demons off his back, coincidentally, on the 5th anniversary of Ronaldo winning Euro 2016. That could officially label him as the G.O.A.T..
#5: The Super League Backlash
As curious as I was to see the Super League, the coming together of the football community to demolish this idea brings a tear to the eye. The entire community, whether they were fans of rival clubs, big clubs, small, clubs, came together to speak out on this project. It all started falling apart within 72 hours of the announcement. It was amazing.
#6: Real Madrid 1, Sheriff Tiraspol 2
Unlikely. Outrageous. Stupendous. All adjectives liable to describe this masterpiece. Sheriff going up 1-0, the penalty by Benzema, and it would have been crazy enough there, but the 89th minute wondergoal by Sebastien Thill. It is probably the biggest upset in Champions League History without context. You’re never going to find another game like this. EVER.
There you go, the recap of the previous year in football. I’d say 2021 was a success. 2022 Predictions coming soon. Until next time.