The Ten Key Footballing Moments of the Decade

This is my second "..of the decade" list. These things are always subjective and I am ready for the backlash: the list is unashamedly based on the view of an English football fan and includes five on-pitch and five off-pitch moments.

England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich
After Keegan´s walkout, England fans feared not making the Japan-Korea World Cup. Sven Göran Eriksson inspired the national team to a series of victories in the remaining qualifiers, and the icing on the cake was this 1st September 2001 win, in which Michael Owen notched a hat-trick. The Germans being Germans, they still went on to be the most successful European side in the following year´s World Cup Finals.

The Collapse of ITV Digital
The cost of the football rights was the main reason for the 2002 liquidaton of the company and its failure to be forced to pay (the Football League´s lawyers – Hammonds – were sued for 150 million pounds but asked to pay only four pounds in damages) meant it was the league teams which suffered, having budgeted for the television contract.

A ten point penalty for entering administration
Football league club woes were added to two years later when the league introduced a penalty for those clubs entering administration (a procedure allowing businesses to keep operating without being forced to sell assests in order to pay their debts). This has affected a number of clubs – most recently Southampton – and threatens more this season. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of teams having points deducted for other (often related) reasons and that the number of points deducted has shown a gradual increase (ask Luton fans).

France 0 Senegal 1
Pape Bouba Diop´s goal provided one of the biggest World Cup shocks in history. The holders went out at the first hurdle without scoring a goal and unfancied teams such as South Korea, Japan and Turkey performed far better than anyone expected. The trend in non-favourites exceeding expectations continued into Euro 2004, and culminated with Greece winning that competition.

Leeds implode
After 14 years in the top flight and extensive loans taken out to chase the dream (I´m not sure they quite lived it), Leeds went into freefall and – after suffering a ten point deduction as outlined above – plunged to football´s third tier. The financial problems associated with adapting to relegation from the English Premier League have been experienced more recently by a number of teams including Charlton.

Abramovich buys Chelsea
While many Football League clubs were impoverished, in 2003 the world´s super-rich began to see the English Premier League as an outlet for the pesky interest on their billions. Roman bought Chelsea back to back titles (with no little help from Jose Mourinho) and since then Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City (twice), Manchester United, Portsmouth (twice) and most recently Birmingham have been sold to foreign owners, though admittedly with differing levels of benefits to the clubs concerned.

Zidane uses his head
“Magic is sometimes very close to nothing at all”: the thoughts of the great French player some time before he headbutts Mazerrati and ends his final professional match as the first man to be sent off in a World Cup Final.

Andres Iniesta scores against Chelsea
The late late Barcelona goal prevented a second all-English final in a row, which would have been the first time ANY two teams met in consecutive European Cup/Champions League Finals. Much of the world felt grateful until they were forced to sit through the lamentable Manchester United – Barcelona final.

Spain win Euro 2008
The “perennial underachievers” ™ finally shrugged off that title in style.

Real go for Galacticos II
After Barcelona´s fine year, their great Spanish rivals Real Madrid went on a spending spree to shame Roman Abramovich, yet their purchase of Manchester United´s Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool´s Xabi Alonoso may prove to benefit Chelsea more than anyone else in English football. The resurgence in Spanish football might also see a decline in English clubs recent (relative) domination of the final stages of the Champions League.

How wrong did I get it? What would you include in your key footballing moments of the decade?