The Round Football Column 12.26.07: 129th Edition – Top 50 Moments of 2007 - Part One
Posted by on 12.26.2007
Paul Robinson, Obafemi Martins and even Big Dave Nugent appear in part one of this look back at the football year. One Click Away.
Hello and all that.
I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted…….and other pleasantries.
For a laugh, I'm going to count down the top 50 football moments of 2007. Why not? It could be fun. I know I'll get stick for avoiding Stuttgart's Bundesliga win or some forty-yard cracker in the MLS, but it's only a bit of fun.
Let's go…….
50. Dave Nugent vs. Crystal Palace
Before he turned into the awkward, bumbling excuse of a Prem striker at Portsmouth, Nugent was an accomplished Championship hitman. During an FA Cup tie for Preston at Selhurst Park, Big Dave picked up the ball on the halfway line and did this:
49. Bojan's close call
The wonderkid from the famous Barcelona school of breeding has been seeing a lot of action in the first half of the La Liga season, and if he converted this audacious slice of beautiful spontaneity at Osasuna he would already be a world superstar:
48. Chelsea 3 Tottenham 3 – FA Cup Quarter Final
Sunday mornings can be boring, but sometimes a bit of healthy FA Cup action will spark your day into life. Spurs were big game bottlers once again, following on from their capitulation from 2-0 up in the League Cup semi against Arsenal, but this was still glorious entertainment – something we weren't used to seeing at Stamford Bridge.
47. Robbo scores past rival Foster
Spurs keeper, Paul Robinson was going through a tough time with the media and folk were talking up Ben Foster's chances of replacing the former Leeds stopper in the England team. Of course, this happened when Foster's Watford traveled to White Hart Lane:
46. Atletico's goal fest
Atletico Madrid's famous Calderon stadium has seen more goals already this season than in the last two years combined. Between Halloween and Christmas, Atletico Madrid were involved in three…..count em…….three 4-3 scorelines. They beat Recreativo and Sevilla, but this is what happened against Villarreal in the last-minute courtesy of the in-form Turkey striker, Nihat:
45. Elano vs. Newcastle
Elano capped off an impressive start to his Man City career with an unbelievable free-kick at home to Newcastle. The technique and accuracy is just insane.
44. Van Persie vs. Inter
Pre-season is usually just a big tease for the new season, but at The Emirates Cup we saw signs of what was to come from the Henry-less Arsenal side. Robin van Persie in particular was trying some new tricks, and came up with this in the process:
43. Torres vs. Chelsea
There were certainly better goals in 2007, but some of those may not have included the special, big-game feeling this one had. The TV cameras were there, the world was watching and Fernando Torres took the game by the scruff of the neck to give Tal Ben Haim nightmares for months.
42. Crouch treble vs. Arsenal
After the two cup defeats to Arsenal, Liverpool were looking to attain a little revenge during the Prem clash. Not only did they get it in style with a 4-1 win, but a gangly superhero named Peter Crouch bagged a hat-trick. The perfect treble, some might say. Left foot, right foot and header. If Rooney did this the tabloids would be getting their cocks out:
41. Van Nistelrooy vs. Valencia
Perfection is an overused word, but damn this was a special goal from start to finish:
40. Keane wins promotion
He may be struggling in the Prem and goals like the one below may have arrived with unbelievable frequency to help the situation, but for Keano to take that Sunderland side from bottom to champions was remarkable.
39. Bellamy vs. Barça
Craig Bellamy is a nutter. If he smacks John Arne Riise round the head with a golf club and then scores at the Nou Camp a few days later, he's probably going to come up with some related celebration. It was tedious, but I guess it was a big moment.
38. Seb Larsson vs. Tottenham
Juande Ramos has rejuvenated the Tottenham side since his move from Sevilla, but not even he could deny Sebastian Larsson his moment in the spotlight in the closing seconds at the Lane……….and he was an ex-gooner. Oops.
37. England U-21 Penno Shoot-out vs. Holland
Two exciting young teams, with penalty drama to go down in the history books.
36. Liverpool 1 Arsenal 3 – FA Cup Third Round
The pick of last season's third round draw and a tie of huge significance for all Liverpool fans mourning the Hillsborough tragedies. However, once the football started Arsenal had one of their rare good days from the 06/07 campaign. Two goals from Tomas Rosicky and Thierry Henry's famous legal raping of Jamie Carragher gave the visitors a 3-1 win. Unbelievable night though, with The Kop actually living up to their exaggerated reputation.
35. Liverpool 8 Besiktas 0
A mere month after Arsenal had equaled Juventus's Champions League record of biggest win, Liverpool went one better:
34. Totti wins golden boot
The improving Roma side decided to build their team around Italian Golden Boy, Francesco Totti last season and play him centrally on his own. 26 goals later and Totti was the cream of Europe's strikers.
33. Liam Ridgewell OG vs. Villa
When you become the first player in many years to leave Aston Villa for Birmingham, you don't really want to score an own goal in the derby. Liam Ridgewell had other plans:
32. Drogba wins cup final
It was one of the worst FA Cup finals in my lifetime, and there have been a lot of stinkers, but it still showcased a shining moment to turn the game. After a superb season, Didier Drogba ended it in style with the winner.
31. Martins vs. Tottenham
This didn't even make the Match of the Day shortlist for goal of the season, but I thought it was incredible. Newcastle are notoriously awful in London, but they won a cracking Super Sunday match at White Hart Lane in January. Much thanks for that goes to Oba Martins who struck one of the fiercest shots I've ever seen.
