Soccer2010's winners and losers

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2010 was a big year for Christine Sinclair and the Canadian women's team.

Doubtless, anticipating a backlash, Sepp Blatter got his excuses in first. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to notice the lecture he delivered about being good winners and losers before announcing the successful bids for the World Cups of 2018 and 2022.
 
As a matter of fact he's right. In football, as in life, for every winner there is a loser. For every tale of victory there must also be a story of the vanquished. For every smiling Muscovite, there is an angry Englishman; for every fist pumping Qatari, a frustrated American.
 
Taking my cue from the self styled Godfather of world soccer, without fear or favour, I offer my own personal list of 2010's winners and losers. Please feel free to add yours to the debate below.  
 
The Winners
 
The Canadian women's national team
 
People still talk about Edmonton 2002. It was the day nearly 50,000 fans turned up to watch Canada contest the final of the U-19 Women's World Championship. The U.S. won in extra time and several members of that squad went on to win bronze at the next two senior World Cups.
 
Canada, by contrast, has been sliding backwards. Until now. 2010 saw a resurgence designed by and demanded of Italian head coach Carolina Morace. The growing pains of a radically different playing style and attitude took time to subside.
 
But the work rate is paying dividends. Three titles in the calendar year, highlighted by the Gold Cup triumph in Mexico, is tangible reward. If 2002 was memorable and 2010 successful, keep watching. 2011 could be a defining moment for Canadian soccer.
 
Jose Mourinho
 
How much more special can he become? From the moment he led Inter Milan to a clinical victory at Stamford Bridge in March, there was never any doubt in my mind that Mourinho would taste Champions League success again.
 
His absolute belief in himself and his players' ability is boundless. Barcelona has probably been the best team on the planet for the last two or three years, but the mighty Spaniards were played off the park in the first leg of the semifinal and muted (Messi and all) in the decider.
 
Mourinho's contempt for authority continues to drag the game into a place it doesn't need to go. But despite the narcissism and gamesmanship, it's tough not to admire his body of work. Real Madrid has employed its 11th coach in seven years. This one might last a while.
 
Don Garber
 
The MLS commissioner makes my winners list for listening. He could/should be on the list of losers for only narrowly avoiding a players' strike early in the year, and/or for failing to re-structure the unfair playoff seedings at the other end of the season.
 
But at least Garber is now ready to do business with the world. He finally realizes FIFA dates are important and have a knock on effect on MLS. Having lopsided games between one team deprived of four of five internationals and another with a full strength squad cannot continue.
 
I also applaud him for reviving the MLS Reserve division. Cost cutting is sometimes unavoidable but young talent needs space to blossom. The next generation must be nurtured and developed within MLS so individual clubs can grow their own and give them a chance.
 
The Losers
 
The 2010 FIFA World Cup
 
Remember in the spring how we couldn't wait for it to start. By early July many of us couldn't wait for it to finish. This, by the way, has nothing to do with England's feeble effort in South Africa, though their collective failure to turn up was bettered only by Italy and, infamously, France.
 
This has everything to do with the fact that the World Cup can be won by a nation scoring only eight goals - in total. Certainly there were some surprises early on - including Spain's defeat to the Swiss. But once they found their rhythm, nobody could get the ball off them long enough to score.
 
Too many teams came not to lose, rather than to win. Too many officials got too many things wrong - Frank Lampard hasn't been the same since! It was all topped off by an ill-tempered, scrappy final accompanied by the vuvuzela serenade. I can still hear the buzzing in my head!    
 
Rafael Benitez
 
Life in football management is nothing if not precarious. All coaches accept their lot as an occupational hazard. So what on earth prompted Rafa Benitez to sign his own death warrant by venting at his employer after winning the little loved Club World Cup?
 
'Back me or sack me' ultimatums are, in general, poorly received by team owners. True, Benitez won two trophies in his six months with Inter. Unfortunately neither was of any significance - the precious metal had all been claimed by his predecessor.
 
This was the same Benitez who had left Liverpool under a cloud earlier in the year. A Liverpool team which had missed the Champions League by a country mile. Hamstrung by Hicks & Gillett? Perhaps, but Aquilani for Alonso? Don't make me laugh. An annus horribilis indeed.
   
Toronto FC
 
You didn't really think I would leave TFC out of this retrospective did you? Not a chance! I could sit here and butcher them again, but frankly, what's the point? The myriad of deficiencies have been dissected in minute detail in recent months.
 
If only the COO hadn't been so chummy with the GM. Had he been fired earlier, he wouldn't have hired a coach whose boot camp mentality lost the dressing room. And if only the club had treated its fans with a modicum of respect, the whole sorry mess could have been averted.
 
One can only hope lessons have been learned. If so, the fragile commodity that is professional soccer in Canada's biggest city can still be saved. Vancouver is about to hit the ground running. Toronto FC must learn to walk again before the rehabilitation can proceed.

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