It was an interesting 2014 in the world off football and for us at the Newfanzone we’ve come up with a review of some of the events that shaped our year, You can also send in your reviews, comments and sports stories to fanzone.fans@gmail.com or tweet @newfanzone or @El_pauleta on twitter.
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Nigeria:
The year 2014 was bitter sweet for Nigerian football. Here are the major high and low points in the Nigerian football scene in 2014;
* In Feburary 2014, The home base Eagles came third in the Africa Nations Championship(CHAN) in South Africa.
* In May 2014, Nigeria’s U-15 football team were crowned African champions after defeating Swaziland at the African Youth Games’ final match in Botswana
* In June 2014, The Super Eagles broke the 16 years jinx of not winning a game at the World Cup by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0. The Super Eagles were later knocked out in the round of 16 by former world champions France.
* In August 2014, Nigeria’s U-20 female team (Falconets) won Silver at the U-20 female World Cup in Canada after they were defeated in Extra time by Germany in the final. Nigeria’s Striker Asisat Oshoala won the Golden ball award as the best player of the competition and also won the Golden boot having scored seven goals and providing 2 assists
* After so much power play in the football house which saw Aminu Maigairi and Chris Giwa been President of the NFF in the same year; In September 2014, Amaju Pinnick emerged the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following his victory in an election held in Warri.
*In October 2014, The Super Falcons of Nigeria defeated Cameroon 2-0 in the African Women Championship final to win the competition for the 7th time.
* In November 2014, The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals holding in Equatorial Guinea next month, no thanks to inconsistent performances in the qualifiers.
* Kano Pillars won the Nigeria Professional Football League(NPFL) for the third straight season ahead of Enyimba of Aba. Mfon Udoh of Enyimba scored 23 goals to become Nigeria’s top flight league all-time record scorer.
* Enyimba defeated Dolphins of Port-Harcourt in the Federation cup final in Lagos to retain the cup they won in 2013.
*In December 2014, The Nigeria Sand Eagles failed to defend their Copa Lagos title after losing out to Ivory Coast.
* In what summarises the Super Eagles performance in the FIFA Ranking, the African champions are ending 2014 as 43 in the world and ninth in Africa.
* After a 16 year absence from the Nigerian football Scene Stationery Stores Fc made a return to the second tier of the Nigerian League but the club was eventually relegated, but the one of the highest in Nigeria’s football scene in 2014 was the sold out South west Derby between Stationery Stores Fc and Shooting Stars of Ibadan, The game ended 2-0 in favour of the Lagos team.
World Football Scene:
* In January 2014, Manchester United completed the signing of Juan Mata from Chelsea for a then British transfer record fee of £37.1 million.
*In March 2014, Manuel Pellegrini won his first trophy as Manchester City manager after defeating Sunderland 3-1 in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley.
* In April 2014,After 10months into the job at Manchester United,Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor David Moyes was sacked due to a run of dismal results.
Former Barcelona Tito Villanova who had been battling with Cancer died at the age of 45.
* In May 2014, Manchester United hired former Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal on a three-year contract.
* Atletico Madrid won their first Spanish La Liga title in 18 years.
Arsenal won their first major trophy in 9 years after defeating Hull City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Manchester City won the Barclays Premier league title for the fourth time at the expense of Liverpool.
Sevilla defeated Benfica on penalties to win the UEFA Europa League final in Turin.
Real Madrid’s quest for ‘La Decima’ finally came to an end as they defeated Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Lisbon.
*In June 2014, Chelsea completed the signing of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona for £27million on a five-year contract.
Brazil hosted the 20th FIFA World Cup in twelve cities.
* In July 2014, Luis Suárez was suspended for nine international matches and banned from taking part in any football-related activity (including entering any stadium) for four months, following a biting incident on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
Germany become the first European team to win a world cup in South American soil after defeating Argentina 1-0 in Extra time in Rio de Janeiro.
Colombian forward James Rodríguez was awarded the Golden Boot for scoring six goals at World Cup.
Messi was awarded the Golden ball as the most valuable player at the 2014 World Cup.
Brazil sacked Legendary coach Luis Felipe Scolari following their 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup.
Antonio Conte left his position as Juventus manager by mutual consent after four years in charge and was replaced by former AC Milan coach Max Allegri.
Barcelona completed the signing of Luiz Suarez from Liverpool for a fee in the region of £75million.
Real Madrid signed World cup star James Rodriquez from Monaco for £63million.
* In August 2014, Manchester United signed winger Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of £59.7million.
* Liverpool completed the signing of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan for £16million
Real Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup by defeating Europa League Champions Sevilla 2-0 at the Millenium stadium in Cardiff
*In September 2014,Arsenal completed the signing of Danny Welbeck for £16million
* Manchester United completed the loan signing of Ramadel Falcao from Monaco.
*In November 2014, Morocco officially withdrew from hosting the 2015 African Cup of Nations.
* The Draws for Copa America 2015 was made in host country Chile.
* CAF awarded the hosting rights of 2015 African Cup of Nations to Equatorial Guinea after Morocco refused to host due to fears about the Spread of Ebola.
*In December 2014,Real Madrid won the FIFA World Club championship by defeating South American champions San Lorenzo 2-0 in Marakesh,Morocco.
* American Lawyer Michael Garcia resigned as head of FIFA ethics committee in protest over the handling of his findings.
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