Top 10 world football events of 2017

In an odd year without EURO and World Cup, world football still witnessed outstanding events and unique miracles.

1. Real Madrid breaks the Champions League curse

Since the Champions League was launched in 1992/93, no club has been able to defend the title, no matter how great or how good their squad. However, the Champions League curse has finally been broken by Real Madrid. A 4-1 victory over Juventus in the final in Cardiff in June helped Real become the first team in history to successfully defend the Champions League title. Truly worthy of the title of the best team of the 20th century.

2. Man United won the Europa League for the first time

Having to play in the Europa League in the 2016/17 season turned out to give Man United a chance to make history. Because after defeating Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 in the final in Stockholm (Sweden), Man United collected the last title they were missing, the Europa League. Thus, Man United became the 5th team in history (after Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea) to win all 3 major European championships including C1/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup.

3. Neymar breaks transfer record

On August 3, 2017, Barca's star striker Neymar officially joined PSG with a transfer contract worth 222 million euros. This figure broke all records in football history, far surpassing the transfer milestones set a few years ago. It should be noted that before Neymar came to PSG, the world football player purchase record only stopped at 105 million euros with the deal for Man United to recruit Paul Pogba from Juventus. And perhaps just a few years ago, no one could have imagined that the amount of money to buy a player could be equivalent to the value of a fleet of 3 Boeing 737s like it is now.

4. Many "big guys" missed the 2018 World Cup

12 years after the 2006 World Cup, the biggest football festival on the planet was held in Europe again. However, this World Cup was missing two of the most famous European teams, Italy and the Netherlands. While the Netherlands failed to get past the group stage, Italy lost its ticket to Sweden after two play-off matches. It was also a regrettable absence that the world witnessed Chile becoming an audience at the 2018 World Cup when they only finished 6th in the South American qualifiers. Of the three names mentioned above, Italy was the most regrettable because this was the first time since 1958 that the Azzurri had to miss a World Cup.

5. World Cup welcomes newcomers Iceland and Panama

The 2018 World Cup will welcome Iceland and Panama for the first time in their history. Iceland - after reaching the quarter-finals of EURO 2016 - continued to cause shock by finishing first in Group I of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. They are the team from the smallest country to ever qualify for a World Cup. Following Iceland, the small team Panama also qualified for the World Cup for the first time when they excellently won the 3rd ticket of the CONCACAF region right before the "big brother" of the region, the US team.

6. Messi single-handedly brought Argentina to the World Cup

Disappointing matches in the qualifying round put Argentina at risk of missing out on the 2018 World Cup. They entered the final match (against Ecuador) with the task of having to win to have a chance to play in the play-off for a ticket. But then, Lionel Messi made the whole country of Argentina crazy after he scored a hat-trick to help his team beat Ecuador 3-1. Thanks to this victory, Argentina even won a direct ticket to Russia because at the same time, their competitors Chile and Peru both stumbled. Chile lost 0-3 to Brazil and had to watch the audience while Peru drew 1-1 with Colombia and only won a ticket to the play-off.

7. Germany won the 2017 Confed Cup

A year before the 2018 World Cup, Germany reaffirmed their position as world leaders by winning the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. The reigning World Cup champions defeated Chile 1-0 in the final, with star midfielder Julian Draxler named the tournament's best player. It was Germany's first Confederations Cup win and the first time in 14 years that a European team had won the tournament since France won the Confederations Cup in 2003.

8. Chelsea returns to the Premier League throne

After a season disrupted by Leicester City's surprise takeover, the Premier League has returned to its usual order as Chelsea - a member of the giants - has returned to the throne. With the strategic skills of coach Antonio Conte, Chelsea finished 7 points ahead of second-placed Tottenham and made a strong impression with the revolutionary 3-defender formation in the Premier League. This formation of Conte has inspired other strategists and 3-4-3 is now the most popular formation not only in England but also in Europe.

9. Ronaldo won all individual titles

2017 can be considered a year of great success for Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition to the collective glory with Real and the World Cup ticket with the Portuguese national team, CR7 also won all the most prestigious individual titles in world football. He was voted "Best Player in Europe 2017" by UEFA, awarded "Best Player in the World" (The Best) by FIFA, won the 5th Golden Ball of his career when honored by France Football magazine. In December, he won the Best Player award of the Globe Soccer Awards 2017.

10. A series of football legends retire

Every year, a few stars say goodbye to the football field, but perhaps 2017 is the year that has seen the most legends retire. Football lovers have witnessed the farewells of Andrea Pirlo, Philipp Lahm, Xabi Alonso, Francesco Totti, Kaka, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Juan Veron. They were all outstanding players, even living legends during their time on the field. It will take a long time to find stars capable of replacing the above monuments in the minds of fans.

According to Tien Phong