Rather than come up with a list such as rising stars or predictions for the rest of the current season, I've decided to come up with five things that may make football a better place this year.
1. Kick Blatter out of football
Don't do that in Qatar Sepp
Sepp Blatter appears to have survived 2011's dictator cull (Gaddafi, Bin Laden, Kim Jong-Il didn't make it), but it seems only the English media seem to be keen to get him out, with rows over poppies and handshakes. The Teflon kid of Geneva seems genuinely bulletproof despite the various corruption allegations, but it may well take something serious to finally give him the heave. Without hoping for a racist comment, or being caught in a fake Sheikh style sting, he's going to pretty much have to kill someone to get the boot.
2. Team GB win Olympic gold
We're going to need a bigger podium
There seems to be more fuss about the football team at the Olympics than anything else. The fact that three of the four associations involved don't want anything to do with it doesn't help. But wouldn't it be good if Britain actually won? Like a British Lions tour, it could be aspirational, and at least give the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish a chance to play at a tournament. Plus with the next Olympics in Rio, Celtic skin roasting in July would be interesting...
3. Minnows win Euro 2012
Judge me not by my size... Argh!!
This is to be the last European Championship contested by 16 teams, before the search for more money leads to diluting it to 24 teams for France 2016. In the past, the tournament has led to a few shock wins, with Greece, Denmark and Czechoslovakia all victorious. The big money this year is destined for Spain, with Germany and Holland dark horses... But the idea of a smaller team winning it, with attractive football, no backs to the wall, would be awesome. Do England count as a minnow? Or just a big fat waste of money...
4. A gay footballer
Would John Terry say anything to him?
In November 2011, the head of the Italian PFA Damiano Tommasi said that he wouldn't recommend coming out to gay footballers. In the English professional leagues, there is not one openly gay player. Would one person be brave enough to do it? Gareth Thomas (above) came out towards the end of his rugby career - but yet the idea of a footballer doing it is so strange. There are still a lot of taboos in the game, the ongoing John Terry racism case shows that perhaps there is work to be done. But maybe it just takes one, for the floodgates to open. And pray that players, fans and press are adult enough to behave...
5. We have the technology
Groundsman had overdone the sherry the night before
The rows have been going on for years. No doubt if England play Germany in the summer, something else will happen. It doesn't need to! In tennis and cricket we have hawkeye, rugby there are video umpires, and most other sports use replays or gadgets. With the fans in the ground all Twitter-ed up, they know within seconds whether a ball has crossed the line. Without treading old ground, it would just be nice to see someone grow a pair and make a decision. Just to stop the ridiculous arguments. And for the record, yes Lampard would have equalised. But England deserved to lose. Accept that.
Well, that's the 2012 preview done. Personally, NC will be hoping to grow during the year, cover more varied topics, and provide new views on football. To be honest, just existing in 2013 will be nice! Enjoy the resolutions.
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