How did my 2012 hopes pan out?

On 2nd January 2012, I wrote a blog detailing five things I hoped to see in football throughout the year. It seems time to review what I said, and whether there was any progress...

1. Kick Blatter out of football

That went well. Blatter purged more of his rivals within FIFA and dished out lifetime bans like they were going out of fashion. The man has balls of steel, and a brass neck it seems. He's hinted that he will leave FIFA in 2015 at the end of his current term, but nothing is in black and white. He seems immune to criticism, and the booing he received at the women's Olympic football final seemed to go unheeded, although it didn't seem as loud as what George Osborne got... Looks like he'll be around for a while yet, no doubt to be replaced by Platini...

Blatter put his fingers in his ears and shouted 'la la la, can't here you'

2. Team GB win Olympic gold

Meh. It was a novelty, but it would have been nice if those involved had taken it seriously... Stuart Pearce as coach? Ryan Giggs as captain? Doh. Some green shoots did emerge - Jack Butland played well in goal, Neil Taylor built well on the previous season, and Craig Bellamy looked genuinely happy. But the exit on penalties to South Korea had a familiar feel, and the predictable droning about David Beckham's omission left a huge shadow. Luckily the other Olympians didn't do too badly, and it was a nice surprise to see Mexico win in what was expected to be Brazil's coronation.

Familiar penalty woes

3. Minnows win Euro 2012

Again, a swing and a miss. Spain won it at a canter, with the most one-sided international final in memory. No minnows got close, the hosts barely flickered, and England exited on penalties in the quarter-final. It was actually a pretty good tournament, with some great goals and some pretty exciting games. The last four were Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal - hardly small. The fact that Italy were the surprise package says a lot about the minnows. The main shock was that Holland without a point, just two years after losing in the World Cup final. Will the extra minnows flourish in a 24-team Euro 2016? Nope.

The oft-seen van Persie airshot

4. A gay footballer

For the Daily Mail readers amongst us, you'll have already seen that Joey Barton was outed by Martin Samuel. It was obvious apparently, with that McClaren-esque French accent of his... Nothing else has really happened, and this has been the sad indictment. With articles like that (I'm not linking it, they don't need any more people looking at their opinion on Kim Kardashian being pregnant) it has shown the prejudice out there. I did pray that players, fans and the press would behave...

The Marseille competition winner with his prize

5. We have the technology

We have the technology. They used the technology. The Club World Cup in Japan saw goalline systems used for the first time in high-profile matches (and a couple of Chelsea games). The Premier League and the Bundesliga have hinted that they may look to introduce it in the near future, and it looks like it's going to catch on. Alas the games didn't use the facilities, but it's a good start. The only concern will be if it's not compulsory, we may see a similar situation as with cricket, where India have so far refused to use the decision referral system in test matches.

Calculator watches weren't in stock at Yokohama Argos