1) Abby Wambach shocks the World (Cup) The American star’s stunning header to tie Brazil in the 122nd minute – extra time of overtime, the latest goal ever scored in any World Cup – saved the U.S. in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinal and galvanized the viewers back home. She followed it up with a late game-winner in the semifinal and an overtime goal in the final – a game that smashed various records for TV viewership and set a new world record of 7,196 tweets per second by game’s end.
2) But, oh yeah, Japan won it all Despite Wambach’s heroics, the feel-good story of the tournament was the scrappy Japanese underdogs who upset Germany and then the U.S. to lift their first major trophy, which they dedicated to survivors of the tsunami that had devastated their homeland a few months earlier. Their short-passing, ball-control game was a revelation, earning them billing as “the Barcelona of women’s fútbol” (see below).
3) Beloved Leader is not amused The North Korean women came into the WWC ranked fifth in the world. After they failed to score a goal in a dismal three-and-out performance and tested positive for steroids to boot, team officials had a novel excuse: They’d been done in by a bad batch of musk deer gland extract they took to get over being hit by lightning.
4) Barcelona plays a beautiful game What Spain did for the 2010 World Cup, the Catalans did for club soccer in 2011: prove that a team can win big by playing attractive, flowing soccer instead of the plodding, defensive, physical style that dominates the modern game. A 4-0 thrashing of South American champ Santos in the Club World Cup final capped a remarkable year for a remarkable team.
5) Mexico is back! A new generation of talented youngsters has the Mexican national team flying high after a few down years and some galling losses to their bitter rivals to el norte. A decisive 4-2 win over the U.S. in the June Gold Cup final served notice that the tables have turned. It also drew 954,000 cable viewers – more than double Fox Soccer’s previous record audience – and outdrew ABC, CBS, and NBC among males in the 18-to-34 age range.
6) Klinsmann to the rescue? Soon after the Gold Cup loss, U.S. Soccer fired head coach Bob Bradley – often criticized for his player selections and grinding style – and replaced him with Jürgen Klinsmann, once a World Cup winner as a striker for Germany, now a Southern California free spirit who led Bayern Munich through yoga classes in his last job. The report card remains out until World Cup qualifying starts this summer.
7) Beckham, Galaxy finally win a title In the last year of his five-year contract, David Beckham finally brought the L.A. Galaxy the MLS title they’d been banking on. Banking indeed: Beckham and fellow Galaxy superstars Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan made $12,217,243 in base pay this year – more than the combined salaries of all the starters for all the MLS champions since they’ve been compiling such figures.
8) Aztex rise from the ashes Less than a year after the original Austin Aztex left town for swampier pastures, former minority owner David Markley announced the launch of a new version of the Aztex, to begin play in the USL Premier Development League this spring. Look for details – including a stadium announcement and tryout dates – soon.
9) There’s a new Head Horn in town The University of Texas announced a new soccer coach in December as Angela Kelly replaces 13-year veteran Chris Petrucelli. Kelly’s been head coach at Tennessee for the past 12 years; her résumé as a player includes four national championships in college, two national titles as a pro, and nine years on the Canadian national team, including as a full-time starter in the 1995 World Cup. She takes over what Soccer America calls “one of the nation’s plum jobs.”
10) Dallas Girls rock Dallas youth clubs won three of the six national titles up for grabs at the girls’ U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in July.
And one to grow on: Euro 2012 qualifying produced the strongest field assembled for any international tournament, with 12 of the top 15 teams in the world, plus relative long shots Ireland and the Czech Republic, as well as hosts Ukraine and Poland.
This article appears in 2011.