Top Five Football Stories From 2019
As the year 2019 draws to a close, Goodforfans.com brings to you, in no particular order, some happenings in the world of football over the last 12 months that captured the hearts and minds of various fans across the globe.
- Emiliano Sala and Pilot David Ibbotson Crash To Death
Cardiff City had just secured a club record £15m signing of Emiliano Sala from French club Nantes when the Argentine striker and his pilot David Ibbotson went missing in their plane along the English Channel.
Sala was flying from France to England, alongside Ibbotson, to join up with his new team, days after completing his signing, when the Piper Malibu N264DB crashed into the sea.
Sala’s body was later recovered from the wreckage but that of the pilot remains at large.
- Kepa Refuses To Be Substituted In Carabao Cup Final
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga caused a stir when he refused to be substituted in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in February despite his manager’s insistence that he comes off.
Kepa went down with an injury as the game headed for penalties but declared himself fit to continue, leaving his Italian manager Maurizio Sarri livid.
The Spanish goalkeeper stuck to his guns and saved one penalty in the shootout but Chelsea went on to lose, and he was dropped for their next game.
- Liverpool Stage Remarkable Comeback Against Barcelona To Make Champions League Final
It was simply ‘unbeliverpool’ as the Reds produced one of the most remarkable comebacks in European football history by overhauling a three-goal deficit to make the champions league final at Barcelona's expense.
Liverpool scored four unanswered goals past the Spanish champions to advance 4-3 on aggregate despite missing Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino through injury on a memorable night at Anfield.
Liverpool went on to win their sixth Champions League crown before adding the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup later in the year.
- Jose Antonio Reyes Dies In Car Crash
Prior to the UEFA Champions League final on June 1, the football world was greeted with the sad news that former Arsenal and Spain forward Jose Antonio Reyes had lost his life in a car crash.
Reyes was a member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ side who went the entire 2003/2004 Premier League season unbeaten and he became the first ever Spaniard to win the league title that season.
Reyes left behind a wife, Noelia Lopez, whom he wed in 2017, and three children.
- Lionel Messi Wins Record Sixth Ballon D’or
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi saw off stiff competition from Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to be crowned the 2019 Ballon d’or winner.
The award was Messi’s first since 2015 and it took him one clear of Ronaldo, who has won it five times.
