da dobrowin： With a dramatic year drawing to a close, GOAL looks back on the most significant victories and defeats in the world of football
da dobrowin： It's New Year's Eve, so what better time to look back on 2023? It's been one hell of a year for football, after all, full of incredible highs and devastating lows. New powers have emerged on the scene, while the battle for control of the game has only intensified.
Manchester City proved themselves the best club in the world while Chelsea and Manchester United both became a laughing stock. Lionel Messi is still performing miracles at the age of 36, but former Barcelona team-mate Neymar is just one of several superstars facing an uncertain future.
So, who have been the big winners and losers of the past 12 months? GOAL gives its verdict below…
GettyImageWINNER: Saudi Arabia
Like it or not, Saudi Arabia emerged as a major player in 'The Beautiful Game' in 2023, shaking up the transfer market by convincing high-profile players such as Cristiano Ronaldo to move to the Middle East, funding Newcastle United's return to the Champions League, hiring former Italy boss Roberto Mancini to coach the national team and, most significantly of all, 'winning' the right to host the 2034 World Cup.
The kingdom has already conquered golf; football could be next.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Chelsea
Despite stiff competition from Manchester United, the most embarrassingly run club in world football. Chelsea have spent more than £700 million ($900m) in 2023 alone, assembling a painfully limited and unbalanced squad packed with overpriced and under-performing players on long-term contracts. A team that was meant to challenge for the title this season is struggling to retain the support of its frustrated fans.
Still, Chelsea's pitiful performances are a source of enormous entertainment for neutrals all across the world and a welcome reminder that while money makes modern football go around, it cannot buy success – or class.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Pep Guardiola
It may not have been pretty – or deserved – but Manchester finally won the Champions League by beating Inter 1-0 in Istanbul on June 10. The triumph in Turkey meant more to Pep Guardiola than anyone else, as it represented a first European Cup success without Lionel Messi – and an end to the incessant accusations of undermining City's hopes of victory with his alleged 'over-thinking'.
The Catalan also subsequently lifted the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to make it five trophies in 2023 alone, and 16 in total since he arrived in Manchester in 2016.
Guardiola says that City have closed one chapter and that now it’s time to write another. Of course, both will be filled with asterisks, but Guardiola’s status as one of the game’s greatest ever managers is beyond dispute.
GettyLOSER: Paul Pogba
Whatever one thinks of Paul Pogba as a character, it's been hard to watch his demise from a purely footballing perspective. As a great man once said, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the Frenchman has undoubtedly wasted his gift for the game.
He's been somewhat unlucky with injuries, but Pogba's decision-making has been relentlessly dreadful. His latest error of judgement could end his career at the highest level, with the 30-year-old facing a lengthy ban for failing an anti-doping test. Even if he does return, Pogba will never be the all-time great he should have become.