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teleSUR's Top 10 Sport Stories of 2015

  • Mexican striker Javier

    Mexican striker Javier "Chiharito" Hernandez scored his first goal for Leverkusen in the Champions League. | Photo: Reuters

Published 17 December 2015
Opinion

2015 was an incredible year for sport from the arrow throwing, goals, heartbreak and record breakers. After lengthy consideration and heated discussion we have chosen our top 10 favorite sporting moments of 2015. 

1. Chicharito Makes History

Mexican goal machine, Javier Hernandez, otherwise known as Chicharito or Little Pea, made history in November when he became the first Mexican to score a brace in Germany’s premier soccer division, the Bundesliga.

The Bayern Leverkusen forward’s two goals came during his team's 3-1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt on Nov. 22. In the process the pint sized striker become Mexico's all-time leading scorer in Bundesliga history as he scored his fifth and sixth goals in the German top flight.

Rejuvenated from a loan move with Real Madrid for the 2014-2015 season, where he scored seven goals in 23 La Liga games, Bayern Leverkusen, with the promise of first team football, forked up USD $10 million to prize him away from England.

NEWS: Chicharito Makes Bundesliga History By Scoring a Brace

Hernandez has certainly repaid the faith shown in him by Leverkusen boss Roger Schmidt by netting an impressive 18 goals in 21 goals in all competitions so far including goals against Barcelona in the Champions League and a hat trick against Borussia Monchengladbach earlier this month. 

His fine form this season  was recognized by a worldwide poll conducted by the Associated Press which named him the Best Player in the world.  While the goal-poacher won the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for November.

2. FIFA Corruption Rocks Soccer Worldwide 

The ugly side to the beautiful game reared its head this year with numerous officials from Latin American soccer associations disgraced in anti-corruption investigations.

On Dec. 3, 16 FIFA officials, mostly from the South and Central American confederations, were charged by U.S. courts on accounts of bribery, money laundering and fraud.

NEWS: Heads of Latin American Soccer Arrested by US Authorities

South America's governing body, CONMEBOL, has been left red faced by the investigations. President of the association, Juan Angel Napout and vice presidents, Luis Bedoya and Sergio Jadue all resigned after being charged with racketeering.

Others charged include the current and former presidents of the Brazilian soccer federation Marco Polo del Nero and Ricardo Teixeira.

While Ecuador’s football federation president, Luis Chiriboga, and secretary, Francisco Acosta, were placed under house arrest as part of the latest corruption scandal. Chiriboga, also a member of the executive committee of South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL, handed himself into Ecuadorean authorities in Quito December. He will face trial in Ecuador.

FIFA - Non-Profit Organization Two Part Documentary 

3. Paralympian Oscar Pistorius Faces Jail 

The Oscar Pistorius saga took an unexpected turn in 2015 after a South African appeals court found that a lower court had incorrectly applied the rule of dolus evantualis or whether Pistorius knew his actions would result in death.

NEWS: Oscar Pistorius Found Guilty of Murder, Will Go to Prison

The court subsequently overturned the 2014 the manslaughter verdict against Paralympian and found him guilty of  murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2013 in his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

Pistorius has been granted bail after filing an appeal however should his case fail he could face a jail term from anywhere between 15 years and life in prison, according to his lawyer Barry Roux.

The athlete became a household name after becoming the first amputee runner to compete at an able bodied olympic games in London 2012.  Pistorius was part of South Africa’s relay team that finished eighth out of nine countries. He also competed in the Paralympic games that summer.

4. Cuban Baseball Enters the Big League 

Earlier this year it was announced that Cuba's national baseball team will play against sides from the U.S., Canada and Japan in the Can-Am league.

Relations between the U.S. and Cuba have thawed somewhat this year with travel and import sanctions levied by both sides and now the Caribbean island looks set to showcase their finest baseball talent on a world stage.

NEWS: Cuba to Play in US-Canada Baseball League

The deal was concluded in November and according to Can-Am's 2016 schedule, Cuba will participate in the league next season, running from May 2016 until September.

“We are honored that the Cuban national team respects the Can-Am League and will send their best team,” Miles Wolff, commissioner of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am) said.

The confederation confirmed that Cuba’s games will count in the Can-Am League standings and statistics and not just be exhibitions encounters.

While in June the Cuban national football side met in a friendly game with MLS side New York Cosmos in a packed Havana stadium, where the national anthems of both countries rang out patriotically through the the rafters before kick-off.

The visitors dominated the game, winning 4-1, in a fixture that demonstrated the more amicable relations between the two nations.

5. Chile Win Copa America on Home Soil

In the summer Chile hosted and won the 44th Copa America soccer tournament by defeating neighbors Argentina on penalties at the Estadio Nacional in capital Santiago.

The fiercely contested final ended 0-0 after extra time but Chile romped home to victory on penalties winning 4-1, with Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez slotting home to decisive spot-kick.

La Roja deserved their first Copa America crown after a string of impressive results including a 5-0 drubbing of Bolivia and a nail biting 2-1 semi-final victory over Peru, undoubtedly buoyed by the home crowd.  

However Argentina’s second major tournament final in a year again ended in heartbreak. In 2014 La Albiceleste lost to Germany in the World Cup final to a an extra time goal and losing on penalties to rivals Chile was another bitter pill to swallow. Manager Gerardo Martino fielded a strong team that contained the likes of Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain but they still couldn’t claim their first major honors since their 1986 world cup triumph.

NEWS: Chile Wins Its First Copa America 

The tournament, set across eight cities across Chile, proved to be an entertaining affair with a number of shock results.

Five time champions Brazil were knocked out by Paraguay in the quarter finals after an exhilarating penalty shootout that ended 4-3. While a strong Mexican team were knocked out in the group stages after failing to win any of their games.

The Dark Past of Chile’s Stadiums

6. Brazil’s Indigenous Games Attract Competitors From Afar

Palmas, a town deep in Brazil’s interior, hosted the first World Indigenous Games, a.k.a. the Indigenous Olympics. 

The two week event staged in October attracted over 2,000 athletes from some 30 countries with delegations from the Americas, Australia, Russia, the Philippines, Ethiopia and New Zealand in attendance.

NEWS: Brazil Prepares to Host First-Ever Indigenous Olympics

Until this year the games contained a myriad of tribes from Brazil but the decision was made to include other nations in this year’s proceedings.

Indigenous peoples from across the world took part in numerous events such as spear tossing, archery, canoeing and a tug of war, with the sports taking place against a background of cultural exchange and understanding.

VIDEO: 1st World Indigenous Games Begin in Brazil

In addition to the more traditional events, participants competed in a football-style game called xikunahity in which the ball is controlled only with the head.

Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, was among the spectators at the opening and ceremony and was greeted with boos and hisses.

The event were marred somewhat by protests staged by some of Brazil’s native people who accused the government of heaping attention and money on the Indigenous Games while ignoring problems faced by Brazil's own native people.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo Joins Soccer’s Elite Club 

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo cemented his place alongside soccer luminaries such as Pele, Gerd Muller and Alfredo Di Stefano after netting his 500th club career goal in October.

The forward reached the tally after scoring twice for Real Madrid in their 2-0 Champions League victory against Swedish side Malmo.

NEWS: Cristiano Ronaldo Joins the 500 Club

The winger’s brace also meant he drew level with Raul as the club's all-time leading goalscorer but Raul scored 323 goals in 741 games; in only his 308th game for Madrid, Ronaldo matched the tally.

Ronaldo has undoubtedly enjoyed his best form in Madrid where he averages over a goal per game however, the winger also bagged 118 goals for Manchester United, five for his first club Sporting Lisbon and 55 for Portugal.

In Real’s second Champions League game against Malmo Ronaldo netted four times in an 8-0 thumping in December.

8. Jen Welter Becomes First Female NFL Coach

Dr. Jennifer Welter made history in July after becoming the first women in the history of the NFL to be hired as a coach in the men’s game.   

Welter, who has both a master’s and Ph.D in psychology, was one of seven coaching interns Arizona Cardinals boss Bruce Arians offered permanent contracts.

NEWS: Jen Welter Makes NFL History as First Female Coach

Welter currently trains the team’s linebackers and hopes to be an inspiration to other females who wish to make it in American football.

“I didn’t start playing football to be here. The beauty of this (is), while it wasn’t a dream I could have ever had, now it’s a dream other girls can grow up having,” she said after being given the job.

Welter is a former rugby player for Boston, where she played 14 seasons and was the first woman to play a non-kicking position in men’s pro-football. She was also a running back for the Texas Revolution in the Indoor Football League.

Famously she saved her first paycheck from the National Football League, which she received April 30, 2005, as a reminder of the importance of football to her. 

9. Usain Bolt Breaks Record by 0.01 Seconds

Sprinter Usain Bolt won a record breaking ninth world championship at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing in August.

Bolt scooped the gold medal piping former champion Justin Gatlin to the post by 0.01 seconds — the width of a vest.


Usain Bolt achieves hat-trick in World Championships in China.
 

No other athlete has ever won nine such titles and the 29-year-old Jamaican celebrated with his signature victory routine of pointing to the sky.

Even before the race, the contest was beset with tensions. Gatlin struggled to shrug off his reputation as a drug cheat after completing a four-year ban for taking the banned steroid testosterone. While Bolt pushed hard to recover previous form, which saw him set a slew of world-records and win handfuls of Olympic medals before a two-year slump.
After the defeat Gatlin was full of praise for his record break rival.
“He’s a gamer. He’s a showman. Anyone who goes to the line to go against him has to be ready to go to work,” he said. 
 

10. UK Women's Sports Week Urges Change 

2015 was a year to remember for sportswomen across the world. The women's world cup in Canada proved to be a success while, in June the UK celebrated the first ever Women's Sports Week.

The week was initiated to encourage women from all backgrounds to compete in various athletics including swimming, cycling, football, triathlons, swimming and even clay shooting among many others.

However, the event was also created to raise awareness of the current condition of women's sports, which lags behind men’s sport in terms of government investment, not only in the U.K. but around the world. Lack of funding is a major challenge for sportswomen, and prevents some from making it as a professional athletes. The idea was developed by Women in Sport, a UK-based advocacy group aimed at increasing the participation of women and girls in sports and received the support of various British sports week.

NEWS: UK Celebrates Women's Sports Week

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