7 moments in 2014 that reminded us why we love football

2014 was a landmark year for football. We saw some great matches at the World Cup and in club football. There were also a lot of great moments that we saw during and after games (Yes, David Luiz, we are talking about your heart-warming gesture to console James Rodriguez during the World Cup).All those moments which are not very sweet but still make us love the beautiful game. In this slideshow, we talk about such 7 moments from the previous that reminded us why we love football.

#1 Frank Lampard scoring against Chelsea

A year back, no one including Lampard himself would have thought of playing in the Premier League for anyone else except for Chelsea. But as we now know, the scenario is a very different now.

Lampard joined the MLS team, New York City FC on a 2-year contract after being released by Chelsea. On the 3rd of August, Manchester City announced that Lampard would be joining the club on a loan spell till the MLS season starts.

Having been a Chelsea employee for more than a year, Lampard scored his first goal for Manchester City in the Premier League in a 1-1 draw against his former club seven minutes after coming on as a substitute, thus ending Chelsea’s winning start in the League.

Lampard did not celebrate and showed a great deal of respect to his former team. After the match ended, he went on to applaud the Chelsea fans and got a standing ovation from them. He later described it as a very emotional moment for him.

#2 Sergio Ramos\' goal against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Final at the 92:48 mark

The 2013-14 UEFA Champions League final saw two Spanish teams colliding against each other. Real Madrid faced arch-rivals Atletico Madrid for the title, and the match was an enthralling encounter.

Diego Godin put Atletico Madrid in the lead 36 minutes into the game after Diego Costa had limped off the pitch just after 9 minutes. Atletico Madrid seemed very much the team to lift the trophy as Real could not find the equaliser and the final whistle was just about to blow. Just as the clock hit the 92:48 mark, an unmarked Sergio Ramos scored a dramatic equaliser for the Los Blancos from a Luka Modric corner, leaving the Real Madrid fans going crazy with joy and the Atletico Madrid fans heart-broken.

That goal led to the match going into extra-time, and Real Madrid scored three more goals and went on to lift the trophy.

“It is my most important goal. It is amazingly satisfying that we keep fighting for the fans” – said Ramos after the win.

#3 Andrea Pirlo\'s 93rd minute goal against Torino in the Turin Derby

Juventus welcomed local rivals Torino to the Juventus stadium on the 30th of November on a Sunday evening for the 230th edition of the Derby Della Mole. The home team controlled the early minutes of the game and took the lead early with Arturo Vidal scoring from the spot before Bruno Peres’ equalised with a stunning long-range effort, their first goal in the Turin derby in the last 12 years.

Things seemed like to be slipping away from Juventus as the clock ticked down with Stephan Lichsteiner getting a nasty cut and two quick yellow cards for his troubles. Just as the match was about to end, Andrea Pirlo produced a magical moment with only seconds left on the clock.

The legendary Italian, who hadn‘t had the best of nights till, took an Arturo Vidal pass in his stride and belted a wonderful shot from 30 odd yards which flew like a guided missile into the bottom corner.

The celebration that followed said it all.

#4 Lionel Messi breaking Telmo Zarra\'s La Liga scoring record

On the 22nd of November, Lionel Andres Messi broke the Spanish league’s all-time individual scoring record, surpassing the previous milestone set by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zaara when he scored a hat-trick as Barcelona defeated Sevilla 5-1. Zaara had scored 251 goals from 271 games for the Los Leones from 1940-55.

Making his 289th appearance for the Catalans, Messi equaled Zaara’s record in the 21st minute. The 72nd minute saw the whole of the Camp Nou Stadium erupt with happiness as Messi scored his second goal of the match thus, breaking the record. In the 78th minute, the 27-year-old scored his 253rd league goal, completing his hat-trick in the process.

While “Messi! Messi! Messi!” was chanted throughout the Camp Nou, the team lined up to form a guard of honour as Messi jogged off the pitch with a smile on his face.

“I’m happy for Leo. It’s an incredible record. He deserves it as a person and as a player. He showed again that he is happy here.” said Xavi Hernandez, the Barcelona captain.

#5 Brazil\'s sad fan, Clovis Fernandes at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Brazil’s crushing 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in the semi-final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup resulted in more photos being taken of the sad Brazilians in Belo Horizonte than of the game itself. But no one made the news as much as one sad man called Clovis Fernandes.

Fernandes is very famous in Brazil for being a really loyal fan of the Selecao. He has followed the team wherever they have gone since 1990 and has attended seven World Cups, six Copa Americas, four Confederation Cups and one Olympics game.

He was seen clutching the replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy close to his heart as he kept looking at the chaos that ensued on the pitch, with Brazil kept conceding goals one after another.

At the end of the game, Clovis presented his replica to a German fan with a smile on his face, which showed how sporting he is. He was reportedly being quoted as saying, “Take it to the final! As you can see, it is not easy, but you deserve it, congratulations!"

#6 Dani Alves\' answer to racism

Dani Alves is one of the top right-backs in football and has won plenty of medals and praises. However, an incident in 2014 made him earn the respect of the football community like never before. Alves set a revolution by the manner in which he handled racism, and it was a slap in the face of all those people, who despite living in this day and era, haven’t been able to accept the concept of difference in colour.

In a match against Villareal, just before Alves was about to take a corner, a banana was thrown at him. The Brazilian, instead of complaining, grabbed the banana thrown in front of him onto the pitch, peeled it and took a bite before tossing it away and proceeded to take the set-piece as though nothing had happened.

After the game, which Barcelona won, Alves said, “I’ve been here 11 years and I’ve been suffering this the whole time, so I just face it with humour. We aren’t going to change things easily. If you don’t give it importance, they don’t achieve their objective. I don’t know who threw the banana, but I want to thank him. It gave me the energy to put two more crosses in for our goals.”

In a unique show of support, footballers from around the globe stood together in support of Dani Alves by posting photos of themselves with bananas on various social media platforms.

Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos, countryman Neymar, the Tottenham duo of Nacer Chadli & Moussa Dembele, Napoli’s Dries Mertens, Zenit’s Hulk and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero were some of those who posted photos of themselves with bananas in support of Dani Alves, while various others tweeted messages backing the gesture.

#7 Jaba Kankava saving Oleg Gusev\'s life

Incredible, yet heart-warming scenes from the Ukrainian Premier League were witnessed in the preceding year with a potentially tragic situation turned into an act of heroism.

Fans at a Ukrainian Premier League match between Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Dynamo Kiev were left stunned when Dynamo captain Oleg Gusev’s life was left in the balance after the midfielder swallowed his tongue having taken a vicious but inadvertent knee to his face in the 20th minute of the match.

Dnipro midfielder Jaba Kankava recognised the danger and reacted immediately, rushing to his side and clearing his airway thus, saving the Ukrainian’s life. Seconds later, with Gusev’s tongue having been removed from his throat, the player came to, kicking and coughing violently.

The crowd that was left stunned in silence a few minutes ago burst into applause for both Gusev, who tried to stand on his feet and the Georgian International, Jaba Kankava for saving his life. Medical treatment was still required as a dazed Gusev was lifted by staff and players onto the stretcher.