2010: the Year in Sports

Spain becomes champions as they defeat Netherlands.

Roman Harper from the New Orleans Saints player celebrates as they defeat the Colts.

Kobe Bryant celebrates his 5th title and the 16th title for the Los Angeles Lakers

The San Francisco Giants captured their first title since moving from New York in the 1950s

From the Super Bowl, to the World Series, and the World Cup, the year that passed was one of the most exciting ever.These are just some of the greatest moments of the year that was.

All photo credit by ESPN.com

Collected by Jasmine Montanez

The World Cup is the most anticipated sporting event in the world. Every four years, for a single month, soccer fanatics look forward to sixty four intense games, all to figure out who the best team in the world will be. People were willing to wake up very early in the morn-ing just to watch their team play. This past World Cup in South Africa saw many great games, but these are the five that were just extraordinary.

5. Netherlands vs. Brazil (2-1): This game was the first shocker simply because the always favorite Brazil was knocked out of the tournament. Even though Brazil was the first to draw blood, Dutch top scorer Wesley Sneijder scored two goals that proved to be the undoing of the Brazilian team.4. Spain vs. Netherlands (1-0): These two teams played in the much anticipated final, since one of them was about to win the World Cup for the first time in their history. It wasn’t much of a surprise Spain made it to the final game since they were the heavy favorites to win . In a game filled with many controversial calls, the score remained scoreless, causing it to go to overtime. Even though a scoreless game can be boring, this was an exception because both teams attacked each other’s goal viciously, but with no avail. However, it was Spain’s Andres Iniesta who scored the only goal of the game, winning the first ever Cup for his country.3. Uruguay vs. Ghana (1(4)-1(2)): Of all the games decided by a penalty shootout, this one was the most intense. Right from the start, both teams scored amazing goals, including one from the best player of the tournament:

Diego Forlan of Uruguay. As the game reached overtime, a controversial play gave Ghana the chance to end the game and go on to the semi-finals, but the Ghanans felt the pressure of a whole country and missed a penalty kick, keeping the game tied. Finally, the dreaded shootout took place. Uruguay managed to score all of their penalties, but Ghana only scored two. Ghana, the only African team left in the tournament, was eliminated.2. Germany vs. Argentina (4-0): When these teams get together in a World Cup, it’s always bound to be a great game. Argentina’s star coach, legendary Diego Maradona, began taunting the German team and praising his star players Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain. However the young and exciting German dominated the Argentinean team both offensively and defensively, scoring four times. A star coach and players couldn’t defend their fighting words and were sent packing for the second consecutive time against Germany in a World Cup.1. USA vs. Algeria (1-0): Although soccer isn’t as popular in the States, it was this match that finally put U.S. Soccer on the world map. This game was do or die for the American team, who needed nothing but a victory to advance to the next round. USA managed to score an early goal, but it was called off for being offside, when it clearly wasn’t. The US kept attacking but had no result. Time was running out and all the American fans were bracing themselves to be eliminated, but in the last minute of the game, a miracle happened. US star Landon Donovan came out of nowhere at shot the ball straight into the Algerian goal, giving the U.S a miraculous win. Nationwide, soccer fans here in the U.S went crazy and suddenly everyone was talking about the most talked about goal in the World Cup.

Best World Cup Matchesby Jorthana Torres

Landon Donovan celebrates as he just scored the game winning goal.

The German National team puts a beatdown on Argentina

Ghana suffers a heartbreaking loss.

All photo credit by ESPN.com