YEARENDER: Spain and Canada shine in another sports year of firsts

By John Bagratuni Dec 27, 2010, 12:15 GMT

   Berlin - Spain lifted the football World Cup in South Africa and Canada excelled in all aspects of the Winter Olympics as the latest blank spots were erased from the map of world sport.

   Andres Iniesta's extra-time winner against the Netherlands was the fitting finale for Spain, who won the world's most prestigious single sport trophy at the first World Cup on the African continent.

   Five months earlier, Canada finally ended their home Olympic gold medal drought and did so in resounding fashion in Vancouver with the best ever haul for a Winter Games home team.

   However, the Games were also marred by the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from a training crash just hours ahead of the opening ceremony.

   Spain was also in mourning, over the death of former Olympic supremo Juan Antonio Samaranch, in April. But then the fiesta started with the football glory, another Tour de France title from Alberto Contador and Rafael Nadal becoming the latest tennis player to complete a career Grand Slam.

However, Contador was then revealed to have failed a doping test at the Tour and Spanish police started another doping probe seemingly centring on athletics.

In addition, Sebastian Vettel denied further Spanish delight when he stole the Formula One world title from Fernando Alonso to become the youngest champion in history.

   Alonso was badly let down by his Italian Ferrari team in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi and Italy also had nothing to laugh about at the football showcase in South Africa, a prominent first- round victim along with France, who imploded on and off the pitch.

   Germany surprised the football community with an attractive game to thrash Australia, England and the Argentina of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi with four goals in each match - before being stopped by Spain in the semi-finals.

   There were several refereeing blunders and Englishman Graham Poll could have sent off several Dutch players in a bruising final in Johannesburg instead of John Heitinga alone.

   The Dutch lost their third World Cup final as Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and company added the global title to that from Euro 2008.

   Fears about security in South Africa, raised even more by the armed attack on the Togo team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in January in Angola, appeared unfounded but not even the support from the notorious vuvuzelas trumpet stopped South Africa from being the first home team to go out in the group stage.

   While football supremo Joseph Blatter delighted in a successful event, the ruling body FIFA was bogged down over corruption issues ahead of the election of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts. The choice of Russia and Qatar only added to the controversy.

   The Olympic Movement had its bad moment over the death of Kumaritashvili and several other injuries which raised questions over the Olympic motto of of citius, altius, fortius (swifter, higher, stronger).

   Canada excelled with an Olympic home team record haul of 14 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals - highlighted by the desired ice hockey triumph. The US garnered a Winter Games record 37 medals overall and Norway had the most successful athlete in cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen (3-1-1).

   The whole of South Korea delighted in Kim Yu Na's historic women's figure skating gold. American star Lindsey Vonn defied a shin injury to win the downhill ski race and Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic won sprint bronze despite four broken ribs and lung damage.

In August, the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympics was successfully held in Singapore.

   In other sport, the US won a first world basketball title in 16 years but had to bow to Europe in a rain-marred Ryder Cup golf tournament in Wales.

   Not even Tiger Woods could come to the US rescue in his first year as a pro without a tropy. Woods' year was rather marred by his personal problems and the loss of the world number one ranking after 281 straight weeks to Lee Westwood in November.

   Compatriot Serena Williams also lost the top spot, in women's tennis, to Danish shooting star Caroline Wozniacki (who is yet to win a Grand Slam) while Nadal completed his Grand Slam with a first US Open title.

   John Isner beat Micolas Mahut in a record-breaking first-round match at Wimbledon spanning three days for 11 hours 5 minutes of net play and a last-set score of 70-68.

   The Los Angeles Lakers won another NBA basketball title, the San Francisco Giants baseball's World Series, the New Orleans Saints the NFL football season and the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey's Stanley Cup.

   At club football level, Atletico Madrid captured the Europa League trophy while Portuguese star coach Jose Mourinho guided Inter Milan to a title treble of Seria A, Italian cup and European Champions League.

   'The Special One' Mourinho then moved on to Real Madrid where he suffered the worst defeat of his coaching career in a 5-0 thrashing by Barcelona as the year drew to a close.