Source: Daily_Mail
John Motson: Top 10 Noughties football crackers I'll never forget
It has been a memorable 10 years since the turn of the millennium and the BBC's legendary JOHN MOTSON is a man who has witnessed many of the greatest moments, broadcasting them to the nation.[LNB]In the Premier League, Champions League, domestic cup competitions and on the world stage, there have been events that will hold a special place in history.[LNB]Here, Motty picks his finest 10, exclusively for Sportsmail.[LNB] 1 - 2001: Mighty in MunichIt was the unexpected nature of the result, against the old enemy. [LNB]Michael Owen scored a hat-trick and, after his third goal, I said in commentary: 'It'sgetting better and better and better!' [LNB]GERMANY 1 - ENGLAND 5 (Munich)Jancker (6); Owen (12, 48, 66) Gerrard (45+2) Heskey (74)[LNB]England (4-4-2): David Seaman; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole; David Beckham (c), Paul Scholes (Jamie Carragher, 83 min), Steven Gerrard (Owen Hargreaves, 78min), Nicky Barmby (Steve McManaman, 65 min); Michael Owen, Emile Heskey.[LNB]Germany (5-2-1-2): Oliver Kahn (c); Marko Rehmer, Christian W?, (Gerald Asamoah, 46 min), Thomas Linke, Jens Nowotny, Jorg B?; Dietmar Hamann, Michael Ballack (Miroslav Klose, 67 min); Sebastian Deisler; Carsten Jancker, Oliver Neuville (Sebastian Kehl, 78 min). [LNB]After that Sven Goran Eriksson often quoted that line back to me.[LNB]Everything came together that night, even after England went 1-0 behind, there seemed an atmosphere of determination among the players. They came straight back at Germany with spectacular consequences. Who would have thought it?[LNB]Germany had won 1-0 at Wembley as Kevin Keegan resigned in the toilet and here they were being put to the sword by Eriksson's England.[LNB]VIDEO: Five star England humble Germany...[LNB] It was probably his finest moment as England coach. [LNB]The great shame is that, while England would go out in the quarter-finals to Brazil, the Germans would reach the final.[LNB] Five alive: David Beckham and Michael Owen celebrate England's historic win in Munich[LNB]2 - 2001: Beckham's free kick against GreeceThe viewers watched David Beckham, who was the villain in the 1998 World Cup because of his red card against Argentina, complete his transformation to hero. [LNB]I watched as Sir Trevor Brooking became so excited in the commentary box that he started jumping around and the lead was knocked out of the microphone![LNB] Greece lightning: David Beckham's last-ditch free kick at Old Trafford secured England's 2002 World Cup place[LNB]I've never seen Sir Trevor, my long-term friend and co-commentator at the BBC, so excited. It was a remarkable moment, because England expected to win comfortably,but had been outplayed by Greece. [LNB]VIDEO: Bend it like Beckham...[LNB]For the last 30 minutes, Beckham dragged his team back into the game. Teddy Sheringham scored the fastest goal by an England substitute and then, when England were awarded a free kick deep into injury time, Sheringham wanted to take it.[LNB]Beckham was having none of it and we all know what happened next.[LNB]ENGLAND 2 - GREECE 2 (Old Trafford)Sheringham (67) Beckham (90); Charisteas (36) Nikolaidis (69)[LNB]England (4-4-2): Nigel Martyn; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown, Ashley Cole (Steve McManaman, 78 min) ; David Beckham (c), Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Nicky Barmby (Andrew Cole, 45 min); Robbie Fowler (Teddy Sheringham, 67 min), Emile Heskey.[LNB]Greece (4-4-2): Antonis Nikopolidis; Christos Patsatzoglou, Nikos Dabizas, Leonidis Vokolos, Kostas Konstandinidis; Panayiotis Fyssas, Theodoros Zagorakis (c) (Angelos Basinas, 56min), Michalis Kassapis, Giorgios Karagounis; Angelos Charisteas (Vassilas Lakis 73min), Themis Nikolaidis (Nikos Machlis, 88min). [LNB]3 - 2001: Ceefax striker turns into FA Cup heroIt was the quarter-final of the FA Cup and Wycombe went to Leicester with an injury-depleted team. Such were their problems, the manager a former FA Cup hero himself Lawrie Sanchez, made a plea on Ceefax for players who could come for a trial.[LNB]They had to be out of contract and good enough to come in for a quarter-final against higher-league opposition. It led to Roy Essandoh entering FA Cup folklore.[LNB] Last minute.com: Found via Ceefax unlikely hero Roy Essandoh helped Wycombe beat Leicester to book a place in the FA Cup semi-final in 2001[LNB]The Belfast-born striker had played for Motherwell, East Fife, a couple of teams in Scandinavia and Rushden & Diamonds and became the big story on Match of the Day. [LNB]He scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to send Wycombe into a semi-final against Liverpool. [LNB]Essandoh came on again in that game, but they lost 2-1. It was a typically romantic FA Cup story.[LNB]LEICESTER 1 - WYCOMBE 2 (Filbert Street)Izzet (67) McCarthy (51) Essandoh (90+2)[LNB]Leicester (4-4-2): Simon Royce; Andrew Impey, Steve Guppy, Gary Rowett, Gerry Taggart; Matt Elliott, Muzzy Izzet, Robbie Savage (Darren Eadie, 61 min), Stefan Oakes; Dean Sturridge (Trevor Benjamin, 75 min), Ade Akinbiyi (Arnar Gunnlaugsson, 76 min).[LNB]Wycombe (4-4-2): Martin Taylor; Ben Townsend, Jamie Bates, Jason Cousins, Paul McCarthy; Chris Vinnicombe, Dannie Bulman, Michael Simpson, Steve Brown; Keith Ryan (Stewart Castledine, 74 min), George Clegg (Roy Essandoh, 74 min). [LNB]4 - 2003-04: Arsenal's InvinciblesYou cannot study the last decade for significant football moments, without praising the efforts of Arsene Wenger's team, who remained undefeated for an entire season. This was Arsenal at the peak of Wenger's powers.[LNB]Their greatest attribute was the power of Patrick Vieira and the grace of Thierry Henry, who was my favourite Premier League footballer. [LNB] The Invincibles: Champions Arsenal incredibly managed to remain unbeaten throughout the 2003-04 camapign[LNB]It was fascinating how quickly this team broke up, as players like Robert Pires departed.[LNB]This was a big team, a tall team they were giants and, as they concluded their season, it was a monumental moment.[LNB]SPURS 2 - ARSENAL 2 (White Hart Lane)Redknapp (62) Keane (90 pen); Vieira (3) Pires (35)[LNB]Tottenham: Kasey Keller; Stephen Kelly (Gus Poyet, 79 min), Anthony Gardner, Ledley King, Mauricio Taricco (Goran Bunjevcevic, 90 min); Simon Davies, Michael Brown, Jamie Redknapp, Johnnie Jackson (Defoe, 45 min); Freddie Kanoute, Robbie Keane.[LNB]Arsenal: Jens Lehmann; Lauren, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Ashley Cole; Ray Parlour (Edu, 67 min), Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Robert Pires; Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp (Jose Antonio Reyes, 80 min). [LNB]5 - 2005: Istanbul IncrediblesWhen Liverpool were losing 3-0 at half-time to AC Milan, there was surely no way back. [LNB]It was Rafa Benitez's first full season as manager and, with all the history of Liverpoolin the European Cup, this was a chance for him to follow in the footsteps of managers such as Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan.[LNB] Comeback kings: Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard kiss the European Cup after beating AC Milan on penalties despite trailing 3-0 at half-time in Istanbul[LNB]At 3-0, they were dead in the water, but they staged a famous recovery. Two players who didn't spend much more time at the club were unlikely heroes: goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and Vladimir Smicer, who scored in normal time and also in the shoot-out. [LNB]Liverpool scored three goals in the second half to take the game to extra time. Milan never recovered from that![LNB]LIVERPOOL 3 - AC MILAN 3 (Istanbul)(Liverpool win 3-2 on penalties)Gerrard (54) Smicer (56) Alonso (60); Maldini (1) Crespo (38, 44)[LNB]Liverpool (4-1-3-1-1): Jerzy Dudek; Steve Finnan (Dietmar Hamann 46), Djimi Traore, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher; Xabi Alonso; John Arne Riise, Steven Gerrard (c), Luis Garcia; Harry Kewell (Vladimir Smicer 23); Milan Baros (Djibril Cisse 85). [LNB]AC Milan (4-1-2-1-2) : Dida; Cafu, Paolo Maldini (c), Jaap Stam, Alessandro Nesta; Andrea Pirlo; Gennaro Gattuso (Rui Costa 112), Clarence Seedorf (Serginho 86), Kaka; Andriy Shevchenko, Hernan Crespo (Jon Dahl Tomasson 85).[LNB]6 - 2006: Gerrard's FinalThis was the best FA Cup final of the decade. West Ham were the underdogs, as they were when they won in 1980. [LNB]The game took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium because of the continued redevelopment of Wembley.[LNB]West Ham, managed by Alan Pardew and with a young hungry team inspired by Dean Ashton at centre forward, gave Liverpool a torrid time, led 2-0 and 3-2, but they could not break Steven Gerrard, who was magnificent. [LNB] Hammer blow: Gerrard's last minute wonder strike created yet another stunning comeback to help Liverpool beat West Ham in Cardiff[LNB]As the stadium announcer declared the time remaining for stoppages, Gerrard lashed the ball past Shaka Hislop from distance and dragged the game towards a penalty shoot-out.[LNB]Even then, Marlon Harewood and Nigel Reo-Coker had chances to win the game for West Ham, but Liverpool won another shoot-out and another trophy.[LNB]LIVERPOOL 3 - WEST HAM 3 (Cardiff)(Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties)Cisse (34) Gerrard (54, 90+1); Carragher o.g. (21) Ashton (28) Konchesky (63) [LNB]Liverpool (4-4-2): Pepe Reina; Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise; Steven Gerrard (c), Xabi Alonso (Jan Kronkamp, 67 min), Mohamed Sissoko, Harry Kewell (Fernando Morientes, 48 min); Djibril Cisse, Peter Crouch (Dietmar Hamann, 71 min).[LNB]West Ham (4-4-2): Shaka Hislop; Paul Konchesky, Danny Gabbidon, Anton Ferdinand, Lionel Scaloni; Matthew Etheringtion (Teddy Sheringham, 85 min), Nigel Reo-Coker (c), Carl Fletcher (Christian Dailly, 85 min), Yossi Benayoun; Dean Ashton (Bobby Zamora, 71min), Marlon Harewood. [LNB]7 - 2007: Football (finally) came homeThe opening of the new Wembley was England v Brazil in a showpiecefriendly.[LNB]David Bentley had scored the first goal by an Englishman at the new stadium in an Under 21 international against Italy. [LNB] Coming home: England captain John Terry celebrates England's first goal at the new Wembley over Brazil[LNB]But this was a full house and captain John Terry scored England's opener on the return to the spiritual home for the team after a seven-year spell of touring at grounds including Upton Park, the Stadium of Light, Pride Park and St Mary's.[LNB]ENGLAND 1 - BRAZIL 1 (Wembley)Terry (68); Diego (90)[LNB]England (4-4-2) : Paul Robinson; Jamie Carragher, Ledley King, John Terry (Wes Brown 72), Nicky Shorey; David Beckham (Jermaine Jenas, 77 min), Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard (Michael Carrick, 88 min), Joe Cole (Stewart Downing, 62 min); Alan Smith (Kieron Dyer, 62 min), Michael Owen (Peter Crouch, 83 min).[LNB]Brazil (4-1-2-1-2): Helton; Daniel (Maicon, 65 min), Naldo, Juan, Gilberto; Mineiro(Edmilson, 63 min); Gilberto Silva, Ronaldinho; Kaka (Alves, 71 min); Robinho (Diego, 74 min), Vagner Love. [LNB]8 - 2002: World Cup wonderFrance were the world champions and, although Zinedine Zidane was injured for this opening game, they still had players like Thierry Henry and were expected to beatSenegal comfortably. They didn't.[LNB]They lost 1-0, which was the beginning of the end. They went out at the group stages with the worst World Cup performance by any defending champion, without scoring a single goal.[LNB] African pride: Senegal stars celebrate their upset win over reigning world champions France at the opening game of the 2002 World Cup finals[LNB]It was one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history, with the goal scored by Papa Bouba Diop, who is now at Portsmouth. It was a quite sensational start to thetournament that Korea shared with Japan.[LNB]FRANCE 0 - SENEGAL 1 (Seoul)Bouba Diop (30)[LNB]France (4-4-2): Fabien Barthez; Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly (c), Frank Leboeuf,Lilian Thuram; Patrick Vieira, Youri Djorkaeff (Christophe Dugarry, 60 min), EmmanuelPetit, Sylvain Wiltord (Cisse, 81min); Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet.[LNB]Senegal (5-4-1): Tony Sylva; Omar Daf, Ferdinand Coly, Lamine Diatta, Aliou Cisse,Papa Malick Diop; Khaliliou Fadiga, Papa Bouba Diop, Moussa N'Diaye, Salif Diao; ElHadji Diouf. [LNB]9 - 2008: An all-English affairThe best example of the growing power and strength of the Premier League: two English teams in the Champions League final. [LNB]Sir Alex Ferguson won his second European Cup, defeating Avram Grant's Chelsea. It was to be Grant's last game as manager, with John Terry missing a crucial penalty.[LNB] Singing in the rain: John Terry mourns his decisive penalty miss as goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar revels in United's penalty shootout win in Moscow[LNB]But Didier Drogba's red card, which meant he could play no part in the shoot -out , was also significant.[LNB]These games can often lead to teams cancelling out each other, but it was an entertaining game with goals, chances and drama.[LNB]MAN UNITED 1 - CHELSEA 1 (Moscow)Manchester United win 6-5 on penaltiesRonaldo (26); Lampard (45)[LNB]Man United (4-4-2): Edwin van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand (c), NemanjaVidic, Patrice Evra; Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo; Wayne Rooney, Carlos T?z.[LNB]Chelsea (4-1-2-2-1): Petr Cech; Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry (c), Ashley Cole; Claude Mak?l?Juliano Belletti, 120+4 min); Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard; Joe Cole (Nicolas Anelka, 99 min), Florent Malouda (Salomon Kalou, 92 min); Didier Drogba.[LNB]10 - 2009: South Africa callingAfter failing to qualify for the European Championship, England advanced to the World Cup Finals, losing only one game along the way. [LNB]In the same way as England won 5-1 in Munich at the start of the decade, the 4-1 win in Croatia was the significant result. Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick. [LNB] Theo's trio: Arsenal winger was the star of the show in Zagreb as England emphatically avenged their Euro 2008 qualifying defeat against Croatia courtesy of Walcott's stunning hat-trick[LNB]The whole campaign was impressive from Fabio Capello. Fabio has been fabulous for England.[LNB]ENGLAND 4 - CROATIA 1 (Zagreb)Walcott (26, 59, 82) Rooney (63); Mandzukic (78)[LNB]England (4-4-2) : David James; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry (Matthew Upson, 88 min), Ashley Cole; Theo Walcott (David Beckham, 84 min), Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard , Joe Cole (Jermaine Jenas, 55 min); Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.[LNB]Croatia (4-5-1): Stipe Pletikosa; Josip Simunic, Robert Kovac, Vedran Corluka, Danijel Pranjic; Ivan Rakitic, Mladen Petric (Knezevic, 56 min), Nico Kovac (Nikola Pokrivac, 62 min), Darijo Srna, Luka Modric; Ivica Olic (Mario Mandzukic, 73 min). [LNB] In a 40-year career, covering 2,000 matches, JOHN MOTSON has become the father figure of football commentary.[LNB]He has drawn upon that experience for his latest book, Motty, Forty Years in the Commentary Box, where he writes about his father's passion for football, his early years at the BBC and the football legends he has met. [LNB]Motty is priced £18.99 and published by Virgin Books.[LNB] Team of the Noughties: Sportsmail selects the finest Premier League XI of the decadeTHE LIST: Sporting moments of the year - Nos 20-11The top five moments from a glorious decade of sport: From Redgrave's heroics to 'lightning' Bolt - via Jonny's bootA trophy for Wenger, a fit player for Moyes, waterwings for Martinez, no Man Ure for Rafa and beach balls for Bruce - the Premier League Christmas wishlist [LNB]
