THOMAS GODOJ & BAND AKTUELL » a few years. Embiid slipped out

As 2014 winds to a close, TSN.ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. TSN.cas writing staff reflects on the best soccer moments from the past 12 months including Steven Gerrards infamous slip, Germany drubbing Brazil, Landon Donovans goodbye and more! Steven Gerrard lets Liverpool slip By Mike Beauvais This does not [expletive] slip now. Listen. Listen. This is gone. We go to Norwich. Exactly the same. We go again. Come on! - Steven Gerrard following a 3-2 win over Manchester City on April 13. The turnaround at Anfield under manager Brendan Rodgers was remarkable in 2013-14. In only his second year, Rodgers took a team that hadn’t qualified for the Champions League in four seasons. There was truly a sense that this would finally be Liverpool’s year after nearly a quarter-century of heartbreak. The greatest test for Rodgers’ seeming team of destiny was a clash on April 27 against Chelsea at Anfield. It was here that the football gods, like they have so many times before, revealed their cruel sense of humour. Into first-half stoppage, Mamadou Sakho attempted to find Gerrard, who mishandled the pass, allowing Chelsea striker Demba Ba to pounce upon the ball. With Ba having a clear path to goal, Gerrard slipped attempting to get back, allowing Ba to go in alone and fire Chelsea ahead 1-0. Chelsea would add another, easing to a 2-0 victory, stopping Liverpool’s winning streak and effectively killing the Reds’ title push. The following week, Liverpool would blow a 3-0 lead, settling for a 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace, a clear sign that their sense of a fated triumph had been replaced by a creeping dread. On May 11 - with word of City’s 2-0 title-clinching win over West Ham filtering into Anfield just after the Reds’ 2-1 victory against Newcastle - Liverpool stood on the pitch as runners-up, condemned to second-best by a literal slip-up by the very man who warned against it. -- Tim Howard just won’t stop By Shane McNeil Tim Howard earned a name for himself as the Americans’ savior during the 2014 World Cup with an almost-unfathomable 16 saves in the team’s quarter-final loss to Belgium. Howard broke a tournament record over his two hours on the pitch in the game that ultimately eliminated the Americans. The performance earned the 35-year-old Everton man the adulation of a nation and even a shout-out from President Barack Obama in a post-game phone call. Missed the game? Here’s a handy recap. But here’s the funny thing about that game … of all the saves Howard made, his best of the tournament was not among them. That status belongs to what should have been a back-of-the-net blunder against Portugal. Howard gets a hand to Nani’s shot from distance, but in-doing so fails to put the ball out of play, or even out of harm. Instead, it goes off the woodwork and on to the boot of Eder. The follow-up shot is actually mishit, which forces Howard past the trajectory of the ball, but Howard reaches out a palm as he’s fading away and parries the ball over the bar. Even Howard recognizes afterwards that that ball should’ve gone in. -- Germany Drops a Touchdown on Brazil By Mitchell Machtinger Brazil was tabbed by many as the team to beat in the tournament on their home soil. It seemed almost inevitable that the host nation would claim its sixth title in front of all its fans, but first they had to win their semifinal against Germany. Low-scoring matches in soccer are to be expected, especially when high quality opponents faceoff. However, 11 minutes in, Germany scored its first goal. They scored again at the 23rd minute. Then again a minute later, and two more in the next five minutes. This semifinal, which was supposed to feature two of the best teams in the world, was over before the first half whistle was blown. Germany’s five-goal explosion had deflated the entire stadium and an entire country. The Germans looked dominant, winning 7-1, while Brazil looked like they had no business being in a semifinal at all. Just how easily Germany handled Brazil was a complete shock to soccer experts and casual fans alike. The story of this game was Brazil’s loss. But it’s important not to overlook just how good this German team was. They did go on to win the World Cup, after all. -- Landon Donovan Goes Out on Top By Ken Rodney He didn’t score either goal - those were provided by Gyasi Zardes and Robbie Keane - but as he was many times for club and country, the most important person on the field for the MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy was retiring captain Landon Donovan. After announcing earlier in the season that he would be calling it quits, the Ontario, California native was in the spotlight for Major League Soccer and he did not disappoint. Earlier in the season, before the retirement announcement, Donovan scored twice against the Philadelphia Union to become the MLS’ all-time leading scorer, a record that now sits at 144 goals. He was also famously left off the U.S. national soccer team that competed at the Word Cup in Brazil, after helping them advance to the quarter-finals in 2002 and the round of 16 in 2010. Still, none of that seemed to matter as he stood in the field of the StubHub Center with his arms raised in the air triumphantly after capturing his league record sixth MLS Cup. The MLS’ most celebrated, most decorated player and its marquee player, going out on top. Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . Teams one through twenty competing in Englands top flight are each fatally flawed. 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China Jerseys Cheap . - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin has cleared league-mandated concussion protocol and has returned to practice as a full participant.LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins made official Monday what hes been telling folks all along: Hes headed to the NBA after his only season with the Jayhawks. The 6-foot-8 forward, who was voted second-team All-America earlier in the day, is expected to go in the top three picks in the June draft. Many believe he could go first overall. "It wasnt an easy decision because the fans showed me so much love here," said Wiggins, choking up briefly during a news conference at Allen Fieldhouse. "I just wish I had more time. College goes by so fast. I can see why people stay all four years." The Canadian was the top-rated recruit when he arrived at Kansas, and his brief career was a bit of a roller coaster. He struggled early in the season, caught fire midway through, and then flamed out when it mattered most in an NCAA tournament loss to Stanford. Wiggins, from Vaughan, Ont., only scored four points on 1-for-6 shooting in the third-round defeat. Afterward, he said despondently that he let his team down with his poor performance. That ultimately didnt have any bearing on his decision, though. He announced he was going pro while joined by Kansas coach Bill Self, his parents -- former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and Olympic silver medallist Marita Payne Wiggins -- his older brother Mitchell Jr., and several of his teammates, including fellow freshmen Wayne Selden and Joel Embiid. Selden has already announced hes returning for his sophomore season. Embiid has not made a decision, even though hes also expected to be a top-five pick in the draft. Wiggins certainly had a historic season at Kansas. He averaged a freshman-record 17.1 points and nearly six rebounds per game, and was voted the APs Big 12 freshman of the year and first-team all-conference. "Obviously this announcement needed to happen," said Self, who believes one of the biggest challenges Wiggins will face is realizing that basketball will suddenly become his job. "Its not like this year. He came in with so much hype, and whether he knew it or not, everybody was salivating for a chance to go against a guy with that much hype," Self said.dddddddddddd. "And hes going to the next level with a lot of hype, but men are going to be saying, Whoa, whoa, whoa, rook. Ive been doing this a long time and youre going to have to earn your way." Wiggins simply flashed a smile when asked if he was ready for it. "Just listening to him now," his father said, "Im thinking about when he was that little bitty kid that was dirty, and not listening, and now? Hes a young man that I think gets it. I think hes going to do very well." Hes also made it through his freshman season healthy. Unlike Embiid, Wiggins never had to deal with any nagging injuries, and his mother said that factored into his decision. "The best thing is hes not injured. Hes able to go ahead and complete part of his goals," she said. "Every day is a new day. He has no injuries and hes ready to go." Self said Embiid is still wrestling with his stay-or-go decision. The 7-footer from Cameroon was waylaid late in the season by a stress fracture in his back, and that could factor into Embiids draft status, along with the fact that hes only been playing basketball for a few years. Embiid slipped out of the room immediately after Wiggins had finished speaking Monday, but Self told a few reporters that he had not made his decision, despite a report last week that said Embiid would enter the draft. "That doesnt mean he couldnt still do that, but that was gun-jumping," Self said. "It certainly upset him, because somebody that was a source obviously didnt have good information." Self doesnt expect Embiid to make his intentions known anytime soon. "The decision he needs to make is whats best for him," Self said, "whether to stay another year or to go, and I could see him do either one of them. And I think you could make a case that either one would be a good decision. Hes not quite like Andrew whos been playing the game his whole life. Hes only been playing three years. Hes still trying to figure it out." ' ' '