10) What If Tim Howard Hadn’t Fumbled Against
Porto In 2004?
Manchester United were cruising into the quarter finals of the
2003/04 Champions League as they led Jose Mourinho’s Porto 1-0 in
their second round second leg clash at Old Trafford. Then, in the
last minute, goalkeeper Howard fumbled a harmless free kick and
Costinha dispatched the rebound to send Porto through and Mourinho
charging down the touchline. Porto would go on to win the Champions
League.
Had Howard not erred, would Mourinho have been offered the Chelsea
job at the end of that season? Would he be such a respected coach
without a Champions League winners medal? Would Mourinho be able to
argue against those who say he has only succeeded in his managerial
career because he has been at rich clubs? Would Mourinho be the
'Special One'?
9) What If England Had Appointed Felipe Scolari In
2006?
Scolari had been England’s first choice to succeed Sven Goran
Eriksson after the 2006 World Cup, but eventually rejected the FA
who reluctantly appointed Steve McClaren. The former Manchester
United assistant would have a disastrous 18-month spell that
culminated in failure to qualify for Euro 2008?
Had Scolari accepted the job, would England have qualified for
Austria and Switzerland? Would David Beckham have been ditched
before being re-hitched? Would Scolari have tried the 3-5-2
formation? Would he have erected that silly umbrella? Would Fabio
Capello now be at the helm? Would there now be so many Italian
coaches in the UK? Who would have replaced Avram Grant as Chelsea
boss? Would Brian Barwick and the rest of the English FA be
considered as anything other than incompetent?
8) What If Argentina Had A Good Manager?
In the 2002 World Cup, Argentina were loaded with top class players
but were eliminated from the group stages due to the incompetence
of their coach Marcelo Bielsa who, aside from blundering
tactically, left out of the likes of Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier
Saviola from his squad, preferring instead a 35-year-old Claudio
Caniggia, 32-year-old Diego Simeone who hadn't played all season
and Napoli nobody Claudio Husain. Not to mention the fact he
started a 33-year-old past-it Gabriel Batistuta in every
game.
Fast forward four years and Jose Pekerman left best right back in
the world Javier Zanetti at home, as well as Walter Samuel. Despite
this, Argentina blitzed their way through to the quarter finals and
looked like the best team in the tournament. In the last eight they
comfortably led Germany 1-0, until Pekerman thought it would be a
good idea to substitute star man Riquelme with 18 minutes to go for
target man Julio Cruz. Germany equalised to force extra time,
Pekerman had used all his three subs (and left Lionel Messi on the
bench), and the hosts would win on penalties.
What if Argentina had had a good manager in 2002 and 2006?
7) What If Pavel Nedved Had Been Eligible In 2003 & Fit
In 2004?
The Patrick Swayze lookalike was the world’s best player in 2003
and had dragged Juventus to the final of the Champions League
almost single-handedly, but he cruelly missed the Manchester
showpiece through suspension. Had he played, would Juve have beaten
Milan?
A year later, Nedved had been the best player at Euro 2004, and the
Czech Republic the best team. But in the semi final against Greece
he limped off injured after 40 minutes and the shock eventual
winners would emerge victorious with a Golden Goal in extra time.
Would the Czechs have gone on to win Euro 2004 had Nedved stayed
fit?
6) What If Sir Alex Ferguson Had Retired In
2002?
The legendary Scotsman had announced his decision to retire from
management at the end of the 2001/02 season, but changed his mind
before the campaign ended. More than seven years later and Fergie
is still leading Manchester United to success.
If Ferguson had quit, would United still be the dominant force in
English football? Would they have gone on to win four more Premier
League titles and another Champions League? Who would now be
manager of The Red Devils? Martin O’Neill? Would Ferguson’s
successor have been capable to wrestle the power back from Chelsea
in 2007? Would David Beckham still be playing at Old
Trafford?
5) What If Edgar Davids Hadn’t Joined Barcelona In
2004?
In 2003/04 Barcelona had a new president in Joan Laporta, a new
coach in Frank Rijkaard, and a new star player in Ronaldinho. But
the first half to the season was a complete disaster as the
Blaugrana languished in 12th place, way off the pace and with
seemingly no chance of even getting into the Champions League
places. Many directors and fans wanted Laporta out, while Rijkaard
was on the brink of the sack.
Then, in January 2004, Edgar Davids arrived on loan from Juventus.
The Dutchman was simply magnificent and the driving force behind a
brilliant Barcelona recovery that saw them roar up the standings to
finish the season in second place. Although Davids would not make
his move permanent, he had saved his former Ajax colleague his job.
Rijkaard and Barca would not look back as they would win
consecutive La Liga crowns and the 2006 Champions League. Would
Barca be the unstoppable team they are now had it not been for
Davids? Would Rijkaard have been sacked? Would Laporta have been
ousted? Would Ronaldinho have found his feet?
4) What If The ‘Hand Of Henry’ Had Been
Spotted?
It was seen by virtually every person in the world, but what would
have happened had referee Martin Hansson spotted Thierry Henry’s
blatant handball prior to William Gallas’ decisive extra time goal
that saw France oust Ireland in the 2010 World Cup playoffs?
Would the Irish now be booking their plane tickets to South Africa?
Would Giovanni Trapattoni have been hailed as a hero in Ireland?
Would we be talking about the greatest moment in Irish football
history? Would Raymond Domenech still be in charge of France? Would
Laurent Blanc now be in his place? Would Thierry Henry have retired
from international football?!
3) What If Zinedine Zidane’s Headbutt On Marco Materazzi
Had Gone Unpunished?
In the twentieth minute of extra time during the 2006 World Cup
final between Italy and France, Zinedine Zidane performed his
infamous headbutt on Azzurri defender Marco Materazzi. The referee
Horacio Elizondo and his linesmen, despite halting play, appeared
to miss the incident but Zidane was eventually red carded. It is
rumoured to this day that Elizondo only sent Zidane off after the
fourth official had watched a replay on the pitch-side television.
But what would have happened had Zidane stayed on the field?
Would Italy have won the World Cup on penalties? Zidane would have
been one of France’s penalty takers. Would Italy have declared war
for the second World Cup running had they lost in such
circumstances? Would Materazzi have been on the receiving end of
such a worldwide hate campaign? Would the British tabloids have
printed those defamatory remarks before being sued? Would Raymond
Domenech have snubbed Serie A’s French stars at Euro 2008?
2) What If Roman Abramovich Hadn’t Bought
Chelsea?
Chelsea were completely transformed in the summer of 2003 when
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club from Ken Bates
and poured his fortune into the club. Had the 43-year-old not taken
over, where would Chelsea be now?
Would they still be waiting to win their first championship since
1955? Would the club have gone into administration due to the fact
they were crippled by debt when Abramovich rescued them? Would
Chelsea now be in the same situation as Leeds United? What if
Abramovich had bought Tottenham Hotspur instead of Chelsea, as was
first planned? Would Spurs now be a European supergiant? Had
Abramovich not entered English football, would there be so many
foreign owners in the Premier League? Would English teams have
performed as well in the Champions League in recent years?
1) What If There Had Been No Calciopoli
Scandal?
The implications of this are never-ending. Would Inter just be
about to enter their twenty-first year since last winning the
Scudetto? Would Juventus still be dominating Serie A with the third
star on their shirts? Would Luciano Moggi still be the transfer
guru of Calcio?
Would the Italian league have performed much better in Europe these
past few seasons? Would it be so crippled financially? Would it
have such a bad image internationally? Would Kaka and Zlatan
Ibrahimovic have left Italy, and would more big name stars such as
Fernando Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo now be plying their trade in
the Campionato? Would Marcello Lippi ever have left after Germany?
Would Fabrizio Miccoli have been frozen out of the Azzurri set-up?
Would Italy have won the 2006 World Cup?
