The Mixed Tape

Football: The year in review
LONDON: Spain struck a joyous blow for the beautiful game as they finally shone on the international stage but the misery of Chelsea captain John Terry on a rainy May night in Moscow provided soccer’s most vivid image of 2008.
As mega-bucks continue to pour into the bank balances of the world’s top players despite a global recession, the sight of an inconsolable Terry in floods of tears after his miss in the Champions League final shoot-out against Manchester United spoke of a broken boyhood dream no amount of cash could fix.
It was a moment too that illustrated the thin dividing line between glory and failure that top sportsmen and women tread.
Terry, the club’s inspirational leader, played in the match despite dislocating a shoulder the week before and seemed destined to lead Chelsea to the pinnacle of European club football for the first time.
After a 1-1 draw, Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole all scored for the Blues in the penalty shoot-out at the Luzhniki Stadium. Petr Cech saved from United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Terry stepped up for the fifth spot kick with destiny in his hands.
As he struck the ball, his standing foot slipped on the sodden turf and the ball angled away from United keeper Edwin van der Sar but skimmed the outside of the post.
Nicolas Anelka’s subsequent miss that sealed United’s victory was almost incidental as Terry’s lonely, but very public, heartache filled television screens around the globe.