The Top 10 Football Moments of 2014

2014 was a massive year for football, bringing dramatic escapes, heartbreaks, outrageous goals and controversy all in equal measure. We even had a World Cup to keep us going during the summer too, we loved that!

All in all it was an amazing year for football, and it was an amazing year for Football Nation. We're supplying team kits to more clubs than ever, we've got brilliant new stock coming for 2015 and it definitely promises to be an exciting year for everyone involved.

So as we're approaching the end of this year, we've compiled a top 10 list of the best (not always for the right reasons) moments the year had to offer.

In no particular order...

Ikechi Anya's Goal vs Germany

There's no way we weren't going to include this one! Since coming in to the squad, Watford's Ikechi Anya has given Scotland the pace & trickery on the wing that Scotland haven't had for years. The qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 is still on track (ish), but that trip to Germany, who were already World Champions at this point, made the world stand up and take notice of Gordon Strachan's team.

With the Germans 1-0 up and 25 minutes left to play, Anya latched on to a through ball before sprinting 30 yards and coolly slotting the ball past Manuel Neuer (the best keeper in the world don't you know).

Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for the Tartan Army as Thomas Muller bagged his second goal 5 minutes later to secure a 2-1 win for the Germans. It was a strong performance from Scotland though and confirmed the resurgence of the national team under Strachan.

Ryan Gauld Signing For Sporting Lisbon

For nearly 2 years, Ryan Gauld had been wowing Dundee Utd fans at Tannadice with some of his outrageous skills & tricks. The teenage sensation was clearly capable of moment's of Messi-like genius, albeit he was still a rough diamond.

Mostly, any player from outside of Scotland's Old Firm who shows great creativity or skill tends to be snapped up by one of the Glasgow giants before long. On this occasion however, a club from further afield spotted Gauld's undeniable potential.

Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon had been made aware they could sign Gauld for around £2m and they jumped at the chance. So not only did Gauld make the leap from Scottish football to the Primeira Liga, but Lisbon even included a mammoth £60m release fee for the youngster - clearly showing their belief in his potential.

Although yet to make his first team debut, Gauld has impressed for the Sporting B team and was even included in the club's 25 man Champion's League squad.

Germany 7-1 Brazil

Easily the most shocking moment of the 2014 World Cup was when the hosts were absolutely trounced by their German guests. Heading in to the game, the Brazilians had high hopes of a famous home World Cup win, especially as they were concerned fierce Rivals Argentina were well on their way to the final.

Neymar Jr had carried the Brazilians' ordinary performances with his flair, creativity and goals so far, but he was out of the rest of the tournament due to a serious back injury sustained against Colombia. In absence of their superstar, Brazil manager Phil Scolari opted for an attacking formation to compensate - this turned out to be suicide.

The German's defence was rock solid and they countered with speed, precision and deadly accuracy. The home crowd (and the world watching) were left in a stunned silence as Germany were 5-0 up in only 29 minutes. The match went from unbelievable and stunning to being an extremely uncomfortable watch as 2 more second half goals rubbed salt in to the wounds. Chelsea star Oscar pulled a goal back on 90 minutes - but there's probably never been a less significant consolation goal in history.

The Germans went on to win the World Cup, but the tournament will always be remembered for this infamous match when one of the game's great nations were utterly humbled on home turf.

If you can bear it you can watch the highlights here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28102403

Real Madrid Securing 'La Decima'

La Decima translates as 'the 10th' and was becoming a bit of an obsession for Los Blancos. Since they beat Leverkusen in the final at Hampden in 2001 to secure their 9th Champion's League victory, they longed for a famous 10th.

Last season the Spanish giants finally achieved this feat, beating local rivals Atletico Madrid in a spectacular final. After being behind from a Godin goal on the 36th minute, Madrid had thrown everything at Atletico without success. It looked as though heartbreak was on the way for the Madrid fans until a dramatic 90th minute equaliser from club legend Sergio Ramos. As a corner was swung in he leapt up and powered a header into the bottom corner to take the match to extra time.

That crushing late blow proved too much for La Liga champions Atletico as they all but collapsed during extra time. A header from Gareth Bale put Madrid ahead on the 110th minute, before 2 more goals from Marcelo & Ronaldo secured a comfortable scoreline.

Los Blancos had finaly claimed La Decima and put that demon to rest. They currently sit top of La Liga after a stunning run of victories and look likely contenders to defend their Champion's League crowd - which would make them the first club in history to do so.

When Jeremy Menez Scored This Goal For Milan

Before his move from mega rich French Champions PSG, Jeremy Menez was often seen showcasing his penchant for the outlandish. Now at AC Milan, he instantly set about enhancing his reputation in Italy as well. During a particularly barmy encounter with Parma which finished 5-4 to Milan, Menez scored a sensational backheel goal that went viral almost instantly.

We've all seen players scored with a backheel before, anyone who ever watched Kanu at Arsenal will vouch for that. But what makes this one so special is the way he knocks it around the keeper, negotiates his way past the post before somehow backheeling the ball into almost the roof of the net. If you've never tried to chip a ball with your heel we promise you... it ain't easy!

Cowdenbeath's Great Escape

Admittedly, there's a touch of personal feeling with this one. Football Nation are the official kit supplier of Cowdenbeath, so we always enjoy it when good things happen to them. At the end of the 2013-2014 season, the Blue Brazil were facing a relegation playoff against local rivals Dunfermline.

With the prospect of the Scottish Championship having Hearts, Hibs & Rangers for the following season, relegation would have been an absolute disaster due to missing out on lucrative matches against those 3 clubs.

The first leg of the playoff had been played at Central Park and resulted in a nervy 1-1 draw. With the return leg at Dunfermline, the Pars fancied their chances of winning promotion. Cowdenbeath had other ideas however and pulled off a spectacular 3-0 victory that saved their season.

This match will forever be known in Cowdenbeath as "The Great Escape."

Luis Suarez Using Chiellini as a Mid-Game Snack

Luis Suarez is an absolute footballing genius, let's just get that out of the way first. Behind Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi, the fight for 3rd best player in the world is firmly between Bale, Suarez and Zlatan. However, we're also aware that Suarez has a leaning towards sometimes being a bit... bitey.

Having served a ban during his time at Ajax for biting another player and then again at Liverpool for biting Chelsea's Ivanovic - we were all fed a media-friendly PR story about how the Uruguayan had sought out professional help and mended his ways.

Apparently this only applied to club football matches though, because during the World Cup in Brazil (the most televised football tournament in the world might we add) Suarez somehow thought he could get away with biting Italy's giant defender Giorgio Chiellini. The funniest part of this incident was of course how Suarez held his teeth as he gestured to the referee afterwards - as if to say "that big Italian just hit my canines with his shoulder, you should send him off ref."

Suarez was banned from all footballing activity for 4 months and for 9 international matches... oh and he was rewarded with a £75m move to Barcelona to play alongside Messi & Neymar Jr (presumably with a bumper new wage as well).    

Football's a funny game sometimes...

Alim Ozturk's 35 Yard Goal in the Edinburgh Derby

Sorry Hibs fans, but it's not very often a goal scored in Scottish football goes viral and gets featured on websites all over the world - in fact we'll hedge our bets on this almost certainly being the first Scottish Championship goal to do so.

During the recent 1-1 draw in the Edinburgh Derby at Easter Road, Hibs were leading 1-0 and heading towards their first victory over their bitter rivals Hearts in 3 attempts. With Calum Paterson sent off for the visitors and the clock on 90 minutes, the green half of Edinburgh must've thought 3 points were theirs.

Up stepped Hearts' Turkish centre back Alim Ozturk to hit one from fully 35 yards out. It was one of those moments when you think to yourself "what are you doing?" as the player lined up to hit it. Somehow, he caught it as sweetly as you're ever likely to see a ball struck and it flew over the Hibs goalkeeper and in off the bar - an unbelievable strike that would be seen all over the world.

We All Realised There's a Scotsman Playing for Real Madrid

If you're from Scotland and didn't know this already, you can start getting excited right about...now. Yes that's right, Jack Harper at Real Madrid is a teenage sensation who's on the cusp of making it into the first team squad. Although he was born in Spain, Harper has Scottish parents and one brother also from Scotland.

He has also expressed his desire to play for the Scottish national team one day (hooray) as the media are already lining up to christen him the Scottish Ronaldo. We're being a bit more realistic however, and we know it might be a few years before we see this youngster's career really take off - he is only 18 after all.

But with Harper & Ryan Gauld looking set to become quality European footballers - we can only hope Scotland is approaching some kind of golden generation of players.

James Rodriguez Scores the Goal of the World Cup

Speaking of Real Madrid, they signed up this Colombian superstar immediately after the World Cup. We're not saying one goal secured him a move to the biggest club team in football, but it certainly wouldn't have harmed his chances.

During Colombia's knockout game versus Uruguay with the scores tied 0-0, James (pronounced ha-mez so we're told) was watching an innocuous-looking high ball come down near the D as he faced the touchline. In almost one movement, he set himself up with his chest, turned and volleyed in a sensational strike off the bar.

It received the Puskas award for being the best goal of the World Cup (though personally I still think Tim Cahill was a bit hard done by) and sent Colombia on their way through to the next round.

Well done for reading through all that - clearly you love your football as much as we do! That was our collection of what we thought were the best footballing moments of 2014 - we'd love to hear about your favourite football moments on our Facebook & Twitter if you fancy sending us a cheeky message or two.

Use the hashtag #footymoments if you do and we'll give you a retweet if we like it.