Today was the last day of the Barclaycard English Premier League season, and Arsenal were presented the championship trophy. They achieved the incredible feat of remaining undefeated for the entire season, the first time it's been done since the EPL was formed. (The last time a team went undefeated in the English top division was the 1898-1899 season.) Arsenal beat Leicester City 2-1 after falling behind early 0-1. Thierry Henry easily scored on a penalty in the 47th minute to tie the match, and Captain Patrick Vieira scored the winner in the 66th off a beautiful ball from Dennis Bergkamp. The Gunners finished 26-12-0, at the top of the table with 90 points, 11 points ahead of second place Chelsea.
The amazing Henry lead the league with 30 goals (Harry Shearer was second with 22), and was voted the player of the year by both the players and the press. At one point recently he scored a hat trick in one match and then four goals in another the following week. Besides his scoring he also contributed 9 assists, tied for 6th in the league.
Henry came in second in the voting for the 2003 FIFA international player of the year to Zinedine Zidane, his fellow French international player, and I expect Henry to win the award for 2004. Look out for that French side in the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament this summer, they are in Group B with England, Croatia, and Switzerland. The lineup for France also includes Arsenal players Vieira and Robert Pires (12th in the EPL with 14 goals).
In some other big EPL news, American Tim Howard was named the goalkeeper of the year in the league for his work in goal for Manchester United, despite being benched by Sir Alex for a few weeks in the latter part of the season. It's quite an accomplishment, but Howard may still be down as low as third on the depth chart for the US national team as they enter World Cup 2006 qualifying, behind keepers Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel. Expect Howard to be the man on goal of the future, though, as he gains more experience against world-class players in the EPL.
Ted