Treble winners, consecutive world titles, champions at last: There are many factors that can make a team’s year the best ever.
– VOTE NOW: International Sportsman of the Year
– VOTE NOW: International Sportswoman of the Year
– VOTE NOW: International Team of the Year
– VOTE NOW: Regional Sportsman of the Year
– VOTE NOW: Regional Sportswoman of the Year
– VOTE NOW: Regional Team of the Year
Our experts have put their heads together to create a five-team shortlist for Sport360’s International Team of the Year for 2015. You can VOTE BELOW for your winner, and in the coming days can vote in other international and regional categories.
Have your say on our nominees by using #360fans or #360awards on Twitter and remind yourselves of our 2014 award winners here.
FC BARCELONA
This year Barcelona became the first team ever to win the Treble (the domestic league and cup competitions and the Champions League) twice. The Catalans clinched the league title in emphatic style in May with a 1-0 victory over defending champions Atletico at their own ground, with a game in hand.
Later that month Luis Enrique’s men won the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 rout of Athletic Bilbao in the final and the Champions League was secured in Berlin against another Treble-chasing side in Juventus. Barca’s strikeforce of Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar combined to contribute 122 goals and 55 assists – a feat that has many labelling this side even better than the class of 2009.
ALL BLACKS
When Richie McCaw lifted the Rugby World Cup trophy at Twickenham on October 31, New Zealand not only won their first World Cup on foreign soil, but also became the first team to win consecutive titles. Pressure to win rugby’s showpiece event had never been greater as the ‘golden generation’ of McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Tony Woodcock and Kevin Mealamu were making their final appearances in the famed black shirt.
But the Kiwis played with the same precision, intensity and accuracy that had underlined their game all year and ran out impressive winners in the final. The victory capped off a remarkable year for the All Blacks, who lost just one match – an achievement unheard of in international Test rugby.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
In 2015 the Golden State Warriors delivered their first NBA title for 40 years. For the loyal fans forced to endure that unfruitful period (due to bad luck, injuries and a lack or direction) the victory tasted all the sweeter. The franchise underwent a remarkable transformation in 2015, the west coast side changing from gimmicky entertainers to a highly skilled group of players galvanised by an unmatched sense of team unity.
After a demoralising loss to the San Antonio Spurs in November 2014, the wounded Warriors went on a winning run of 16 consecutive matches, the longest in franchise history. Even against a superhuman Le Bron James in the 2015 Finals, the Warriors overcame the Cavs in six games, with Steph Curry the star of the show.
MERCEDES F1
Despite winning by a smaller margin than in 2014, a second-consecutive F1 World Constructors’ Championship was just reward for Mercedes after another totally dominant season. Toto Wolff’s team took home 16 wins from 19 races and while detractors will point to the fact that there was little genuine competition, the way the German team allowed star drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to compete made for a thrilling spectacle every week.
Mercedes continued to be the most effective car with the 1.6-litre V6 power units and it is difficult to envisage anything other than another double title-winning campaign for the Silver Arrows in 2016.
TEAM GB DAVIS CUP
A masterful backhand lob from Team GB talisman Andy Murray on match point against Belgium’s David Goffin gave Great Britain their first Davis Cup victory since 1936. The Scot won 6-3 7-5 6-3 to give the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie and the win means that Britain have gone from the third tier to glory in five years.
Andy Murray was central to the team’s cause but recieved able back up in the form of team-mates Jamie Murray, Dom Inglot, Kyle Edmund, James Ward and captain Leon Smith as they battled past the United States, France, Australia and finally Belgium. The team’s win was made all the more special given the partisan Belgian crowd in the final.
VOTE FOR YOUR WINNER HERE:
