The Best Eleven

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Bundesliga 2010/11: CONCACAF and AFC Players

CONCACAF

Canada
Kevin McKenna - 1. FC Köln
Paul Stalteri - Borussia Mönchengladbach

Costa Rica
Felicio Brown Forbes - 1. FC Nuremberg

USA
Michael Bradley - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Jermaine Jones - Schalke 04
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96
DaMarcus Beasley - Hannover 96

ASIA

Australia
Dario Vidošić - 1. FC Nuremburg
Mitchell Langerak - Borussia Dortmund

China
Hao Junmin - Schalke 04

Japan
Shinji Kagawa - Borussia Dortmund
Atsuto Uchida - Schalke 04
Kisho Yano - SC Freiburg
Makoto Hasebe - VfL Wolfsburg

Lebanon
Youssef Mohamad - 1. FC Köln

South Korea
Son Heung-Min - Hamburger SV

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Video Game Soccer Shirt Sponsors

A list of video game sponsored soccer shirts.

2009 Seattle Sounders "XBOX 360" Shirt

Paris Saint Germain "Commodore" Shirt

1999 Home Manchester City "Eidos" Shirt

Kyoto Sanga "Nintendo" Japanese Shirt

2000-01 Away Saint Etienne Dreamcast Shirt

1991 Chelsea Home "Commodore" Shirt

2005-06 Auxerre "Playstation" Shirt

1999 Arsenal Away "Sega" Shirt

2000 Arsenal Home "Dreamcast" Shirt

Fiorentina "Nintendo" Shirt

1988 Home Bayern Munich "Commodore" Shirt

Tokyo Verdy "Konami" Shirt

1994 JEF United "Sega/Sonic the Hedgehog" Shirt

1999 Sampdoria "Dreamcast" Shirt

09/10 Swindon Town "FIFA 10" Shirt

2000 Deportivo La Coruña "Dreamcast" Shirt

2008 Lazio "PES 2009" Shirt

Feel free to inform me of any video game shirts I may have missed.

Pictures from:
Classic Football Shirts UK
Flickr J.League500 (Sunnie) (Great pictures of J-League Shirts)
Fiorentina Shirt
Auxerre Shirt
Deportivo La Coruna

Originally posted: 10/1/08
UPDATED: 1/8/10
UPDATED: 9/1/10

For those that didn't have or aren't old enough to remember Commodore, here is a list of games for the C64.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Best Goals per Minutes Played: 10/11 UEFA Champions League Qualifying Round

The players in the 2010/2011 UEFA Champions League qualifying round that scored at least one goal for every 90 minutes played. (minimum of 90 minutes played, quite a few players had one goal but played less than 90 minutes total)

Goal every ____ Minutes - Player (Club; Goals/Minutes Played)

30.00 - Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur; 3/90)
45.00 - Mario Mandžukić (Dinamo Zagreb; 2/90)
52.33 - Lima (Braga; 3/157)
65.00 - Mahran Lala (Hapoel Tel-Aviv; 3/195)
67.50 - Pavel Nekhaychik (BATE; 4/270)
70.00 - Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria; 3/210)
70.67 - Romelu Lukaku (Anderlecht; 3/212)
71.25 - Cleo (Partizan; 8/570)
75.70 - Murat Tleshev (Aktobe; 2/151)
82.00 - Matheus (Braga; 3/246)
82.50 - Vladimir Ivic (PAOK; 2/165)
85.50 - Oleh Gusev (Dynamo Kyiv; 2/171)
90.00 - Manolo Jimenez (FC Santa Coloma; 1/90)
90.00 - Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham Hotspur; 1/90)
90.00 - Mariano Urbani (FC Santa Coloma; 1/90)
90.00 - Norberto Urbani (FC Santa Coloma; 1/90)
90.00 - Davor Bubanja (Koper; 1/90)
90.00 - Gary Hooper (Celtic; 1/90)

Monday, August 30, 2010

Pictures: Italian Third Division Stadiums

Pictures of the stadiums in Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione, Girone A. (Formerly known as Serie C1, the 3rd Division in Italy)

Stadio Marcello Torre - Paganese

Stadio Giovanni Zini - Cremonese

Stadio Pietro Fortunati - Pavia

Stadio Italia - Sorrento

Stadio Pietro Barbetti - Gubbio

Stadio Paolo Mazza - SPAL

Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi - Hellas Verona

Stadio Guiseppe Sinigaglia - Como

Stadio Giglio - Reggiana

Stadio Giuseppe Moccagatta - Alessandria

Stadio Druso - Suditrol

Stadio Brianteo - Monza

Stadio Arechi - Salernitana

Stadio Alberto Picco - Spezia

Stadio Rino Mercante - Bassano Virtus

Nuovo Stadio Comunale - Lumezzane

Stadio Guiseppe Voltini - Pergocrema

Stadio Bruno Banelli - Ravenna

Pictures from:
ilgiornaledivicenza.it
digilander.libero.it
picasaweb.google.com/caimano76 (Caimano)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2782280? (Dejus)
paviacalcio.altervista.org
fussballtempel.net
ciccioraffo.wordpress.com
www.ragazzi-biancorossi.de
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loeffle/ (Loeffle)

Friday, August 27, 2010

07/08 Manchester City Players - Where are they now?

This is a list of all the Man City players who made a league appearance in the 2007/2008 Premier League season, prior to the big money takeover of Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi Group. I thought it'd be interesting to see where all of the players who are being replaced by 'big names' have ended up since the takeover.

New Clubs

Stephen Ireland - Aston Villa
Richard Dunne - Aston Villa
Martin Petrov - Bolton Wanderers
Vedran Ćorluka - Tottenham Hotspur
Kasper Schmeichel - Leeds United
Dietmar Hamann - Milton Keynes Dons
Ched Evans - Sheffield United
Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea
Paul Dickov - Oldham Athletic
Matthew Mills - Reading

Geovanni - San Jose Earthquakes
Nery Castillo - Chicago Fire

Emile Mpenza - Neftçi (Azerbaijan)

Rolando Bianchi - Torino
Javier Garrido - Lazio
Valeri Bojinov - Parma

Elano - Galatasaray

Sun Jihai - Shaanxi Chanba (China)

Gelson Fernandes - Saint-Étienne

Georgios Samaras - Celtic

Andreas Isaksson - PSV Eindhoven

Still with Manchester City

Micah Richards
Michael Johnson
Felipe Caicedo
Joe Hart
Kelvin Etuhu

Loaned Out

Nedum Onuoha - Sunderland

Unattached

Michael Ball
Blackpool?

Darius Vassell
Southampton?

Benjani
Blackburn Rovers?

Retired

Danny Mills

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Videos: Singing Soccer Stars

A little over a year ago I posted a few videos of rapping soccer stars. (LINK) This time around I've thrown together a few singing players from the past and present.

Ruud Gullit - Not The Dancing Kind

Kevin Keegan - Head over Heels in Love

Ian Wright - Do the Wright Thing

Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle - Diamond Lights

Pele sings 2 Brazilian Songs

Morten Gamst Pedersen - with 'The Players' - This is for Real

Franz Beckenbauer - Du Allein

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Videos: English Lower Division Top Goal Scorer Highlights

A few entertaining goals from the players who led their respective English leagues in scoring in 09/10, from the Championship to the Conference N/S division (levels 2-6). (Note: Not all of these goals are from 09/10).

CHAMPIONSHIP

Peter Whittingham (20) - Cardiff City

Nicky Maynard (20) - Bristol City

LEAGUE ONE

Rickie Lambert (30) - Southampton

LEAGUE TWO

Lee Hughes (30) - Notts County

CONFERENCE NATIONAL

Richard Brodie (26) - York City

-LOUD-
Matthew Tubbs (26) - Salisbury City

CONFERENCE NORTH

Paul Brayson (28) - Blythe Spartans

CONFERENCE SOUTH

Craig Reid (23) - Newport County

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Europe: Top League Finishes since 2005

The teams with the highest point totals from the final six games of the season since 2005. (from the top 5 UEFA leagues)

England

2009/2010
15pts - Chelsea

2008/2009
16pts - Liverpool
16pts - Chelsea

2007/2008
16pts - Liverpool

2006/2007
12pts - Blackburn Rovers
12pts - Tottenham Hotspur
12pts - Aston Villa
12pts - West Ham United

2005/2006
18pts - Liverpool

Germany

2009/2010
14pts - Stuttgart

2008/2009
16pts - Bayern Munich

2007/2008
16pts - Werder Bremen
16pts - Bayern Munich
16pts - Schalke 04

2006/2007
18pts - Stuttgart

2005/2006
14pts - Bayer Leverkusen
14pts - Werder Bremen

Italy

2009/2010
16pts - Inter Milan
16pts - Sampdoria

2008/2009
16pts - Udinese

2007/2008
14pts - Roma

2006/2007
16pts - Inter Milan

2005/2006
16pts - Lazio

Spain

2009/2010
16pts - Barcelona
16pts - Real Madrid

2008/2009
15pts - Espanyol
15pts - Atletico Madrid

2007/2008
18pts - Mallorca
18pts - Villarreal

2006/2007
18pts - Villarreal

2005/2006
16pts - Sevilla

France

2009/2010
15pts - Lille

2008/2009
18pts - Bordeaux

2007/2008
14pts - Stade Rennes
14pts - Lille
14pts - Bordeaux

2006/2007
16pts - Olympique Marseille

2005/2006
15pts - Nice