The Best Eleven: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

African Club Football - Part Two

Cote d'Ivoire Premier Division

Year Founded: 1960

Top Clubs: ASEC Mimosas and Africa Sports National

The top two clubs in Cote d'Ivoire have combined for 36 Premier Division titles and 29 Cote d'Ivoire Cups. ASEC Mimosas, also known as ASEC Abidjan won the CAF champions league in 1998. Mimosas are considered home to one of the top youth academies in Africa, developing such players as Dindane, Eboue, Zakora, Kalou, and the Toure brothers. Mimosas also hold the world record for the longest unbeaten run in club football, 108 games between 1989 and 1994.

Players who got their start in the Cote d'Ivoire Premier Division:
Arthur Boka - VfB Stuttgart
Emmanuel Eboue - Arsenal
Kolo Toure - Arsenal
Romaric - Le Mans
Didier Zokora - Tottenham
Aruna Dindane - RC Lens
Abdul Kader Keita - Lyon
Bakari Kone - Nice
Gervinho - Le Mans
Didier Ya Konan - Rosenborg BK

Egyptian Premier League

Year Founded: 1948

Top Teams: Al-Ahly and Al-Zamalek

The Egyptian Premier League can make a strong case for being the most competitive league in Africa. Between Al-Ahly and Al-Zamalek, a total of 43 league titles, 55 league cups, and 10 African Champions League titles have been collected. Al-Ahly also placed third in the 2006 World Club Championship, by topping Club America of Mexico, 2-1.

These two clubs are major rivals and are part of what is likely the fiercest club rivalry in Africa. There is an interesting site about the derby here. Apparently, this game is one of the highlights of the season for many of the Arab countries of the region. Players from the clubs also make up a large portion of the very successful Egyptian National Team.

Players who got their start in the Egyptian Premier League:
Essam El-Hadary - FC Sion
Mohamed Shawky - Middlesbrough
Ahmed Hassan - Anderlecht
Mido - Middlesbrough
Ibrahim Said - Ankaragücü
Ahmed Abo Mosallam - Strasbourg
Hossam Ghaly - Derby County

Ghana Telecom Premier League

Year Founded: 1956

Top Clubs: Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko

Between these two clubs, 39 Ghanaian Championships, 17 Ghanaian Cups, and 3 African Club Championships have been collected. This has been a fairly even rivalry through the years, and is also considered one of the most competitive rivalries in Africa. Since Hearts of Oak's win in 2000, the Ghanaian clubs haven't progressed to the last four in the African Champions League.

Players that got their start in the Ghana Premier League:
Stephen Appiah - Fenerbahçe
Laryea Kingston - Hearts
Asamoah Gyan - Udinese
Abubakari Yakubu - Vitesse Arnhem

There are a ton of Ghana players abroad, but most of them never played in their domestic league, instead starting with European clubs.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Copa Libertadores - Winners From Outside Brazil and Argentina

These are the clubs from outside of Brazil and Argentina that have won the Copa Libertadores since the tournament was founded in 1960.

2004 Once Caldas Colombia
2002 Olimpia Paraguay
1991 Colo-Colo Chile

1990 Olimpia Paraguay
1989 Atletico Nacional Colombia
1988 Nacional Uruguay
1987 Peñarol Uruguay
1982 Peñarol Uruguay
1980 Nacional Uruguay
1979 Olimpia Paraguay
1971 Nacional Uruguay
1966 Peñarol Uruguay
1961 Peñarol Uruguay
1960 Peñarol Uruguay

Uruguay 8 times
Paraguay 3 times
Colombia 2 times
Chile 1 time

Clubs from Uruguay did quite well in the first 30 years of the competition, but have hit a drought in the last 20 years. Will the recent inclusion of Mexican and possibly, maybe, eventually, hopefully, MLS teams, make it more difficult for the Brazil/Argentina dominance to continue? Maybe in a few years we'll see the Columbus Crew crushing São Paulo. (Sorry, I'm just amusing myself.)

African Club Football - Part One

Honestly, I know less about African club football than any other region of the world, which made me want to research and find out more about the domestic leagues throughout Africa.

In this series, I plan on covering around 20 of the top domestic leagues in Africa. I'll include the top clubs from each country and their achievements as well as a list of players from recent years that have spent time in their domestic leagues before moving abroad.

There are a large amount of top players from Africa who never played in their own domestic leagues, with many choosing to start their careers in France, Portugal, Germany, etc. For the sake of these posts, I'll leave them out of the discussion.

If there are any African club football fans who want to add information about their favorite leagues or clubs, feel free to have your say in the comments.

Algerian Championnat

Year founded: 1962

Top Club - JS Kabylie

JS Kabylie, known as "The Canaries" are the 13 time champion of the Algerian Championnat and one of the wealthiest clubs in Africa. The club have also won the African Champions League 2 times.

Players that got their start in the Algerian League
Yacine Bezzaz - FC Valenciennes
Abderraouf Zarabi - Hibernian FC
Rafik Saifi - FC Lorient
Noureddine Deham - FC Kaiserslautern

Many of the top players who make up Algeria's national side were born in and play club football in France. Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri, and Zinedine Zidane are some of the famous players of Algerian descent who instead chose to play for France.

Angolan League

Year founded: 1980

Top Club - Petro Atlético

Petro Atlético Luanda have won the Angolan league 13 times and the Angolan Cup 8 times. No Angolan team has won the African Champions League to this point.

Players that got their start in the Angolan League:
Luis Delgado - FC Metz
Mendonça - Os Belenenses
Zé Kalanga - Boavista
Flávio - Al-Ahly
Manucho Goncalves - Manchester United (loaned to Panathinaikos)

Interestingly, 2006 Angolan captain, Akwá, got his start in Portugal at Benfica in 1994 and in 2007 moved to Petro Atlético to play in his home league for the first time.

Cameroon Premiere Division

Year Founded: 1959

Top Club - Canon Yaoundé

Canon Yaoundé have won the Cameroon Premier Division title 9 times and the Cameroon Cup 11 times. They have also won the African Champions League 3 times.

Players that got their start in the Cameroon League:
Rigobert Song - Galatasaray
Timothée Atouba - Hamburg SV
Geremi - Newcastle United
Jean Makoun - Lille
Alain Nkong - Atlante (Mexico)
Pierre Ebede - FC Metz
Pierre Wome - Werder Bremen

Next up: Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, and Ghana

Monday, February 25, 2008

Best Solo Dribbling Goals

These are some of my favorite solo dribbling goals of all time in no particular order. Note: It takes a few seconds to load them all. If I had to pick a personal favorite, it would be the Ronaldo goal. Which one do you think is the best?

Jay-Jay Okocha - Frankfurt vs. Karlsruhe

Oktay - Turkey vs. Belgium

Pele - Brazil vs. Sweden (Really great announcer on this one)

Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Man United vs. Fulham

Ryan Giggs - Man United vs. Arsenal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Ajax vs. NAC Breda

George Best - San Jose Earthquakes vs. Ft. Lauderdale Strikers
Caution: This clip has a very high volume level

Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona vs. Getafe

Ronaldo - FC Barcelona vs. Compostela

George Weah - AC Milan vs. Verona

Maradona - Argentina vs. England

The Bolton News Suggested Goals

Thanks to The Bolton News linking to the blog, there have been quite a few Bolton fans stopping by recently. I read through the comments there and have decided to post a couple of dribbling goals that were suggested. Enjoy!

Frank Worthington - Bolton vs. Ipswich

John Barnes - England vs. Brazil

Sunday, February 24, 2008

English League Cup Winners from Outside The "Big Four" - Since 1988

With today being the English League Cup final between Tottenham and Chelsea, I've put together a list of winners of the past 20 years that are not from the 'Big Four'.

2004 Middlesbrough

2002 Blackburn Rovers
2000 Leicester City
1999 Tottenham
1997 Leicester City
1996 Aston Villa
1994 Aston Villa
1991 Sheffield Wednesday
1990 Nottingham Forest
1989 Nottingham Forest
1988 Luton Town

The totals in the last 20 years actually favor the clubs outside of the Big Four, with the 'outside clubs' winning 11 times and the big clubs 9 times. I think Tottenham have more to play for in todays final and Juande Ramos has proven to be a cup-winning manager over the past few seasons. I predict 2-1 to Tottenham.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Bald, Shiny, Soccer Domes

I was watching Fox Soccer Channel today, and they showed that Giuseppe Franco, Procede commercial for the one billionth time. Even though I'd be happy to never see Mr. Franco again, the commercial did make me want to come up with a post for some prime soccer candidates for Procede. In the immortal words of Giuseppe, "Do sumptin about it."

Fabian Barthez

Matt Reis

Frank Leboeuf

Jaap Stam

Jan Koller

Danny Dichio

Thomas Gravesen

Freddie Ljungberg and ex West Ham chairman Eggurt Magnusson

Danny Mills

Former Referee Pierluigi Collina

Friday, February 22, 2008

Top Nations with No World Cup Appearances

Based on the February 2008 FIFA rankings, these are the highest ranking countries who have never made a World Cup appearance.

37 - Finland
46 - Mali
47 - Guinea
49 - Moldova
55 - Lithuania
61 - Macedonia
62 - Belarus
63 - Panama
65 - Zambia
66 - Cyprus
68 - Uzbekistan

I think that Finland, Mali, and Panama have the best shot from that group to make it to South Africa 2010, although they are all long shots. The lowest ranking team that has made a previous world cup appearance is North Korea, who is currently ranked at 120.

Last Major Trophy for Current EPL Clubs

This is a list of how long it's been since the current EPL teams have won a major trophy, including the League Champions, FA Cup winners, League Cup winners, and European Cup winners.

Last Trophy Season	Club	Trophy
2008	Tottenham	League Cup
2007	Chelsea	League Cup, FA Cup
2007	Manchester United	League Championship
2006	Liverpool	FA Cup
2005	Arsenal	FA Cup
2004	Middlesbrough	League Cup
2002	Blackburn Rovers	League Cup
1996	Aston Villa	League Cup
1995	Everton	FA Cup
1980	West Ham United	FA Cup
1976	Manchester City	League Cup
1975	Derby County	League Championship
1973	Sunderland	FA Cup
1969	Newcastle United	UEFA Cup
1963	Birmingham City	League Cup
1958	Bolton Wanderers	FA Cup
1950	Portsmouth	League Championship

Fulham, Wigan, and Reading, all currently near the relegation zone, have never won a major trophy in a top flight competition. Fulham came close as an FA cup runner up in 1975 and they did win the Intertoto cup in 2002 to enter into European competition, but that is not considered a major cup in this list. Also, Wigan made it to the League Cup Final a couple of years back.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

MLS Best XI History by Team

This is a list I've compiled of the number of players selected to the MLS Best XI from each team since the league began in 1996.

22 - DC United
17 - Chicago
14 - Los Angeles

12 - Kansas City
12 - San Jose
9 - NY/NJ
8 - New England
7 - Tampa Bay
7 - Columbus
6 - Dallas
5 - Miami
5 - Colorado
4 - Houston
2 - Chivas USA
1 - Real Salt Lake
0 - Toronto FC

Twice, DC United and Chicago have had 4 players make the Best XI in one year.

Miami has the record of 5 players in one Best XI in the same year. That year, 2001, was the only year they ever had any players selected. The 2001 total was enough to tie 12 seasons worth of selections for the Colorado Rapids.

In 2002, a record 8 different teams had at least one player selected to the squad.

The New England Revolution had to wait until their 7th year in the league before having their first player, Taylor Twellman, selected.

DC United has had at least 3 players selected to the Best XI five different times, including the last three years in a row.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Funny Soccer Names

These are some of the more interesting and amusing names I've come across in the world of soccer.

11. Otto Addo - Ghana
10. Love - Angola
9. Norman Conquest - Australia
8. Ruud Brood - Netherlands
7. Doctor Khumalo - South Africa
6. Mozart - Brazil
5. Cerezo Fung a Wing - Suriname
4. Dean Windass - England
3. Gilles Yapi Yapo - Cote d'Ivoire
2. Danny Invincible - Australia
1. Creedence Clearwater Couto - Brazil

Creedence Clearwater Couto? Really? Doudou, Perry Digweed, Johnny Moustache, and Have-A-Look Dube get honorable mention. Do you have any other fun names?

Non-UEFA Premiership Player Table

I created this table to get a better look at the number of players from outside of UEFA that are on the first team squad lists in the English Premier League. I didn't include players that are on loan outside of the premiership.

	Africa	Asia	S.A.	CONCACAF	Oceania
Arsenal	4	0	2	0	0
Aston Villa	1	0	0	0	0
Birmingham City	3	0	1	0	0
Blackburn Rovers	3	1	1	2	1
Bolton Wanderers	3	2	3	0	0
Chelsea	4	0	3	0	0
Derby County	1	1	1	4	0
Everton	4	1	0	1	0
Fulham	2	2	0	6	1
Liverpool	1	1	5	0	0
Manchester City	2	1	3	1	0
Manchester United	0	2	2	0	0
Middlesbrough	2	3	3	0	0
Newcastle United	5	2	1	1	0
Portsmouth	5	0	0	0	0
Reading	4	2	1	2	0
Sunderland	1	1	0	4	0
Tottenham Hotspur	2	1	1	0	0
West Ham United	2	1	1	1	0
Wigan Athletic	2	1	1	3	0

	# of Players
Africa	51
South America	29
CONCACAF	25
Asia	22
Oceania	2

Interesting Observations:

Blackburn Rovers are the only squad with a player from every confederation.

Manchester United are the only team with no African players on the first team roster, although they do have Manucho out on loan.

Everybody knows about the CONCACAF contingent at Fulham, but two other teams have 4 players from the region as well, Derby County and Sunderland.

Kiwis Ryan Nelson and Simon Elliot are the two lonely members from Oceania.

Liverpool wins the battle for most South Americans and Middlesbrough has the most players from Asia.

Aston Villa has only one player from outside of UEFA on their roster, Moustapha Salifou, the Togolese midfielder, although he's only made one appearance for Villa so far.

Pan Pacific Championship Top Players

These are some of the top players to watch on the non-MLS sides in the PPC. I can't wait for the games, I'm suffering from MLS withdrawal, and I follow the A and J-League pretty closely throughout the year.

Gamba Osaka

EDIT: I had included Endo and Kaji, however they weren't included in the squad due to the East Asian Cup.

Satoshi Yamaguchi - The captain and a solid defender who leads the back line for Osaka.

Baré - One of the many Brazilians currently playing in the J-League. He had a pretty impressive run last season, knocking in 20 goals in 31 games. In 2005, Bare scored 6 goals in Ventforet Kofu's playoff promotion game, to earn them a spot in J1.

Lucas - Another Brazilian who was recently acquired from FC Tokyo. He's knocked in 48 goals over the past 3 years in Tokyo.

Sydney FC

Juninho - The Brazilian international spent time playing in England, Scotland, and Spain, and is Sydney's marquee player. A fantastic player, he has unfortunately had a ton of minor injury problems and, like another marquee player in this tournament, has spent a lot of time on the bench. I'm sure the Galaxy will remember how brilliant he can be, after their friendly with Sydney a few months back.

Tony Popovic - The big Australian defender spent the bulk of his career playing in the J-League and with Crystal Palace in England. He's been capped by Australia 58 times and is the captain of Sydney FC.

Alex Brosque - His first season with Sydney didn't go very well, but the young FW/Winger made a fine comeback this past season, leading the team with 8 goals in the regular season. He has been included in Australia's squad for their upcoming WC qualifier. The Galaxy will remember him as well, he scored two goals in the recent friendly.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Funny Soccer Quotes

11. "My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7."
-- David Beckham

10. "We didn't underestimate them. They were a lot better than we thought."
-- Bobby Robson

9. "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
-- George Best

8. "Well , either side could win it, or it could be a draw."
-- Ron Atkinson

7. "I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George Ndah had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing."
-- Ade Akinbiyi

6. "Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had".
-- David Beckham

5. "Its an incredible rise to stardom. At 17 you're more likely to get a call from Michael Jackson than Sven Goran Eriksson."
-- Gordon Strachan referring to Wayne Rooney

4. "We lost because we didn't win."
-- Ronaldo

3. "We must have had 99% of the game. It was the other 3% that cost us the match."
-- Ruud Gullit

2. "Raul, man, he’s like a Twinkie. He would survive a nuclear war.
-- Ray Hudson

1. "We'll still be happy if we lose. The game's on at the same time as the Beer Festival."
-- Cork City manager Noel O'Mahoney before a game in Munich

Last 11 World Cups - Per Match Attendance

Since there have been differing match counts over the last 11 World Cups, I thought it would be interesting to look at a per match attendance list.

11. Spain 82
40,572 per match

10. Argentina 78
40,688 per match

9. Korea/Japan 02
42,269 per match

8. France 98
43,517 per match

7. Mexico 86
46,026 per match

6. West Germany 74
46,685 per match

5. Italia 90
48,391 per match

4. Mexico 70
50,124 per match

3. England 66
51,094 per match

2. Germany 06
52,401 per match

1. USA 94
68,991 per match

For selfish reasons, I would really like the 2018 WC to be in the USA, but I think England deserves it more. 50 years is a long time to keep the Cup away from the birthplace of the game. Who do you think should host the 2018 WC?

2008 - Brazilians Playing Abroad

This is a current list of the number of Brazilians on first team squads in top-level leagues overseas.

144 - Portuguese Liga
42 - Japan J-League
40 - Italian Serie A
37 - France Ligue 1
30 - German Bundesliga
28 - Spanish La Liga
22 - Korea K-League
18 - Ukrainian Premier League
15 - Dutch Eredivisie
14 - EPL
14 - Russian Premier League
12 - Qatari League

Interestingly, every team in the Japanese J-League has at least one Brazilian. Portugal has the most Brazilians for obvious reasons, but I still found it amazing that C.S. Maritimo has 16 Brazilians on their current squad. The Swedish Allsvenskan, A-League, MLS, and Danish Superliga were close to making the list.

Qatar League Famous Players

11. Fernando Hierro
10. Ivan Hurtado

9. Ali Karimi
8. Frank De Boer
7. Frank LeBouef
6. Ali Daei
5. Marcel Desailly
4. Jay-Jay Okocha
3. Gabriel Batistuta
2. Abedi Pele
1. Romario

Frank LeBoeuf once said "There are more stars in Qatar than in France"

That is a pretty impressive list, the top 5 are named in the FIFA 100 greatest players of all time. Who's next to go to the desert?

Monday, February 18, 2008

Best Soccer Supporter Videos

Liverpool - England

Boca Juniors - Argentina

Panathinaikos - Greece

Urawa Red Diamonds - Japan

Hajduk Split - Croatia

Fenerbahçe - Turkey (Caution, this one is loud)

I'm going to break this category up and add more videos another time. Is your team louder or more creative? Let me know and I'll include them in the next list.

MLS Foreign Players - Country of Birth

NUMBER OF PLAYERS PER COUNTRY
15 - Argentina
11 - Canada
9 - Brazil
6 - England
5 - Colombia
5 - Jamaica
4 - Mexico
4 - Trinidad and Tobago

2 - Costa Rica, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Sierra Leone, South Africa

1 - Angola, Bermuda, Boliva, Bosnia and Herzagovina, Cuba, Grenada, Guatemala, Ireland, Cote d'Ivoire, Japan, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Switzerland, Turks and Caicos, Ukraine, Uraguay, USSR, Venezuela, Wales

MLS is definitely getting more and more "international" everyday. Are the new foreign international rules going to make it tough for young Americans to get in the league? Is there going to be a 100 percent foreign starting 11 in the near future?