Thursday, July 31, 2008

Premiership All-Time Leading Goal Scorers by Nation

This table shows the leading English Premier League goal scorers from different nations around the world since 92/93. I categorized the nations by the player's national team affiliation which in quite a few cases doesn't match the birth nation. (Minimum of 30 goals)


Goals
Nation
Player
260
England
Alan Shearer
174
France
Thierry Henry
128
Netherlands
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
123
Trinidad and Tobago
Dwight Yorke*
105
Republic of Ireland
Robbie Keane*
96
Wales
Ryan Giggs*
92
Australia
Mark Viduka*
89
Norway
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
69
Scotland
Duncan Ferguson
69
Nigeria
Yakubu*
66
Italy
Paolo Di Canio
66
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo*
56
Jamaica
Jason Euell
54
Iceland
Eidur Gudjohnsen
54
Uruguay
Gustavo Poyet
50
Cote d'Ivoire
Didier Drogba*
50
Costa Rica
Paulo Wanchope
49
Peru
Nolberto Solano
48
Sweden
Fredrik Ljungberg*
44
Colombia
Juan Pablo Angel
43
Russia
Andrei Kanchelskis
43
Mali
Frederic Kanoute
42
Latvia
Marian Pahars
36
Togo
Emmanuel Adebayor*
36
USA
Brian McBride
35
Zimbabwe
Peter Ndlovu
35
Canada
Tomasz Radzinski
34
Finland
Mikael Forssell
34
Turkey
Muzzy Izzet
33
Northern Ireland
Iain Dowie




* Currently Active Premiership Players
Stats from Premierleague.com

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

American Soccer Players in Europe - Interactive Map

This Yanks Abroad Map shows where all of the American exports are currently playing in Europe. I used the list they have over at the Yanks-Abroad website. I've only included players in the top two divisions in their respective countries.

I placed the icons at each players home stadium, just click on the player icons and the club and player names will appear. Zoom all the way in on an icon to see that players home stadium and it's surroundings.

It's somewhat easier to navigate if you click on "View Larger Map" and go to the google maps page. There is a list on the left column of the map with the clubs and players that you can use by zooming in to your desired level and clicking through the listed club names.


View Larger Map


If you have Google Earth, this will work with that as well. Just click the "view larger map" link above and then click "open in google earth" above the map on the google maps page. Then you can just hit play and it will zoom you around to all of the clubs in order.



[I finally got around to updating this map that was originally posted in March (thanks to Unprofessionalfoul for the link and the unintended reminder). I'm going to attempt to keep it up to date over the coming transfer weeks, if you notice anything that needs updating please let me know]

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Journeymen: Mamadou Diallo

Senegal and former MLS player Mamadou Diallo has played professionally in nearly every corner of our planet including Europe, USA, The Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Here is a map and information about his amazing journeys around the world.


Click to Enlarge


Diallo played at 15 clubs on 4 continents in 14 years. He was never at a single club for more than 2 years as he did have a bit of a reputation as a selfish player.

Diallo scored 26 goals in the 2000 season with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, tied with Stern John for second most in MLS history for a season and one behind Roy Lassiter's 27 goal total in 1996.

Diallo moved to clubs over 1000 miles from each other 11 times in his career with the longest single move in his career being the 6368 miles from NY/NJ Metrostars to Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia.

Clubs
Sotra FC (Senegal) – 45 games, 30 goals;
KAC Marrakech (Morocco) 1993/95 – 60 games, 31 goals;
St Gallen (Switzerland) 1995/96 – 22 games, 14 goals;
Zeyntinburu (Turkey) 1996/97 – 30 games, 14 goals;
Lillestrom (Norway) 1997/99 – 29 games, 19 goals, plus 4 games and 5 goals in the UEFA Cup;
MSV Duisburg (Germany; loan) 1998 – 11 games, 5 goals;
Valerenga (Norway; loan) 1999 – 8 games, 5 goals;
Tampa Bay Mutiny (USA) 2000/01 – 28 games, 26 goals;
New York Metro Stars (USA) 2002 – 17 games, 12 goals;
IFK Gothenburg (Sweden) 2003 – 12 games, 5 goals;
Pahang FC (Malaysia) 2004 – 11 games, 8 goals;
Jomo Cosmos (South Africa) 2005/06 - 23 games, 5 goals;
Djoliba AC Bamako (Mali) 2006 - ??


Total Distance Between Clubs: 36,868 miles (59,334 km)
Total Distance Around Earth: About 25,000 miles

Monday, July 28, 2008

Premiership All-Time Discipline Statistics



These are some all-time team and player disciplinary stats from the English Premier League since it was formed in 92/93. For the Player stats, I only used current players who will (at least for now) be in the Premiership next season.

Fouls
516 - Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers)
426 - Alan Smith (Newcastle United)
413 - George Boateng (Hull City)
411 - Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)
400 - Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)

Yellow Cards
83 - Lee Bowyer (West Ham United)
75 - George Boateng (Hull City)
69 - Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers)
66 - Nicky Butt (Newcastle United)
66 - Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
63 - Phil Neville (Everton)
61 - Gavin McCann (Bolton Wanderers)
61 - Alan Smith (Newcastle United)

All-Time Leader: 89 - Robbie Savage

Red Cards
7 - Alan Smith (Newcastle United)
6 - Luis Boa Morte (West Ham United)
6 - Richard Dunne (Manchester City)
5 - Nicky Butt (Newcastle United)
5 - Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
5 - Tugay (Blackburn Rovers)

All-Time Leaders: 8 - Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson

All-Time Team Yellow Cards
932 - Chelsea (620 games)
902 - Everton (620 games)
872 - Arsenal (620 games)
825 - Blackburn (544 games)
832 - Tottenham (620 games)

All-Time Team Yellow Cards per Game
1.73 - Sunderland
1.66 - Wigan
1.62 - Bolton
1.60 - Middlesbrough
1.58 - West Ham
1.55 - Fulham
1.52 - Blackburn
1.50 - Chelsea
1.46 - Portsmouth
1.45 - Everton

Lowest: 1.14 - Liverpool

All-Time Team Red Cards
63 - Everton (620 games)
62 - Blackburn (544 games)
51 - Arsenal (620 games)
46 - Chelsea (620 games)
46 - West Ham (502 games)

Team Red Card Frequency (Avg. Games Between Reds)
8.77 - Blackburn
9.17 - Fulham
9.84 - Everton
10.36 - Wigan
10.36 - West Brom
10.64 - Sunderland
10.91 - West Ham
11.35 - Manchester City
12.16 - Arsenal
13.48 - Chelsea

Longest Frequency: 18.24 - Liverpool and Aston Villa

Saturday, July 26, 2008

La Liga Players at the Beijing Olympics

This is a listing of all the Spanish La Liga players on the 2008 Beijing Olympic soccer rosters.

Group A

Argentina
GK Oscar Ustari - Getafe CF
DF Pablo Zabaleta - RCD Espanyol
DF Ezequiel Garay - Real Madrid
DF Federico Fazio - Sevilla FC
MF Fernando Gago - Real Madrid
MF Ever Banega - Valencia CF
FW Sergio Aguero - Atletico Madrid
FW Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona
FW Lautaro Acosta - Sevilla FC

Serbia
MF Milan Smiljanić - RCD Espanyol

Group B

Netherlands
MF Hedwiges Maduro - Valencia
MF Royston Drenthe - Real Madrid

USA
FW Jozy Altidore - Villarreal

Group C

Belgium
FW Tom De Mul - Sevilla

Brazil
GK Diego - UD Almeria
DF Marcelo - Real Madrid
FW Rafael Sóbis - Real Betis

Group D

Italy
FW Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal


Premiership Players
Bundesliga Players
Serie A Players

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Mama's and the Papa's

I blame Luis from the Red Card and Chicago Tribune for this random post. Ever since his Marco Pablo Pappa/Notorius B.I.G. reference a few days back about the Chicago Fire's recent signing, I haven't been able to get "papa" out of my head. On top of that, last night during the MLS all-star game I ordered out to one of my favorite local pizza spots, Papa's Pizza. All of that led me to this randomness, players with "papa" in their name and for good measure I threw in some "mama's" too.


Papa Gueye - FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Papa Waigo - Fiorentina (Italy)
Papa Malick - FC Basel (released at end of last season)
Drago Papa - NK Varteks (Croatia)
Emiliano Papa - Vélez Sársfield (Argentina)
Charis Pappas - Skoda Xanthi (Greece)
Giannis Papadimitriou - Skoda Xanthi (Greece)
Amvrossios Papadopoulos - Skoda Xanthi (Greece)
Athanasios Papazoglou - Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)
Grigoris Papazaharias - Iraklis Thessaloniki (Greece)
Emmanouil Papasterianos - Iraklis Thessaloniki (Greece)
Avraam Papadopoulos - Olympiacos FC (Greece)
Kyriakos Papadopoulos - Olympiacos FC (Greece)
Giannis Papadopoulos - Olympiacos FC (Greece)
Dimitris Papadopoulos - Panathinaikos (Greece)
Papa Bouba Diop - Portsmouth (England)
Mustapha Papa Diop - Odense (Denmark)
Salvatore Papa - Inter Milan Academy (Italy)
Saša Papac - Rangers (Scotland)
Marco Pablo Pappa - Chicago Fire (USA)


Pape Mamadou Diouf - ASC Jeanne d'Arc Dakar (Senegal)


Mama - Mohun Bagan (India)
Mamadou Sakho - Paris Saint Germain (France)
Mamadou Samassa - Le Mans (France)
Mamadou Bagayoko - FC Nantes (France)
Mamadou Bah - RC Strasbourg (France)
Mamadou Diakite - FC Metz (France)
Mamadou Niang - Marseille (France)
Mamadou Diallo - Djoliba AC (Mali)
Mamadou Alimou Diallo - Sivasspor (Turkey)
Merouane Zemmama - Hibernian FC (Scotland)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Premiership Players at the Beijing Olympics

This is a list of all of the English Premier League players on the Olympic soccer rosters.

Argentina
Javier Mascherano - Liverpool

Australia
Adrian Leijer - Fulham

Cote d'Ivoire
Salomon Kalou - Chelsea

Netherlands
Gianni Zuiverloon - West Bromwich Albion
Ryan Babel - Liverpool

Nigeria
Victor Anichebe - Everton

Brazil
Anderson - Manchester United
Lucas - Liverpool
Jô - Manchester City

Honduras
Hendry Thomas - Wigan Athletic

Cameroon
Alexandre Song - Arsenal
Franck Songo'o - Portsmouth

China
Dong Fangzhuo - Manchester United

New Zealand
Ryan Nelsen - Blackburn Rovers

USA
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa


La Liga Players
Serie A Players
Bundesliga Players

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MLS Takes on the World

This year will be the 5th edition of the MLS all-star game featuring a foreign club as the opponent, with MLS taking on West Ham United for this season's game. Obviously, the game is totally pointless outside of entertainment value, but the MLS all-stars have done well so far with a 4-0-0 record and a combined 10-2 scoreline against the foreign opposition. Here is a little rundown of the previous "MLS Takes on the World" games.

2003 - Chivas Guadalajara

MLS 3-1 Chivas

MLS Goals: Ante Razov, Carlos Ruiz, DaMarcus Beasley
CHV Goals: Jair Garcia

MVP: Carlos Ruiz

Attendance: 27,000 (Home Depot Center, Carson, CA)

2005 - Fulham FC

MLS 4-1 Fulham

MLS Goals: Taylor Twellman, Ronnie O'Brien, Jeff Cunningham (2)
FUL Goals: Claus Jensen

MVP: Taylor Twellman

Attendance: 23,309 (Crew Stadium, Columbus, OH)

2006 - Chelsea FC

MLS 1-0 Chelsea

MLS Goals: Dwayne De Rosario

MVP: Dwayne De Rosario

Attendance: 21,210 (Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL)

2007 - Celtic FC

MLS 2-0 Celtic

MLS Goals: Juan Pablo Angel, Juan Toja

MVP: Juan Pablo Angel

Attendance: 18,661 (Dick's SGP, Commerce City, CO)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Olympic Soccer Medals and Appearances

All-Time Olympic Appearances (at least 10)

15 - Italy
14 - USA
11 - France
10 - Brazil
10 - Egypt
10 - Yugoslavia

Most Olympic Medals Won (at least 4)

5 - Hungary
5 - Yugoslavia
5 - Soviet Union
4 - Denmark
4 - East Germany

Olympics where the Home Nation won the Gold:

1992 - Spain (Barcelona)
1920 - Belgium (Antwerp)
1908 - Great Britain (London)

Medals by Region:

53 - Europe
10 - South America
3 - Africa
3 - North America
1 - Asia

Last Medal for 2008 Olympic Participants

Group A
2004 - Argentina

Group B
1920 - Netherlands
1904 - USA
1996 - Nigeria
1968 - Japan

Group C
1920 - Belgium
1996 - Brazil

Group D
2004 - Italy
2000 - Cameroon

Former Gold Medal Winners in 2008 Olympic's

2004 - Argentina
2000 - Cameroon
1996 - Nigeria
1936 - Italy
1920 - Belgium

Monday, July 21, 2008

MLS International Player's Personal Life Tidbits

There is quite a bit of interesting knowledge on the official MLSnet player pages, from career stats to personal life info. For this post, I've gone through the international players bios and picked out some of the most interesting non-soccer related tidbits from the "Personal" section at the bottom of most of the players pages.


Wilman Conde (CHI)
Learned a good portion of his English by playing video games.

Tomasz Frankowski (CHI)
Speaks fluent English, Polish, Spanish, and French and is involved in real estate in Poland.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI)
Has appeared as a contestant on Mexican television's "Bailando Por Un Bueno," a reality dance competition show and if he couldn't be a soccer player, would want to be a professional boxer

Andy Herron (CHI)
Recorded a reggae CD in Costa Rica titled "Playa Bonita" ("Beautiful Beach") and would like to sing professionally after soccer.

Francisco Mendoza (CHV)
"I used to play basketball in school but I didn't keep playing since I am very short."

Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB)
His father is a doctor.

Andy Iro (CLB)
When he is not playing soccer, he is hunting wild animals.

Dominic Oduro (DAL)
Besides English, also speaks the Ghana dialects of Twi, Ga, Nzema, and Fante.

Pablo Ricchetti (DAL)
The Argentinian's grandfather on his father's side was born in Italy, and Pablo became an Italian citizen at age 17.

Marcelo Saragosa (DAL)
Was also a competitive ping-pong player - one of the youngest members of the Santa Catarina state-team, earning 100 Reals for being part of the team

Juan Toja (DAL)
Is a fan of a variety of music, especially rock with his favorite performer being the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, and the Police

Dwayne De Rosario (HOU)
Eats Ital cuisine (only natural foods, vegetarian) and speaks Guyanese Creole while with his family

James Georgeff (HOU)
Speaks Macedonian fluently and if not playing soccer would be surfing.

Carlos Ruiz (LA)
Has had his dog 'Savage' since playing in Greece in 2000, obtaining him during a trip to Hungary.

Juan Pablo Angel (NY)
Was named one of People En Espanol's 10 Hottest Men in late Sept. 2007.

Dane Richards (NY)
Favorite restaurant is Applebees. (really!?)

Kenny Deuchar (RSL)
Lived just 10 miles away from new teammate Ian Joy when the two were growing up in Scotland.

Matias Mantilla (RSL)
An avid book reader, especially of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Longest Domestic Unbeaten Streaks Ever

These are soccer's longest unbeaten streaks in domestic league play from around the world.


Longest Streak Ever:
108 - ASEC Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 1989-1994

Longest Streaks of the 2000's:
71 - Al-Ahly (Egypt) 2004-2007
63 - Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) 2006-2008
59 - Pyunik Yerevan (Armenia) 2002-2004
55 - Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 2000-2002
52 - Zamalek (Egypt) 2002-2004
49 - Arsenal (England) 2003-2004
48 - Al-Karama (Syria) 2006-2008
44 - Hearts of Oak (Ghana) 2002-2004
43 - Al-Hilal (Sudan) 2006-current
42 - Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) 2007-current


Longest Streaks in the Top European Leagues (All-Time):
62 - Celtic (Scotland) 1915-1917
58 - AC Milan (Italy) 1991-1993
56 - Benfica (Portugal) 1976-1978
52 - Ajax (Netherlands) 1994-1996
49 - Arsenal (England) 2003-2004
38 - Real Sociedad (Spain) 1979-1980
36 - Hamburger SV (Germany) 1982-1983
32 - Nantes (France) 1994-1995


Longest Streak in Europe:
104 - Steaua Bucuresti (Romania) - 1986-1989

Longest Streak in Major League Soccer:
19 - Columbus Crew - 2004-2005
The Crew had more draws than wins during their unbeaten streak with a 9-0-10 record.
Source: (Climbing the Ladder)

Longest Streak in South America:
59 - Boca Juniors (Argentina) - 1924-1927

Longest Streak in Asia:
55 - Dalian Wanda (China) - 1995-1997

Saturday, July 19, 2008

2008 Olympic Soccer Overage Players





These are all of the overage players that have been selected to the men's Olympic soccer rosters.




Group A
Argentina
DF - Nicolas Pareja - RSC Anderlecht (24)
MF - Javier Mascherano - Liverpool (24)
MF - Juan Roman Riquelme - Boca Juniors (30)

Australia
DF - Jade North - Newcastle Jets (26)
DF - David Carney - Sheffield United (24)
FW - Archie Thompson - Melbourne Victory (29)

Serbia
GK - Vladimir Stojkovic - Sporting CP (24)
MF - Aleksandar Živkovi - Shandong Luneng (31)

Cote d'Ivoire
NONE

Group B
Netherlands
FW - Roy Makaay - Feyenoord (33)
FW - Gerald Sibon - Heerenveen (34)
DF - Kew Jaliens - AZ Alkmaar (29)

USA
FW - Brian McBride - free agent (36)
GK - Brad Guzan - Aston Villa (23)
DF - Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution (24)

Nigeria
FW - Peter Odemwingie - Lokomotiv Moscow (26)
GK - Vincent Enyeama - Hapoel Tel-Aviv (25)
FW - Ikechukwu Uche - Getafe CF (24)

Japan
MF - Yasuhito Endo - Gamba Osaka (28)

Group C
China
DF - Li Weifeng - Shanghai Shenhua (29)
MF - Zheng Zhi - Charlton Athletic (27)
FW - Han Peng - Shandong Luneng (24)

Belgium
DF - Sepp De Roover - FC Groningen (24)
MF - Maarten Martens - AZ Alkmaar (24)

Brazil
MF - Ronaldinho - Barcelona (28)
FW - Robinho - Real Madrid (24)
DF - Thiago Silva - Fluminense (23)

New Zealand
DF - Ryan Nelson - Blackburn Rovers (30)
MF - Simon Elliot - None (34)
FW - Chris Killen - Celtic FC (26)

Group D
Honduras
DF - Samuel Caballero - Changchun Yatai (33)
MF - Emil Martinez - Shanghai Shenua (25)
FW - Carlos Pavon - Real Espana (34)

Italy
FW - Tommaso Rocchi - Lazio (30)

South Korea
MF - Lee Ho - Zenit St. Petersburg (23)
DF - Kim Dongjin - Zenit St. Petersburg (26)
MF - Kim Jungwoo - Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (26)

Cameroon
DF - Antonio Ghomsy - Messina (24)
FW - Gustave Bebbe - Ankaragücü (26)



Total players over 30: 10
Oldest Player: Brian McBride (36)

Friday, July 18, 2008

2008 MLS All-Star Player Salaries

I realise comparing MLS wages to player wages in England is not even close to a fair comparison, but it is still interesting to look at the type of salary handicap Major League Soccer has in comparison to some of the richest leagues in the world.

Here are the "guaranteed compensations" of the players on the MLS all star game-day roster for the 2008 season.


GK Matt Reis ($161,250)
DF Frankie Hejduk ($175,000)
FW Juan Pablo Angel ($1,593,750)
MF Cuauhtémoc Blanco ($2,666,778)
FW Landon Donovan ($900,000)
MF Christian Gomez ($430,000)
DF Jim Brennan ($183,250)
DF Jimmy Conrad ($225,000)
MF Dwayne De Rosario ($325,000)
FW Edson Buddle ($157,000)
DF Jonathan Bornstein ($77,500)
MF Steve Ralston ($150,000)
MF Juan Toja ($150,000)
GK Pat Onstad ($173,000)
MF Shalrie Joseph ($325,000)
MF David Beckham ($6,500,000)
MF Pablo Mastroeni ($318,000)
FW Kenny Cooper ($83,000)


Combined All-Star Salary: $14,593,528
Average Annual Salary: $810,751

Comparison: Peter Crouch's Transfer to Portsmouth was reportedly for around $18,000,000.


Combined All-Star Salary Without Beckham, Blanco, Donovan and Angel: $2,933,000
Average Annual Salary: $209,500

Comparison: According to a 2006 BBC article on player wages, Championship players in England earn an average salary of about $385,000, League One players $130,000, and League Two players earn $95,000.


West Ham's Lucas Neill reportedly earns about £60,000 a week which converts to almost $500,000 every month, more than any MLS player's YEARLY wage outside of the Designated Players. Is he really that much better than some of the MLS All-Stars on this list?

In the 2006/2007 season Watford had the lowest wage bill by a longshot in the EPL. Their total wages added up to about $35,000,000 for the entire squad, more than twice as much as all of the MLS all-star salaries combined.

The Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers, an original selection before being pulled away by the US Olympic squad, was the lowest paid player selected with an annual wage of $57,500.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Video of Fernando Torres - Age 12

I've been a bit short on time lately so I'm going to take the easy way out today and post an interesting Fernando Torres video I ran across on Youtube. The clip shows a 12 year old El Niño scoring goals against the AC Milan youth squad. "The Kid" showed some amazing skill even at that young age. (and he didn't look that much different either).






Nice Cobra Kai move at the 1:15 mark. "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy"

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Superliga 2008: Players from Outside of North America





Here's an official description of the SuperLiga tournament from superliga2008.com.




SuperLiga™, a premier tournament that pits the best of the United States against the best of Mexico, returns with its second edition to award the heftiest winner’s purse in North American soccer history.


Being that it is a "North American" tournament, I thought it would be interesting to look at which players on the club rosters in Superliga are not originally from CONCACAF countries.

Group A

Houston Dynamo

Tony Caig (England)
Franco Caraccio (Argentina)
James Georgeff (Australia)
Guy-Roland Kpene (Ivory Coast)

Chivas Guadalajara
NONE

DC United
Gonzalo Peralta (Argentina)
Marcelo Gallardo (Argentina)
Fred (Brazil)
Luciano Emilio (Brazil)
Jose Carvallo (Peru)
Gonzalo Martinez (Colombia)
Jaime Moreno (Bolivia)
Rod Dyachenko (Russia)
Dan Stratford (England)
Francis Doe (Liberia)

Atlante
Javier Muñoz Mustafá (Argentina)
Federico Vilar (Argentina)
Gabriel Pereyra (Argentina)
Andrés Carevic (Argentina)
Giancarlo Maldonado (Venezuela)
Luis Gabriel Rey (Colombia)


Group B

Pachuca

Damian Álvarez (Argentina)
Gabriel Caballero (Argentina)
Bruno Marioni (Argentina)
Christian Giménez (Argentina)
Miguel Calero (Colombia)
Julio Manzur (Paraguay)
Christian (Brazil)

Santos Laguna
Fernando Ortiz (Argentina)
Walter Jiménez (Argentina)
Daniel Ludueña (Argentina)
Vincente Matias Vuoso (Argentina)
Christian Benítez (Ecuador)

New England
Kheli Dube (Zimbabwe)
Kenny Mansally (The Gambia)
Sainey Nyassi (The Gambia)

Chivas USA
Paulo Nagamura (Brazil)
Raphael Wicky (Switzerland)
Alex Zotinca (Romania)


DC United has 10 players from outside of North America on their roster followed by Pachuca with 7.

There are 27 players from South America in the tournament.

By Nation:
15 - Argentina
4 - Brazil
3 - Colombia
2 - England
2 - The Gambia
1 - Peru
1 - Bolivia
1 - Russia
1 - Australia
1 - Ivory Coast
1 - Liberia
1 - Venezuela
1 - Paraguay
1 - Ecuador
1 - Zimbabwe
1 - Romania
1 - Switzerland

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Players in Europe

This is a listing of the impressively vast amount of players from the Ivory Coast that are currently playing their soccer for clubs in European leagues.

All of the players listed in Orange started their careers at the famous African club ASEC Mimosas in the Ivory Coast.



FW - Guie Gneki Abraham - Budapest Honvéd (Hungary)
MF - Kanga Akale - Recreativo Huelva (Spain)
FW - Ibrahima Bakayoko - PAOK Thessaloniki FC (Greece)
FW - Yacouba Bamba - FK Khazar Lenkoran (Azerbaijan)
DF - Arthur Boka - VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
FW - Suleyman Camara - FK Karvan (Azerbaijan)
FW - Sekou Cissé - Roda JC (Netherlands)
GK - Boubacar Barry - KSC Lokeren (Belgium)
MF - Kafoumba Coulibaly - OGC Nice (France)
FW - Maurice-Junior Dalé - Auxerre (France)
DF - Guy Demel - Hamburger SV (Germany)
MF - Serge Dié - Ajaccio (France.2)
FW - Aruna Dindane - RC Lens (France)
DF - Constant Djapka - Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
MF - Thierry Doubai - BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)
FW - Sindou Dosso - Nyíregyházi Spartacus FC (Hungary)
FW - Didier Drogba - Chelsea (England)
DF - Emmanuel Eboue - Arsenal (England)
MF - Emerse Faé - OGC Nice (loan; France)
FW - Ismaël Béko Fofana - Fredrikstad FK (loan; Norway)
MF - Gaossou Fofana - Academica de Coimbra (Portugal)
FW - Guy Gnabouyou - Marseille (France)
DF - Steve Gohouri - Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany)
DF - Dacosta Goore - FC Luch-Energia Vladivostok (Russia)
MF - Jean-Jacques Gosso - FC Ashdod (Israel)
MF - Tchiressoua Guel - Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Israel)
MF - Did'dy Guela - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
MF - Koni Jakreta - Hapoel Petah Tikva FC (Israel)
FW - Salomon Kalou - Chelsea (England)
FW - Youssouf Kamara - FC Argeş Piteşti (Romania)
FW - Kader Keïta - Lyon (France)
FW - Axel Cedric Konan - Lecce (Italy.2)
MF - Didier Ya Konan - Rosenborg BK (Norway)
FW - Arouna Koné - Sevilla FC (Spain)
FW - Bakari Koné - OGC Nice (France)
MF - Emmanuel Koné - CFR Cluj (Romania)
MF - Konan Serge Kouadio - Fredrikstad FK (loan; Norway)
FW - Gervais Yao Kouassi - Le Mans (France)
FW - Élie Kroupi - Levadiakos FC (Greece)
DF - Igor Lolo - KRC Genk (Belgium)
MF - Christian Manfredini - Lazio (Italy)
MF - Koffi Ndri Romaric - Sevilla FC (Spain)
FW - Boubacar Sanogo - Werder Bremen (Germany)
MF - Roméo Affessi Séka - RAEC Mons (Belgium)
FW - Doumbia Seydou - BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)
MF - Taina Adama Soro - MTZ-RIPO Minsk (Belarus)
MF - Siaka Tiéné - Valenciennes FC (France)
MF - Cheik Tioté - FC Twente (Netherlands)
MF - Adolphe Tohoua - Excelsior Mouscron (Belgium)
DF - Kolo Touré - Arsenal (England)
MF - Yaya Touré - FC Barcelona (Spain)
MF - Abdou Razack Traoré - Rosenborg BK (Norway)
FW - Kandia Traoré - Sochaux (France)
FW - Arsène Vouho - Academica (Portugal)
MF - Gilles Yapi Yapo - BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)
MF - Venance Zézé - Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
FW - François Zoko - Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ (Turkey)
MF - Didier Zokora - Tottenham Hotspur (England)
DF - Marco Zoro - SL Benfica (Portugal)


Forwards - 24
Midfielders - 25
Defenders - 9
Goalkeepers - 1

Monday, July 14, 2008

2008 MLS Stats of Shame

These are some "bad" stats from the first half of the MLS season that as a team or a player you'd rather not be associated with. Own Goals, Losing Streaks, etc.. (Most teams have played 16 games)

Own Goals
03/29 - Bakary Soumare (Chicago)
04/06 - Drew Moor (Dallas)
04/09 - Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City)
04/17 - Gonzalo Peralta (DC)
05/17 - James Riley (San Jose)
05/18 - Duilio Davino (Dallas)
06/21 - Jay Heaps (New England)
06/28 - Shalrie Joseph (New England)
06/28 - Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake)

Penalty Misses
03/29
Shooter: Collin Samuel (TOR)
Keeper: Will Hesmer (CLB)

04/05
Shooter: Juan Pablo Angel (NY)
Keeper: Will Hesmer (CLB)

05/24
Shooter: Shalrie Joseph (NE)
Keeper: Will Hesmer (CLB)

05/31
Shooter: Javier Morales (RSL)
Keeper: Joe Cannon (SJ)

06/12
Shooter: Stuart Holden (HOU)
Keeper: Matt Reis (NE)

Goalkeeping
Zach Wells - 0 Shutouts in 14 games played
Steve Cronin - 1.94 GAA; 31 goals allowed

Fouls Committed
Atiba Harris (CHV) - 33
Paulo Nagamura (CHV) - 32
Justin Braun (CHV) - 28

Cautions (Yellow Cards)
Ricardo Clark (HOU) - 13 games played; 6 yellow cards

Ejections
Roger Espinoza (KC) - 8 games played; 2 red cards
James Riley (SJ) - 13 games played; 2 red cards

Consecutive Minutes With No Goals
Kansas City Wizards - 409 minutes (5/24/08 to 6/28/08)

First Half Goals Scored
3 - San Jose Earthquakes

Second Half Goals Scored
8 - New York Red Bulls
8 - San Jose Earthquakes

Goals Allowed in Minutes 76-90+
8 - Real Salt Lake

.000% Record When Allowing First Goal
0-8-0 - San Jose Earthquakes
0-5-0 - Toronto FC
0-4-0 - Kansas City Wizards

Record In One-Goal Games
1-3-0 (.250%) - San Jose Earthquakes
1-3-0 (.250%) - Los Angeles Galaxy
2-6-0 (.250%) - Colorado Rapids

Team Road Records
1-6-0 (.143%) - Toronto FC
1-6-0 (.143%) - Real Salt Lake

Longest Team Losing Streak
4 - D.C. United - (5/04/08 to 5/21/08)

Longest Team Road Losing Streaks
5 - Colorado Rapids - (4/26/08 to 6/28/08)
5 - D.C. United - (3/29/08 to 5/21/08)
5 - Real Salt Lake - (4/05/08 to 5/24/08)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Journeymen: Abel Xavier

This is a map of Abel Xavier's well-traveled career progression from his early days in Portugal all the way to Major League Soccer and his present club, the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Click to Enlarge



Career Distance between Clubs: 12,340 miles
Circumfrence of Earth: about 25,000 miles

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Europe's Longest Soccer Road Trips

Yesterday, I posted the World's Longest Soccer Road Trips. I decided to continue with the road trip theme today and come up with some longest trips for the major European leagues.

The longest trip in the top couple of divisions of Europe that I could find was in the Spanish Second Division with a seperation of 1,317 miles between Canary Islands based Tenerife and Gimnàstic, who are based just outside of Barcelona.

The farthest trips in England are around the same distance as Chicago to Columbus in MLS, two "nearby" rivals.

England
292 miles - Premier League
Newcastle United to Portsmouth - 470km

280 miles - Championship
Norwich City to Plymouth Argyle - 451km

303 miles - League 1
Carlisle United to Brighton & Hove Albion - 487km

Spain
549 miles - La Liga
Deportivo de La Coruña to Almeria - 883km

1,317 miles - Segunda División
Tenerife to Gimnàstic - 2120km

Germany
379 miles - Bundesliga
Hamburger SV to Bayern Munich - 610km

410 miles - 2.Bundesliga
Hansa Rostock to 1860 Munich - 660km

Italy
599 miles - Serie A
Udinese to Catania - 964km

598 miles - Serie B
AlbinoLeffe to Messina - 963km

France
588 miles - Ligue 1
FC Lorient to AS Monaco - 946km

782 miles - Ligue 2
Ajaccio to Brest - 1259km

Portugal
772 miles - Liga
Sporting Braga to Maritimo/Nacional - 1241km

989 miles - Liga Vitalis (B)
Clube Desportivo Santa Clara to Sporting Clube Olhanense - 1592km

Netherlands
164 miles - Eredivisie
FC Groningen to Roda JC - 263km

Russia
1263 miles - Premier League (European based Russian clubs only)
Zenit St. Petersburg to Spartak Nalchik - 2032km

Norway
834 miles - Tippeligaen
Tromsø to Viking FK - 1342km

Greece
407 miles - Super League
OFI Crete/Ergotelis to Panserraikos - 655km

Friday, July 11, 2008

World's Longest Soccer Road Trips

These are the longest road trips (at least 3,000km) around the world for clubs that play in the same league. I chose to include only the longest trips from each league because clubs like Luch-Energia Vladivostok and Perth Glory are pretty much thousands of miles from every team in their leagues.


4,366 miles
Baltika Kaliningrad (Russia B) to SKA-Energia Khabarovsk (Russia B) - 7026km

4,058 miles
Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) to Luch-Energia Vladivostok (Russia) - 6531km

3,267 miles
Wellington Phoenix (A-League) to Perth Glory (A-League) - 5258km

3,109 miles
Puerto Rico Islanders (USL) to Vancouver Whitecaps (USL) - 5004km

2,931 miles
PSMS Medan (Indonesia) to Persipura Jayapura (Indonesia) - 4717km

2,589 miles
New England Revolution (MLS) to LA Galaxy/Chivas USA (MLS) - 4166km

2,206 miles
Changchun Yatai (China) to Shenzhen Shangqingyin (China) - 3550km

1,913 miles
Deportes Arica (Chile Primera B) to Deportes Puerto Montt (Chile Primera B) - 3078km

1,865 miles
Fortaleza/Ceará (Brazil Série B) to Criciúma (Brazil Série B) - 3001km

Thursday, July 10, 2008

L.A. SuperClasico All-Time Goal and Assist Breakdown



Tonight is the 14th regular season installment of the "L.A. SuperClasico" between the Galaxy and Chivas USA. This is a breakdown of all of the goals and assists in the first 13 regular season Los Angeles Galaxy - Chivas USA matchups.

Series Wins
LA 8 - 3 CHV (2 Draws)

Past Season Records

2005 - LA 3-0-0
2006 - LA 2-1-1
2007 - CHV 2-1-1

Total Goals
LA 23 - 14 CHV

2008
04/26 LA 5-2
LA -- Landon Donovan 18
CHV -- Sacha Kljestan (Jonathan Bornstein) 38
LA -- Landon Donovan 59
CHV -- Ante Razov 62
LA -- Alan Gordon 76
LA -- Landon Donovan (Alan Gordon, Greg Vanney) 77
LA -- Alan Gordon (Landon Donovan, David Beckham) 84

2007
04/28 LA 3-1
LA -- Landon Donovan 8
LA -- Kevin Harmse (Landon Donovan) 17
CHV -- Claudio Suarez (Laurent Merlin, Francisco Mendoza) 63
LA -- Cobi Jones (Landon Donovan) 78

05/20 Draw 1-1
CHV -- Maykel Galindo (Ante Razov, Sacha Kljestan) 35
LA -- Landon Donovan 50

08/23 CHV 3-0
CHV -- Maykel Galindo 58
CHV -- Maykel Galindo (Francisco Mendoza, Sacha Kljestan) 69
CHV -- Francisco Mendoza (Sacha Kljestan, Ramon Nunez) 88

09/13 CHV 3-0
CHV -- Ante Razov (Lawson Vaughn) 23
CHV -- Francisco Mendoza (Sacha Kljestan) 88
CHV -- Laurent Merlin 91+


2006
04/15 LA 2-1
CHV -- Ante Razov (Juan Pablo Garcia) 46
LA -- Cornell Glen (Landon Donovan) 84
LA -- Cornell Glen (Landon Donovan) 93+

06/08 CHV 2-1
CHV -- Ante Razov (Francisco Mendoza) 15
CHV -- Ante Razov (Sacha Kljestan, Juan Francisco Palencia) 21
LA -- Herculez Gomez 27

07/15 Draw 0-0

09/30 LA 3-0
LA -- Peter Vagenas (Alan Gordon, Chris Albright) 29
LA -- Cobi Jones 67
LA -- Alan Gordon (Chris Albright, Quavas Kirk) 80

2005
04/23 LA 3-1
LA -- Cobi Jones 14
LA -- Peter Vagenas (Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones) 24
LA -- Jovan Kirovski 32
CHV -- Ramon Ramirez 49

05/28 LA 2-0
LA -- Pablo Chinchilla (Jovan Kirovski) 62
LA -- Peter Vagenas (Jovan Kirovski) 76

07/16 LA 2-0
LA -- Herculez Gomez (Paulo Nagamura) 64
LA -- Herculez Gomez (Naldo, Cobi Jones) 93+

08/10 LA 1-0
LA -- Landon Donovan (PK) 83

Goal Scorers
6 - Landon Donovan
5 - Ante Razov
3 - Cobi Jones
3 - Maykel Galindo
3 - Alan Gordon
3 - Herculez Gomez
3 - Peter Vagenas
2 - Francisco Mendoza
2 - Cornell Glen
1 - Kevin Harmse
1 - Claudio Suarez
1 - Sacha Kljestan
1 - Laurent Merlin
1 - Jovan Kirovski
1 - Ramon Ramirez
1 - Pablo Chinchilla

Assists
6 - Landon Donovan
5 - Sacha Kljestan
3 - Francisco Mendoza
2 - Alan Gordon
2 - Chris Albright
2 - Cobi Jones
2 - Jovan Kirovski
1 - Greg Vanney
1 - David Beckham
1 - Jonathan Bornstein
1 - Laurent Merlin
1 - Ante Razov
1 - Ramon Nunez
1 - Lawson Vaughn
1 - Juan Pablo Garcia
1 - Juan Francisco Palencia
1 - Quavas Kirk
1 - Paulo Nagamura
1 - Naldo

When The Goals were Scored:
3 -- 0-15
7 -- 16-30
3 -- 31-45
0 -- 45+

5 -- 45-60
6 -- 61-75
10 -- 76-90
3 -- 90+

First Half Goals - 13
Second Half Goals - 24

More than a third (13/37) of the goals scored in the series have come after the 76th minute.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Brazilian Players Home State Map

I was curious where many of the current and past Brazilian soccer players were specifically from in Brazil so I decided to make a map. I tried to use a fairly broad cross-section of 50 different Brazilian players past and present, from Adriano to Zico.


click to enlarge




Of these players, quite a few come from the same city:

Rio de Janeiro - Adriano, Juan, Thiago Silva, Gilberto, Diego Alves, Vágner Love, Ronaldo, Romario, Zico

São Paulo - Julio Baptista, Luisão, Cafu, Juninho Paulista, Denilson (Arsenal)

Porto Alegre - Anderson, Mineiro, Ronaldinho

Brasilia - Lucio, Kaká

Curitiba - Alex (Fenerbahçe), Thiago Neves

Does anybody know of any well-known players from the Amazon regions of Brazil? I know Francisco Lima who played for Roma a few years back and is currently with Brescia was born in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas. Any others?

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Purple Soccer Teams


Professional soccer teams around the world that wear purple shirts.


Perth Glory (Australia)
Austria Vienna (Austria)
KFC Germinal Beerschot (Belgium)
SK Dynamo České Budějovice (Czech Republic)
Toulouse FC (France)
Újpest FC (Hungary)
Hakoah Ramat Gan (Israel)
Fiorentina (Italy)
FC Argeş (Romania)
Politehnica 1921 Ştiinţa Timişoara (Romania)
NK Maribor (Slovenia)
Real Valladolid (Spain)
Real Potosi (Bolivia)
Deportes Concepción (Chile)
Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan)
Kyoto Sanga FC (Japan)
Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica)
Fovu Baham (Cameroon)

Monday, July 7, 2008

Highest Paid Soccer Players in the World

Forbes.com recently released a list of the top 20 highest paid world soccer players last season with endorsements included. Here they are from 20 to 1.

in millions
$10.3 - Oliver Kahn
$10.9 - Raul
$11.9 - Lionel Messi
$12.5 - Rio Ferdinand
$13.4 - Didier Drogba
$14.3 - Alessandro del Piero
$14.8 - Frank Lampard
$16.0 - Michael Ballack
$16.2 - Francesco Totti
$16.3 - Wayne Rooney
$17.0 - John Terry
$17.1 - Steven Gerrard
$17.5 - Andrei Shevchenko
$17.5 - Fabio Cannavaro
$17.7 - Kaka
$18.5 - Cristiano Ronaldo
$21.2 - Ronaldo
$25.1 - Thierry Henry
$32.6 - Ronaldinho
$48.9 - David Beckham


For more info on specific endorsements for the players and where the money is coming from, check out the original article at Forbes.com.

MLS Win Streaks

These are all of the regular season win streaks of at least 3 games that have taken place so far in the 2008 Major League Soccer season.

Chicago Fire
04/26 - Colorado 2-1
05/03 - @New England 3-0
05/08 - @DC United 2-1

Chivas USA
05/17 - DC United 3-1
05/24 - @Colorado 2-1
05/31 - Colombus 2-0

Colombus Crew
04/12 - Chivas USA 4-3
04/17 - @DC United 2-1
04/26 - Houston 1-0
05/03 - Kansas City 2-1
05/10 - @San Jose 3-2

DC United
06/07 - @Chicago 2-1
06/14 - New York 4-1
06/22 - San Jose 3-1
06/29 - Los Angeles 4-1

New England Revolution
05/11 - @Chivas USA 2-1
05/17 - San Jose 2-0
05/24 - @Colombus 1-0

Toronto FC
04/13 - @Los Angeles 3-2
04/19 - Salt Lake 1-0
04/26 - Kansas City 2-0


Every team in the league has had at least a two game win streak except for Colorado, New York, and Salt Lake.

Chivas USA is the only team in the Western conference to have a 3 game win streak so far.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Traoré and Touré

I've noticed in the past that there are a quite a few Traoré's and Touré's playing soccer in Europe and Asia (and even one Touré in the USL-1 in the United States). Here are all of the Traoré's and Touré's currently playing around the world that I could find.

Nationalities in parenthesis.

Traoré
Abdou - Girondins Bordeaux - (Mali)
Abdou Razack - Rosenborg - (Ivory Coast)
Alain - AJ Auxerre (Burkina Faso)
Alou - Saipa (Mali)
Armand - Arsenal (France/Senegal)
Christian - Hammarby (Denmark/Guinea)
Dame - Valenciennes FC (France/Senegal)
Djimi - Stade Rennais (Mali/France)
Dramane - Lokomotiv Moscow (Mali)
Ibrahima - Hertha BSC (France)
Ismaël - CS Sedan-Ardennes (France/Mali)
Issa - Saipa (Mali)
Kandia - FC Sochaux (Ivory Coast)
Madimoussa - Le Mans (France/Mali)
Mahamane - OGC Nice (Mali)
Mamadu - Reggina (Burkina Faso)
Mody - Valenciennes FC (France/Senegal)
Ousmane - Al-Watani (Burkina Faso)
Sammy - PSG (Mali/France)
Seydou - Al-Qadisiyah (Burkina Faso)


Touré
Alassane - Toulouse FC (France/Senegal)
Ansu - Atlanta Silverbacks (Liberia)
Assimou - Bayer Leverkusen (Togo)
Bassala - Levadiakos (Mali)
Cherif - MC Alger (Togo)
Demba - Grasshopper (Senegal/France)
Kolo - Arsenal (Ivory Coast/England)
Yaya - Barcelona (Ivory Coast)


Not Soccer Related: Here's a little West African music knowledge for the day. There are a couple of really great Malian musicians that share these surnames. Check out these live performance videos.

Rokia Traoré


Ali Farka Touré

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Colorado Rapids 4th of July MLS Dominance



The Colorado Rapids continued their Fourth of July dominance in MLS with a 4-0 pounding of the New York Red Bulls last night. That makes them 11-1-1 over the past 13 seasons on the American holiday. Besides their fantastic win-loss record, they've drawn around 550,000 people to the stadiums on July 4th home games.



Colorado Rapids

Average Home Attendance: 42,240
Average Points per Game: 2.62

2008 NY W, 4-0: 18,776
2007 CLB D, 0-0: 18,086
2006 NE W, 3-2: 39,205
2005 KC W, 2-1: 41,987
2004 NE W, 1-0: 41,979
2003 KC W, 3-2: 60,142
2002 CHI W, 3-2: 61,202
2001 DC W, 3-1: 60,500
2000 CHI W, 2-1: 53,126
1999 CLB L, 0-3: 51,025
1998 NY W, 1-0: 46,722
1997 SJ W, 3-1: 36,252
1996 NY W, 2-1: 20,117


Average Goals Scored per Game: 2.08
Average Goals Conceded per Game: 1.08

Friday, July 4, 2008

MLS July 4th Results and Attendance


These are the game results and attendances of all of the games played by the current Major League Soccer teams on the Fourth of July.

Chicago Fire
Average Home Attendance: 30,380
Average Points per Game: 1.71

2007 @LA L, 0-2: 24,333
2006 KC W, 1-0: 10,387
2002 COL L, 2-3: 61,202
2001 KC W, 7-0: 19,552
2000 @COL L, 1-2: 53,126
1999 @DAL W, 2-1: 17,621
1998 @DAL W, 2-1: 12,372


Chivas USA
Average Home Attendance: N/A
Average Points per Game: 0.5

2007 @DAL L, 0-2: 15,773
2006 @RSL D, 0-0: 20,752

Colorado Rapids
Average Home Attendance: 44,195
Average Points per Game: 2.58

2007 CLB D, 0-0: 18,086
2006 NE W, 3-2: 39,205
2005 KC W, 2-1: 41,987
2004 NE W, 1-0: 41,979
2003 KC W, 3-2: 60,142
2002 CHI W, 3-2: 61,202
2001 DC W, 3-1: 60,500
2000 CHI W, 2-1: 53,126
1999 CLB L, 0-3: 51,025
1998 NY W, 1-0: 46,722
1997 SJ W, 3-1: 36,252
1996 NY W, 2-1: 20,117

Columbus Crew
Average Home Attendance: 16,713
Average Points per Game: 1.125

2007 @COL D, 0-0: 18,086
2006 @HOU D, 1-1: 8,497
2002 @NE L, 1-4: 10,903
2001 @LA W, 2-0: 52,634
2000 @LA L, 1-0: 53,844
1999 @COL W, 3-0: 51,025
1997 KC L, 1-2: 16,713
1996 @TBM D, 1-1: 15,209

DC United
Average Home Attendance: N/A
Average Points per Game: 1.0

2007 @KC W, 1-0: 7,872
2006 @DAL W, 1-0: 16,240
2002 @KC L, 1-2: 19,641
2001 @COL L, 1-3: 60,500
2000 @TBM L, 0-3: 18,996
1999 @SJC D, 1-1: 73,123
1997 @DAL L, 2-3: 16,089
1996 @DAL D, 1-1: 16,177

FC Dallas/Burn
Average Home Attendance: 16,459
Average Points per Game: 1.0

2007 CHV W, 2-0: 15,773
2006 DC L, 0-1: 16,240
2002 NY W, 2-0: 16,055
2002 NE D, 1-1: 21,343
1999 CHI L, 1-2: 17,621
1998 CHI L, 0-1: 12,372
1997 DC L, 2-3: 16,089
1996 DC D 1-1: 16,177

Houston Dynamo
Average Home Attendance: 8,497
Average Points per Game: 1.0

2006 CLB D, 1-1: 8,497

Kansas City Wizards
Average Home Attendance: 16,226
Average Points per Game: 0.44

2007 DC L, 0-1: 9,485
2006 @CHI L, 0-1: 21,936
2005 @COL L, 1-2: 41,987
2003 @COL L, 2-3: 60,142
2002 DC W, 2-1: 19,641
2001 CHI L, 0-7: 19,552
2000 @SJ D, 0-0: 14,881
1998 @LA L, 0-2: 53,655
1997 @CLB L, 1-2: 16,713

Los Angeles Galaxy
Average Home Attendance: 43,123
Average Points per Game: 1.92

2007 CHI W, 2-0: 24,333
2006 NY W, 2-0: 21,936
2005 NE D, 1-1: 27,000
2004 SJ W, 2-1: 27,000
2003 NE D, 2-2: 27,000
2002 SJ W, 2-1: 55,234
2001 CLB L, 0-2: 52,634
2000 CLB W, 1-0: 53,844
1999 MIA L, 1-2: 60,433
1998 KC W, 2-0: 53,655
1997 NE W, 2-0: 51,704
1996 NE L, 0-1: 62,703

New England Revolution
Average Home Attendance: 19,945
Average Points per Game: 1.36

2006 @COL L, 2-3: 39,205
2005 @LA D, 1-1: 27,000
2004 @COL L, 0-1: 41,979
2003 @LA D, 2-2: 27,000
2002 CLB W, 4-1: 10,903
2001 @DAL D, 1-1: 21,343
2000 @MIA L, 1-2: 6,239
1999 NY W, 3-2: 28,986
1998 @TB W, 3-2: 22,704
1997 @LA L, 0-2: 51,704
1996 @LA W, 1-0: 62,703

NY Red Bulls/Metrostars
Average Home Attendance: N/A
Average Points per Game: 0.5

2006 @LA L, 0-1: 23,027
2005 @RSL D, 2-2: 20,121
2002 @DAL L, 0-2: 16,055
2001 @TBM W, 2-1: 20,730
1999 @NE L, 2-3: 28,986
1998 @COL L, 0-1: 46,722
1997 @TBM L, 0-1: 18,070
1996 @COL L, 1-2: 20,117

Real Salt Lake
Average Home Attendance: 20,541
Average Points per Game: 0.66

2007 TFC L, 1-2: 20,751
2006 CHV D, 0-0: 20,752
2005 NY D, 2-2: 20,121

San Jose Earthquakes/Clash
Average Home Attendance: 32,617
Average Points per Game: 0.5

2004 @LA L, 1-2: 27,000
2002 @LA L, 1-2: 55,234
2001 MIA D, 1-1: 9,847
2000 KC D, 0-0: 14,881
1999 DC D, 1-1: 73,123
1997 @COL L, 1-3: 36.252

Toronto FC
Average Home Attendance: N/A
Average Points per Game: 3.0

2007 @RSL W, 2-1: 20,751


Average July 4th Home Attendance:
Colorado - 44,195
Los Angeles - 43,123
San Jose - 32,617
Chicago - 30,380
Salt Lake - 20,541
New England - 19,945
Columbus - 16,713
Dallas - 16,459
Kansas City - 16,226
Houston - 8,497
Chivas - N/A
New York - N/A
DC United - N/A
Toronto - N/A

Smallest Ever Attendance: Columbus @ Houston - 8,497
Biggest Ever Attendance: DC United @ San Jose Clash - 73,123

I bet that the Colorado Rapids wish they could carry over their 4th holiday results to the rest of the season. In the past 12 years, they've had 10 wins out of 12 games and over a half a million people in attendance on the date.

It's funny that, although it's a small sample with only one game on July 4, Canada's Toronto FC is the only team with a perfect win record on America's Independence day.

This season's July 4th Matchups:
KC @ DAL
NY @ COL
NE @ LA

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Shortest Soccer Players in the World

This is a list of the shortest soccer players that are currently playing professionally around the world. The players listed range from 5ft 1in (1.55m) to a maximum of 5ft 5in (1.65m). For the majority of the list, I used the heights listed at the ESPNsoccernet player profile pages. If the player's height was not listed at ESPN, I generally used the official club pages. In the few cases where the height was not listed in either of those locations, I used the wikipedia height. All heights are listed in meters.


Diego Buonanotte - River Plate



Height (m) Player Club Nationality Position
1.55
Jafal Rashed Al Sadd (Qatar) Qatar
MF
1.58
Élton Jose Xavier Gomes Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia) Brazil
MF
1.60
Madson América de Natal (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.60
Maximiliano Moralez Racing (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.60
Levi Porter Leicester City (England) England
MF
1.61
Diego Buonanotte River Plate (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.61
Elgabry Rangel Tecos (Mexico) Mexico
DF
1.62
Carlinhos Bala Sport Recife (Brazil) Brazil
FW
1.62
Christian Lara Barcelona SC (Ecuador) Ecuador
MF
1.62
Juan Cuevas Gimnasia (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.62
Franco Niell Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.62
Joãozinho Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) Brazil
MF
1.63
Mohammad Al Shalhoub Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) Saudi Arabia
MF
1.63
Pablo Piatti Estudiantes (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.63
Christian Bermúdez Atlante (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.63
Zinha Toluca (Mexico) Brazil/Mexico
FM
1.63
Bakari Koné OGC Nice (France) Cote d'Ivoire
FW
1.64
Danilinho Atlético Mineiro (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.64
Ludovic Giuly A.S.Roma (Italy) France
MF
1.64
Sebastian Giovinco Juventus (Italy) Italy
MF
1.64
José Joel González CF Monterrey (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.64
Maximiliano Biancucchi Flamengo (Brazil) Argentina
MF/FW
1.64
Allan Alemán Liberia Mia (Costa Rica) Costa Rica
FW
1.64
Alejandro Gómez Arsenal da Sarandi (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.64
Maximiliano Estévez Racing Club (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.65
Aaron Lennon Tottenham (England) England
MF
1.65
Emiliano Insúa Liverpool (England) Argentina
DF
1.65
Massimo Murdocca Queensland Roar (Australia) Australia
MF
1.65
Alex Nimo Real Salt Lake (USA) Liberia
FW
1.65
José Francisco Torres Pachuca (Mexico) Mexico/USA
MF
1.65
Luis Montes Pachuca (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.65
Martín Bravo San Martin de San Juan (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.65
Tita Ankaraspor (Turkey) Brazil
MF
1.65
Milton Núñez Olimpia (Honduras) Honduras
FW
1.65
Rodrigo Ruiz Tecos (Mexico) Chile
FW
1.65
Naji Majrashi Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia) Saudi Arabia
FW
1.65
Erivélton Atlético Paranaense (Brazil) Brazil
DF
1.65
Jadílson Curzeiro (Brazil) Brazil
DF
1.65
Paulinho Maccabi Haifa (Israel) Brazil
MF
1.65
Vitor Júnior Santos (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.65
Boris Sagredo Colo-Colo (Chile) Chile
MF
1.65
Miroslav Ivanov Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) Bulgaria
MF



Depending on which number you believe, Élton Jose Xavier Gomes may be the shortest player. He is listed at 1.53m on wikipedia, 1.56m at this Corinthians site, and in this Reuters article he is listed at 1.58m.

I didn't find any goalkeepers that met the criteria for this list, but Oscar Perez Rojas of UANL Mexico came the closest at 1.69m (5ft7in).

Other famous short players who didn't quite make the list:
Lionel Messi (1.69m), Philip Lahm (1.70m), Freddy Adu (1.73m), Paul Scholes (1.70m), Shaun Wright-Phillips (1.66m), Javier Saviola (1.68m), Omar Bravo (1.69m), Edgar Davids (1.70m), Claude Makelele (1.70m), Michael Owen (1.72m)

Interesting that more than half of these short players are from Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico.

There are certainly discrepencies in these players listed heights, depending on what site you're looking at. If you have any corrections or additional players I can add to the list, please feel free to let me know.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Copa Libertadores: "Outsider" Finalists


Tonight is the second leg of the Copa Libertadores Final between LDU Quito of Ecuador and Fluminense of Brazil. LDU holds a 4-2 advantage after the first leg heading back to Rio for the return leg.

These are the last five Libertadores finals that have included clubs from nations outside of Brazil or Argentina. The last four of these matchups have ended with penalty kicks going all the way back to the 1998 game, the last time an Ecuadorian club made the final of the tournament. The last two matchups have been won by the "outsiders", but before that, it had been since 1991 since a non-Brazilian/Argentinian club had won the cup.


2004
Once Caldas (Colombia) v Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Aggregate 1-1
2-0 pens


2002
Olimpia (Paraguay) v São Caetano (Brazil)
Aggregate 2-2
4-2 pens


2001
Boca Juniors (Argentina) v Cruz Azul (Mexico)
Aggregate 1-1
3-1 pens


1999
Palmeiras (Brazil) v Deportivo Cali (Colombia)
Aggregate 2-2
4-3 pens


1998
Vasco da Gama (Brazil) v Barcelona SC (Ecuador)
Aggregate 4-1


LDU is looking to become the first Libertadores Champion from Ecuador following two runner-up finishes by Barcelona SC in the 90's. The winner goes on to the World Club Championship in Japan, where the South American sides have won three out of the first four tournaments.


Past Copa Libertadores Posts:
All Past Winners from outside Brazil and Argentina
Copa Libertadores Finals Facts since 1988
Finals Players That Have Played Abroad

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

2008 Copa Libertadores Final: Players that Have Played Abroad

In cased you missed it, Ecuador's LDU beat Brazil's Fluminense (at nearly 9,000 feet altitude) with four first-half goals on their way to a 4-2 win in the first leg of South America's Copa Libertadores final last Wednesday. They're still far from putting away the series because they'll have to play in front of nearly 100,000 Brazilian fans at the Maracanã in Rio tomorrow night (where Flu beat Boca Juniors and São Paulo by two goals each in the last two rounds).

I always find it interesting to look into players past clubs to see their career progression prior to being on a "Championship-level" club. These are all of the players on Fluminense and LDU that have played in nations outside of Brazil and Ecuador respectively.


Fluminense Players That Have Played Outside of Brazil:

Player Club Club Country Years Abroad
Gabriel Malaga CF Spain 2005-06
Thiago Silva

FC Porto

Dynamo Moscow

Portugal

Russia

2004

2005

Luiz Alberto

Saint-Étienne

Real Sociedad

France

Spain

2000-01

2001-02/2004/05

Júnior César Santos Laguna Mexico 2005-06
Ygor IK Start Norway 2007 - (On Loan)
Somália

NK MIK CM Celje

Feyenoord

Al-Hilal

Busan

Slovenia

Netherlands

Saudi Arabia

Korea

1998-99

1999-2000

2003-04

2005

Washington

Fenerbahçe

Tokyo Verdy 1969

Urawa Reds

Turkey

Japan

Japan

2002

2005

2006-07

Thiago Neves Vegalta Sendai Japan 2006
Dodô

Ulsan Hyundai

Oita Trinita

Al-Ain

Korea

Japan

UAE

2003-04

2005

2006-07

Roger Vissel Kobe Japan 2004-05
Fabinho

Gamba Osaka

Shimizu S-Pulse

Japan

Japan

2002

2004

Dario Conca

River Plate

Universidad Catolica

Rosario Central

Argentina

Chile

Argentina

2002-04

2004-06

2006

Rafael Messina Italy 2004-06
David

Yverdon

Pogoń Szczecin

Switzerland

Poland

2000/03-05

2002

Ricardo Berna Vegalta Sendai Japan 1998




LDU Quito Players That Have Played Outside of Ecuador:

Player Club Club Nation Years Abroad
José Cevallos Once Caldas Colombia 2005
Norberto Araujo

Aldosivi

Arsenal de Sarandi

Racing de Cordoba

Sport Boys

Sporting Cristal

Argentina

Argentina

Argentina

Peru

Peru

1998-99

2000-01

2001

2002-03

2004-06

Agustin Delgado

Cruz Azul

Necaxa

Southampton

UNAM Pumas

Mexico

Mexico

England

Mexico

1998

1999-2001

2001-04

2005

Franklin Salas Red Star Belgrade Serbia 2007-08
Claudio Bieler

Colon de Santa Fe

Atlético Rafaela

Colo-Colo

Argentina

Argentina

Chile

2005-06

2006-07

2007

Joffre Guerrón

Boca Juniors

Getafe CF

Argentina

Spain

2005

After Tournament

Enrique Vera

Resistencia

Sol de America

Iteño

Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay

1999

2000-02

2003

Jairo Campos KAA Gent Belgium 2004
Damian Manso

Newell's Old Boys

SC Bastia

Xanthi

Argentina

France

Greece

1996-01/02-03/04-05

2001-02

2006-07




I've mentioned in the past that I follow the J-League, so I think it's pretty cool that Fluminense has 6 players that have played in Japan in their career. In fact, Washington was the leading scorer for the league champion Urawa Red Diamonds in 2006, with 26 goals and was also named to the league best eleven that season.

It's really amazing to see all of the former nations where the players have played, some of these guys are real journeymen. Here's a listing of the former nations that the finalist players have played in earlier in their career.

Fluminense: Past Nations Played In:
Spain
Portugal
Russia
France
Mexico
Norway
Slovenia
Netherlands
Saudi Arabia
Korea
Turkey
Japan
UAE
Argentina
Chile
Italy
Switzerland
Poland

LDU: Past Nations Played In:
Colombia
Argentina
Peru
Mexico
England
Serbia
Chile
Paraguay
Belgium
France
Greece