Friday, October 31, 2008

MLS: Goal Scoring Stats by Home State

Here is a map and list of all of the American-born MLS goal scorers from the 2008 regular season categorized by their home states. I used the hometown info from the MLSnet player stats to determine each player's home state.




California (72)
Landon Donovan 20
Jimmy Conrad 6
Robbie Rogers 6
Sacha Kljestan 5
Ante Razov 5
Steven Lenhart 4
Chad Marshall 4
Jorge Flores 3
Jonathan Bornstein 2
Calen Carr 2
Ramiro Corrales 2
Kevin Goldthwaite 2
Sasha Victorine 2
Marvell Wynne 2
Maurice Edu 1
Frankie Hejduk 1
Bryan Jordan 1
Eddie Lewis 1
Tino Nunez 1
Daniel Paladini 1
Peter Vagenas 1

Texas (37)
Kenny Cooper 18
Davy Arnaud 7
Arturo Alvarez 6
Drew Moor 2
Shea Salinas 2
Jose Burciaga Jr 1
Daniel Woolard 1

Missouri (25)
Steve Ralston 8
Taylor Twellman 8
Brad Davis 3
Jack Jewsbury 3
John DiRaimondo 1
Chris Klein 1
Pat Noonan 1

Colorado (21)
Conor Casey 11
Colin Clark 5
Brian Mullan 3
Aaron Pitchkolan 1
Roger Espinoza 1

New York (18)
Edson Buddle 15
Mike Petke 2
Danny Cepero 1

Arizona (17)
Robbie Findley 6
Brad Evans 5
Alan Gordon 5
Brandon McDonald 1

Oregon (15)
Chad Barrett 9
Nate Jaqua 4
Ryan Cochrane 2

Hawaii (13)
Brian Ching 13

Illinois (12)
Brian McBride 5
Mike Magee 5
Quavas Kirk 1
Bryan Namoff 1

New Jersey (12)
Alecko Eskandarian 5
Eddie Gaven 3
Stephen King 2
Nick LaBrocca 2

Ohio (10)
Chris Rolfe 9
Seth Stammler 1

Virginia (9)
Adam Cristman 6
Abe Thompson 3
Brian Carroll 1
Devon McTavish 1
Corey Ashe 1

Maryland (8)
Santino Quaranta 5
Kyle Beckerman 3

Florida (5)
Jozy Altidore 3
Cory Gibbs 1
Bobby Boswell 1

Georgia (5)
Josh Wolff 3
Ricardo Clark 2

North Carolina (5)
Clyde Simms 2
Joe Vide 1
Michael Harrington 2

Pennsylvania (5)
Jeff Larentowicz 4
Jim Curtin 1

Utah (4)
Justin Braun 4

Wisconsin (4)
Jesse Marsch 4

Louisiana (3)
Jason Garey 3

Nevada (3)
Herculez Gomez 3

Mississippi (2)
Justin Mapp 2

Massachussetts (1)
Geoff Cameron 1

Michigan (1)
Jacob Peterson 1

Tennessee (1)
Carey Talley 1

Washington (1)
Ely Allen 1

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Well-Known Soccer Players with Beards

There aren't a lot of soccer players today sporting the bearded look. Here are a few of the more well-known bearded players from past and present.


Alexi Lalas



Christoph Metzelder



David Beckham



Djibril Cisse



George Best



Olof Mellberg



Abel Xavier



Paul Hartley



Danny McGrain



Sergio Batista



Socrates



Steven Pressley



Houston Dynamo "Playoff" Beards




Feel free to add any bearded player I missed in the comments.


Images: SI, The Offside, BBC, Whoateallthepies, Sportinglife, Jimbo, Ballhype, Teamtalk, Flickr

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Africa All-time Highest FIFA Ranking List

Here is a list of African nations ranked in order by their highest ever FIFA rankings.




5 - Nigeria
10 - Morocco
11 - Cameroon
14 - Ghana
15 - Zambia
16 - South Africa
17 - Egypt
18 - Côte d'Ivoire
19 - Tunisia
22 - Guinea
26 - Senegal
30 - Algeria
35 - Mali
40 - Zimbabwe
45 - Angola
45 - Gabon
46 - Togo
51 - Congo DR
51 - Sierra Leone
53 - Malawi
54 - Burkina Faso
57 - Congo
61 - Libya
64 - Equatorial Guinea
66 - Liberia
66 - Mozambique
66 - Uganda
68 - Cape Verde
68 - Namibia
68 - Niger
70 - Kenya
74 - Madagascar
74 - Sudan
79 - Benin
83 - Gambia
83 - Rwanda
85 - Mauritania
86 - Ethiopia
89 - Tanzania
92 - Swaziland
95 - Botswana
96 - Burundi
115 - Guinea-Bissau
116 - Mauritius
119 - Chad
120 - Lesotho
121 - Eritrea
129 - Seychelles
153 - Central African Republic
158 - Somalia
169 - Djibouti
179 - São Tomé and Príncipe
180 - Comoros


Nations with prior World Cup Final Tournament appearances in RED

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

European League Leaders

Quite a few leagues around Europe have some interesting leaders through the first part of the season. Valencia, Udinese, Hoffenheim, Groningen, Rubin Kazan, CD Nacional have all displaced the "big" clubs in their leagues for the time being. Will they be able to hold on? For the most part, probably not, but strange things can happen. These are many of the current league leaders around Europe with the clubs linked to their profiles at the site Albion Road.

Spain (8)
Valencia - 6-2-0

Italy (8)
Udinese - 5-2-1

Germany (9)
Hoffenheim - 6-1-2

Netherlands (7)
FC Groningen - 5-1-1

Croatia (11)
Dinamo Zagreb - 7-2-2

Czech Republic (11)
Slavia Praha - 8-2-1

Russia (26)
Rubin Kazan - 17-6-3

Portugal (6)
CD Nacional - 4-1-1

France (10)
Olympique Lyon - 6-3-1

England (9)
Liverpool - 7-2-0

Turkey (8)
Besiktas - 5-3-0

Bulgaria (10)
CSKA Sofia - 8-1-1

Greece (7)
Olympiakos - 5-1-1

Romania (12)
Dinamo Bucuresti - 9-1-2

Ukraine (12)
Dynamo Kiev - 10-1-1

Scotland (10)
Celtic - 8-1-1

Sweden (27)
Kalmar FF - 18-3-6

Poland (10)
Polonia Warszawa - 6-3-1

Denmark (11)
OB - 8-1-2

Norway (25)
Stabæk Fotball - 16-6-3

Ireland Republic (30)
Bohemians - 24-4-2

Monday, October 27, 2008

MLS Final Player Value per Goal/Assist

Here is the end of season update on the previous MLS player value post from a couple of weeks ago.

For those that missed it the first time around, this player value is calculated by dividing the yearly salary with the total goal and assist total (min. of 10 combined).

Colorado's Omar Cummings wins the title of "Best Bang for the Buck" in this years regular season.

Players with at least 20 combined g/a: Kenny Cooper, Javier Morales, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Jaime Moreno, Landon Donovan

7 - # of players who make less than $100,000 yearly
14 - # of players who make more than $250,000 yearly

Player $ per g/a # of g/a Salary Team
Omar Cummings $3,300 10 $33,000 COL
Chad Barrett $3,830 16 $61,273 TOR
Kenny Cooper $3,952 21 $83,000 DAL
Chris Rolfe $5,380 16 $86,075 CHI
Robbie Findley $5,418 11 $59,600 RSL
Jack Jewsbury $5,500 10 $55,000 KC
Alan Gordon $6,042 12 $72,504 LA
Edson Buddle $8,722 18 $157,000 LA
Steve Ralston $10,000 15 $150,000 NE
Alejandro Moreno $10,077 13 $131,000 CLB
Sacha Kljestan $10,677 12 $128,000 CHV
Davy Arnaud $10,688 10 $106,875 KC
Javier Morales $11,429 21 $240,000 RSL
Brad Davis $11,455 11 $126,000 HOU
Andre Rocha $12,273 11 $135,000 DAL
Brian Ching $12,833 18 $231,000 HOU
Terry Cooke $13,269 13 $172,500 COL
Jaime Moreno $13,750 20 $275,000 DC
Guillermo B Schelotto $14,423 26 $375,000 CLB
Conor Casey $14,616 13 $190,008 COL
Justin Mapp $20,000 10
$200,000 CHI
Dave van den Bergh $22,881 12 $274,583 NY
Ante Razov $23,523 11 $258,750 CHV
Jeff Cunningham $25,750 10 $257,700 DAL
Ronnie O'Brien $25,875 10 $258,750 SJ
Landon Donovan $31,034 29 $900,000 LA
Taylor Twellman $35,001 10 $350,008 NE
Darren Huckerby $35,500 10 $355,000 SJ
Luciano Emilio $47,428 16 $758,857 DC
Claudio Lopez $63,077 13 $820,000 KC
Juan Pablo Angel $93,750 17 $1,593,750 NY
Cuauhtemoc Blanco $148,154 18 $2,666,778 CHI
David Beckham $433,333 15 $6,500,000 LA

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Current Soccer Players with US President Names

The US election day is coming up and I don't know about everyone else but I'm ready for it to be over. At least seeing all the election commercials and internet stories gave me a marginally interesting idea for a "fun" soccer related post. Players with US president names, yay!



These are all players that have the same name as a former US president. I pulled the names from soccerdata.net which is an interesting site, but I'm guessing somewhat out of date due to the vast size of their database. Because of that, I'd guess that a few of these players aren't actually playing at the clubs listed anymore, but honestly I don't have time to double check today (it's my daughter's 3rd birthday). Feel free to help me out if you see any mistakes.


Washington - Happy Valley (Hong Kong), Fluminense (Brazil)

Lincoln - Galatasaray (Turkey)

Jefferson - Palmeiras (Brazil), São José (Brazil)

Jackson - Porto Alegre (Brazil)

Harrison - Figueirense (Brazil)

Arthur - Fluminense (Brazil), Internacional (Brazil)

Wilson - Figueirense (Brazil), Santos (Brazil)


Here are some that are very close to the full names of Former US Presidents:

John Kennedy - Celtic, Blackburn, Buron, Karlsruhe
Andy Johnson - Everton, Barnsley, Swindon
Andrew Johnson - Blyth
Andy Jackson - St. Johnstone
Jon Adams - AFC Telford

And a couple of shared names with the current candidates.

McCain, Stephen - Glenavon (Northern Ireland)
Obama - Murcia (Spain)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

CONCACAF: Highest FIFA Ranking Order

This is the ranking order of every CONCACAF national team based on their all-time highest FIFA rankings.


High Rank - Nation - Date of Rank

4 - Mexico (May 1998, May 2006)
4 - USA (April 2006)
17 - Costa Rica (May 2003)
20 - Honduras (September 2002)
25 - Trinidad and Tobago (June 2001)
27 - Jamaica (August 1998)
40 - Canada (December 1996)
46 - Cuba (November 2006)
50 - El Salvador (December 1992)
50 - Guatemala (August 2006)
52 - Panama (June 2007)
66 - Haiti (November 2007)
73 - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (October 2007)
76 - Bermuda (August 1993)
84 - Suriname (August 2008)
90 - Guyana (August 2007)
93 - Barbados (June 2000, October 2007)
97 - Puerto Rico (March 1994)
105 - Grenada (August 1997)
108 - Saint Kitts and Nevis (July 2004)
108 - Saint Lucia (April 2003)
109 - Antigua and Barbuda (October 2006)
116 - Dominican Republic (May 1996)
118 - Netherlands Antilles (July 1995)
127 - Cayman Islands (November 1995)
129 - Dominica (July 1998)
138 - Bahamas (September 2006)
150 - Nicaragua (August 1993)
157 - Belize (May 2002)
158 - Turks and Caicos Islands (February 2008)
160 - Aruba (December 1992)
160 - British Virgin Islands (March 2000)
189 - Anguilla (June 1997)
190 - US Virgin Islands (April 1999)
196 - Montserrat (July 2006)


Nations that have made a prior World Cup Final Tournament appearance in RED

Friday, October 24, 2008

2008 Los Angeles Galaxy Away Game Map

This map shows all of the away games (including exhibition games) that the globe-trotting Los Angeles Galaxy have played in the 2008 season. I've also included the two upcoming NZ and Australia fixtures. Click the icons for game results and zoom in to see the stadiums. Click view larger map for better navigation options.


View Larger Map


Overall Road Record in 2008
4-5-13

LWLWL DLDLW LWLDL LDDLL LL

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Former NASL Players who Became Managers

Here is a list of former NASL players who went on to manage a national team or a prominent club following their playing career.



Dick Advocaat - Chicago Sting 1979, 1980
Manager: FC Zenit St. Petersburg; Managed: HFC Haarlem, FC Dordrecht. Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers FC, Borussia Mönchengladbach, United Arab Emirates, South Korea

Sam Allardyce - Tampa Bay Rowdies 1983
Managed: Bolton, Newcastle

Carlos Alberto Torres - New York Cosmos 1977-1980, 1982
Managed: Botafogo, Azerbaijan

Alan Ball - Philadelphia Fury 1978-1979; Vancouver Whitecaps 1979-1980
Managed: Portsmouth, Southampton, Manchester City

Franz Beckenbauer - New York Cosmos 1977-1980, 1983
Managed: West Germany, Marseille, Bayern Munich

Johan Cruijff - LA Aztecs 1979-1980; Washington Diplomats 1980-1981
Managed: Ajax, FC Barcelona

Ruud Krol - Vancouver Whitecaps 1980
Managed: Zamalek, Egypt

Brian Kidd - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1982-1983; Minnesota Stirkers 1984
Managed: Blackburn Rovers

Wim Jansen - Washington Diplomats 1980
Managed: Feyenoord, Celtic, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Urawa Red Diamonds

Geoff Hurst - Seattle Sounders 1976
Managed: Chelsea

Ray Hudson - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1977-1983
Managed: Miami Fusion, DC United, GolTV announcer

George Graham - California Surf 1978
Managed: Millwall, Arsenal, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur

Trevor Francis - Detroit Express 1978-1979
Managed: QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City, Crystal Palace

Dale Mitchell - Vancouver, Portland, Montreal 1977-1983
Manager: Canada

Glenn Myernick - Dallas, Portland, Tampa Bay 1977-1984
Managed: US U-17, Colorado Rapids, US U-23

Harry Redknapp - Seattle Sounders 1976-1979
Manager: Portsmouth; Managed: West Ham, Southampton

Wim Rijsbergen - New York Cosmos 1979-1983
Managed: FC Volendam, NAC Breda, FC Groningen, Universidad Catolica, Trinidad and Tobago

Bruce Rioch - Seattle Sounders 1979-1980
Managed: Middlesbrough, Millwall, Bolton, Arsenal, Norwich City, Wigan, Odense, Aalborg

Thomas Rongen - LA, Washington, Ft. Lauderdale 1979-1986
Managed: Tampa Bay Mutiny, New England Revs, DC United, Chivas USA, US U-20

Hugo Sanchez - San Diego Sockers 1978-1980
Managed: U.N.A.M., Necaxa, Mexico, Mexico U-23

Graeme Souness - Montreal Olympique 1972
Managed: Rangers, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Southampton, Torino, Benfica, Blackburn, Newcastle

Wolfgang Suhnholz - Toronto Metros-Croatia 1976-1978
Managed: US U-20

Colin Todd - Vancouver Whitecaps 1984
Manager: Randers FC; Managed: Middlesbrough, Bolton, Derby County

Peter Withe - Portland Timbers - 1975
Managed: Wimbledon, Thailand, Indonesia

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

MLS Player Pronunciation Guide

Here is a guide to some of the most difficult names to pronounce in Major League Soccer this season. Updated from this earlier post.


Chicago Fire

Bakary Soumare
ba-CAR-ay soo-MAR-ay

Cuauhtemoc Blanco
quaw-TEH-mok

Colorado Rapids
Pablo Mastroeni
MAHS-troh-eny

Ugo Ihemelu
OO-go ee-HEM-meh-loo

Kosuke Kimura
Kos-kay

Columbus Crew
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
ghee-ZHER-moh BARR-ohs SKEH-lo-TOH

Stefani Miglioranzi
MEEL-you-RAHN-zee

Duncan Oughton
OUT-uhn

Frankie Hejduk
HAY-duck

Andy Iro
EYE-roh

Andy Gruenebaum
GREEN-uh-BOHM

Stanley Nyazamba
NIGH-uh-ZAHM-buh

Chivas USA
Sacha Kljestan
KLESH-tahn

FC Dallas
Adrian Serioux
seh-REE-oo

Pablo Richetti
ri-Chetty

Andre Rocha
ro-sha

DC United
Marcelo Gallardo
Mar-CELL-oh Ga-ZHAR-do

Houston Dynamo
Dwayne de Rosario
DAY-row-SAR-ee-oh
That's what it says in the official game guide but I've actually heard the man himself say DEE-row-SAR-ee-oh in an interview.

Patrick Ianni
ee-YON-ee

Nate Jaqua
JAKE-wuh

Guy-Roland Kpene
ghee ROLE-und ka-penny

Kei Kamara
Kye Kuh-MAH-ruh

Kansas City Wizards
Davy Arnaud
are-NO

Los Angeles Galaxy
Ante Jazic
AHN-tay JAH-zic

Peter Vagenas
vye-YAY-nuss

New England Revolution
Amaechi Igwe
ah-MEHCH-ee IG-way

Sainey Nyassi
SIGN-nee ny-AH-see

Kheli Dube
Kelly doo-BAY

New York Red Bulls
Juan Pablo Angel
AHN-hell

John Wolyniec
WALL-ah-nick

Kevin Goldthwaite
GOAL-thweight

Danny Cepero
se-PEAR-row

Matthew Mbuta
em-BOO-tah

Gabriel Cichero
see-CHAIR-oh

Sainey Touray
SAY-nee TOUR-ray

Juan Pietravallo
PIET-trah-vah-loh

Real Salt Lake
Fabian Espindola
ess-PEEN-dola

Nikolas Besagno
buh-ZAN-yo

San Jose Earthquakes
Francisco Lima
LEE-ma

Mikel Arce
MEE-kel

Toronto FC
Rohan Ricketts
ROW-en

Nana Attakora-Gyan
NA-na at-ta-KO-ra GI-yan



Monday, October 20, 2008

FIFA Worldwide Top 25 Teams since 1992

Here is a map and list of every team that has been ranked in the top 25 of the FIFA rankings since the rankings began in December of 1992. The list shows the highest ranking each nation has achieved in the past 16 years.



Africa
5 - Nigeria
10 - Morocco
11 - Cameroon
14 - Ghana
15 - Zambia
16 - South Africa
17 - Egypt
18 - Côte d'Ivoire
19 - Tunisia
22 - Guinea

Asia
9 - Japan
15 - Iran
17 - South Korea
21 - Saudi Arabia
24 - Kuwait

Europe
edit: I erroneously listed Bulgaria at 1, their highest ranking was 8 in 1995. Thanks Bill.

1 - France
1 - Germany
1 - Italy
1 - Spain
2 - Czech Republic
2 - Netherlands
2 - Norway
2 - Sweden
3 - Croatia
3 - Denmark
3 - Romania
3 - Russia
3 - Switzerland
4 - England
4 - Portugal
5 - Turkey
6 - Republic of Ireland
8 - Bulgaria
8 - Greece
11 - Ukraine
13 - Scotland
16 - Belgium
16 - Israel
16 - Poland
17 - Austria
17 - Serbia
17 - Slovakia
25 - Bosnia and Herzegovina
25 - Slovenia

CONCACAF
4 - Mexico
4 - USA
17 - Costa Rica
20 - Honduras
25 - Trinidad and Tobago

South America
1 - Argentina
1 - Brazil
4 - Colombia
6 - Chile
8 - Paraguay
14 - Uruguay
18 - Bolivia
24 - Ecuador

Oceania
NONE

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Playing Careers of the Current Premiership Managers




Arsenal - Arsene Wenger
1973-1975 - FC Mulhouse
1975-1978 - ASPV Strasbourg
1978-1981 - RC Strasbourg

Aston Villa - Martin O'Neill
1971-1971 - Distillery FC (N. Ireland)
1971-1981 - Nottingham Forest
1981-1981 - Norwich City
1981-1982 - Manchester City
1982-1983 - Norwich City
1983-1985 - Notts County

Blackburn Rovers - Paul Ince
1984-1989 - West Ham United
1989-1995 - Manchester United
1995-1997 - Inter Milan
1997-1999 - Liverpool
1999-2002 - Middlesbrough
2002-2006 - Wolverhampton Wanderers
2006-2006 - Swindon Town
2007-2007 - Macclesfield Town

Bolton Wanderers - Gary Megson
1977-1979 - Plymouth Argyle
1979-1981 - Everton
1981-1984 - Sheffield Wednesday
1984-1984 - Nottingham Forest
1984-1985 - Newcastle United
1985-1989 - Sheffield Wednesday
1989-1992 - Manchester City
1992-1995 - Norwich City
1995-1995 - Lincoln City
1995-1995 - Shrewsbury Town

Chelsea - Luiz Felipe Scolari
1973-1979 - Caxias (Brazil)
1980-1980 - Juventude (Brazil)
1980-1981 - Novo Hamburgo (Brazil)
1981-1981 - CSA (Brazil)

Everton - David Moyes
1980-1983 - Celtic
1983-1985 - Cambridge United
1985-1987 - Bristol City
1987-1990 - Shrewsbury Town
1990-1993 - Dunfermline Athletic
1993-1993 - Hamilton Academical
1993-2002 - Preston North End

Fulham - Roy Hodgson
?1965-1975 - Crystal Palace
?1965-1975 - Tonbridge
?1965-1975 - Gravesend and Northfleet
?1965-1975 - Maidstone United

Hull City - Phil Brown
1978-1985 - Hartlepool United
1985-1988 - Halifax Town
1988-1994 - Bolton Wanderers
1994-1996 - Blackpool

Liverpool - Rafael Benitez
1974-1981 - Castilla CF
1981-1985 - AD Parla
1985-1986 - Linares

Manchester City - Mark Hughes
1980-1986 - Manchester United
1986-1988 - Barcelona
1987-1988 - Bayern Munich (Loan)
1988-1995 - Manchester United
1995-1998 - Chelsea
1998-2000 - Southampton
2000-2000 - Everton
2000-2002 - Blackburn Rovers

Manchester United - Alex Ferguson
1957-1960 - Queen's Park
1960-1964 - St. Johnstone
1964-1967 - Dunfermline Athletic
1967-1969 - Rangers
1969-1973 - Falkirk
1973-1974 - Ayr United

Middlesbrough - Gareth Southgate
1988-1995 - Crystal Palace
1995-2001 - Aston Villa
2001-2006 - Middlesbrough

Newcastle United - Joe Kinnear
1965-1975 - Tottenham Hotspur
1975-1976 - Brighton & Hove Albion

Portsmouth - Harry Redknapp
1964-1972 - West Ham United
1972-1976 - Bournemouth
1976-1976 - Brentford
1976-1979 - Seattle Sounders
1982-1982 - Bournemouth

Stoke City - Tony Pulis
1975-1981 - Bristol Rovers
1981-1982 - Happy Valley
1982-1983 - Bristol Rovers
1984-1986 - Newport County
1986-1989 - AFC Bournemouth
1989-1990 - Gillingham
1990-1992 - AFC Bournemouth

Sunderland - Roy Keane
1989-1990 - Cobh Ramblers
1990-1993 - Nottingham Forest
1993-2005 - Manchester United
2005-2006 - Celtic

Tottenham Hotspur - Juande Ramos
1973-1977 - Elche
?1977-1982 - Alcoyano
?1977-1982 - Linares
?1977-1982 - Eldense
?1977-1982 - Alicante
?1977-1982 - Denia

West Bromwich Albion - Tony Mowbray
1982-1991 - Middlesbrough
1991-1995 - Celtic
1995-2000 - Ipswich Town

West Ham United - Gianfranco Zola
1984-1987 - Nuorese
1987-1989 - Torres
1989-1993 - Napoli
1993-1996 - Parma
1996-2003 - Chelsea
2003-2005 - Cagliari

Wigan Athletic - Steve Bruce
1977-1984 - Gillingham
1984-1987 - Norwich City
1987-1996 - Manchester United
1996-1998 - Birmingham City
1998-1999 - Sheffield United


Multiple Former Players at:
4 - Manchester United
3 - Celtic
3 - Middlesbrough
3 - Norwich City
3 - Nottingham Forest
2 - Chelsea
2 - Dunfermline Athletic
2 - Everton
2 - Gillingham
2 - Linares
2 - Manchester City
2 - West Ham United


Picture from Bob and 1970-71 Footballers

Friday, October 17, 2008

08/09 Bundesliga Unique Internationals

This table shows the players that are the only one from their home country playing in the German Bundesliga this season.

Nationality Player Club
Australia Joshua Kennedy Karlsruher SC
Belarus Anton Putsila Hamburger SV
Chile Arturo Vidal Bayer Leverkusen
China Shao Jiayi Energie Cottbus
Colombia Faryd Aly Mondragón 1. FC Köln
Egypt Mohamed Zidan Borussia Dortmund
Mali Soumaila Coulibaly Borussia Mönchengladbach

Namibia Collin Benjamin Hamburger SV
Ukraine Andriy Voronin (Loan) Hertha Berlin
Zambia Christopher Katongo DSC Arminia Bielefeld




Other Unique Internationals:

La Liga
English Premier League

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

MLS: Player Values per Goal/Assist

These are the most productive offensive MLS players dollar values per combined goal/assist total (min 10 combined). [yearly salary divided by goal/assist total]

Not surprisingly the DP players ended up at the bottom as they'd have to have pretty spectactular seasons to get the $ per g/a lower.

It's pretty hard to believe that Kenny Cooper only makes marginally more than Alan Gordon, but they've actually both proven to be fairly good value per goal/assist.

David Beckham's cost of $464,268 per goal/assist is more than the yearly salary of every player in the league outside of the Designated Players. I'm pretty sure that's not why they pay him the big bucks though.


[UPDATE, OCT 24, 1:30PM]
I'll update this post at the end of the regular season on Monday, Oct 27. I can say that there is a new leader in the chart that is not Chris Rolfe (sorry Bill). Chris did move up the list with last nights performance against NY and his value is now at $5,380 per goal/assist.)

Any guesses on the new leader? He wasn't previously on the list but picked up an assist last week to give him a combined goal/assist total of 10. Hint: His 2008 salary is $33,000 and he plays in the Western Conference.

[OCT 27 UPDATE:]
See the updated list here



Player $ per g/a # of g/a Salary Team
Kenny Cooper $3,952 21 $83,000 DAL
Chad Barrett $4,085 15 $61,273 TOR
Robbie Findley $5,960 10 $59,600 RSL
Alan Gordon $6,042 12 $72,504 LA
Chris Rolfe $7,825 11 $86,075 CHI
Edson Buddle $9,235 17 $157,000 LA
Steve Ralston $10,000 15 $150,000 NE
Alejandro Moreno $10,077 13 $131,000 CLB
Sacha Kljestan $10,667 12 $128,000 CHV
Brad Davis $11,455 11 $126,000 HOU
Andre Rocha $12,273 11 $135,000 DAL
Javier Morales $12,632 19 $240,000 RSL
Brian Ching $13,588 17 $231,000 HOU
Terry Cooke $14,375 12 $172,500 COL
Jaime Moreno $14,474 19 $275,000 DC
Guillermo B. Schelloto $15,000 25 $375,000 CLB
Ante Razov $23,523 11 $258,750 CHV
Jeff Cunningham $25,750 10 $257,500 DAL
Dave van den Bergh $27,458 10 $274,583 NY
Landon Donovan $32,143 28 $900,000 LA
Darren Huckerby $35,500 10 $355,000 SJ
Luciano Emilio $47,428 16 $758,857 DC
Juan Pablo Angel $113,839 14 $1,593,750 NY
Cuauhtemoc Blanco $177,785 15 $2,666,778 CHI
David Beckham $464,286 14 $6,500,000 LA

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Brazilian Name Game

I'm really glad that Brazilian soccer stars use their one name monikers. Otherwise we'd have to listen to Christopher Sullivan and Christian Miles (USA based Fox Soccer announcers for those around the world) pronounce Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite in their best Mario and Luigi impressions. Instead they can just say, Kaká.

Here are the full names of many of the top Brazilian stars of the past and present.


Júlio César - Júlio César Soares de Espíndola
Maicon - Maicon Douglas Sisenando
Lúcio - Lucimar Ferreira da Silva
Juan - Juan Silveira dos Santos
Josué - Josué Anunciado de Oliveira
Gilberto Silva - Gilberto Aparecido da Silva
Adriano - Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Kaká - Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
Robinho - Robson de Souza
Dani Alves - Daniel Alves da Silva
Elano - Elano Blumer
Alexandre Pato - Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva
Luisão - Ânderson Luís da Silva
Gilberto - Gilberto da Silva Melo
Alex - Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa
Júlio Baptista - Júlio Baptista
Diego - Diego Ribas da Cunha
Ronaldinho - Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Mineiro - Carlos Luciano da Silva
Thiago Neves - Thiago Neves Augusto
Luís Fabiano - Luís Fabiano Clemente
Rafael Sóbis - Rafael Augusto Sóbis do Nascimento
Vágner Love - Vágner Silva de Souza
Jô - João Alves de Assis Silva
Luciano Emilio - Luciano Emilio
Fred - Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva

Cafu - Marcos Evangelista de Moraes
Roberto Carlos - Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha
Ronaldo - Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima
Pelé - Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Dida - Nélson de Jesus Silva
Dunga - Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri
Zico - Arthur Antunes Coimbra
Rivaldo - Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira
Zé Roberto - José Roberto da Silva Júnior
Bebeto - José Roberto Gama de Oliveira
Romário - Romário de Souza Faria
Tostão - Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade
Garrincha - Manuel Francisco dos Santos
Zizinho - Thomaz Soares da Silva
Falcão - Paulo Roberto Falcão
Carlos Alberto Torres - Carlos Alberto Torres
Didi - Waldyr Pereira


Three players in the list apparently weren't feeling very creative, Luciano Emilio, Julio Baptista, and Carlos Alberto Torres all use their full name.

If you want to find out what your Brazilian soccer name is, try out this BrazilName Generator.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

08/09 La Liga Unique Internationals

This table shows the players that are the only one from their home country playing in Spain's La Liga in the 08/09 season.

Nationality Player Club
Algeria Mehdi Lacen Racing Santander
Belarus Aliaksandr Hleb Barcelona
Canada Julián de Guzmán Deportivo La Coruña
Cape Verde Dady Osasuna
Ecuador Joffre Guerrón Getafe
Equitorial Guinea Rodolfo Bodipo Deportivo La Coruña
Guinea Alhassane Keita Mallorca
Hungary Krisztián Vadócz Osasuna
Iceland Eiður Guðjohnsen Barcelona
Ireland Steve Finnan RCD Espanyol
Israel Dudu Aouate Deportivo La Coruña
Morocco Nabil Baha Malaga
Paraguay Justo Villar Real Valladolid
Poland Jerzy Dudek Real Madrid
Slovenia Branko Ilič Real Betis
South Africa Nasief Morris Recreativo de Huelva
Sweden Henok Goitom Real Valladolid
USA Jozy Altidore Villarreal

Saturday, October 11, 2008

08/09 Premiership Unique Internationals

This table shows the players that are the only one from their home country playing in the English Premiership in the 08/09 season.


Nationality Player Club
Algeria Nadir Belhadj Portsmouth
Angola Manucho Manchester United
Barbados Emmerson Boyce Wigan
Cape Verde Pelé West Brom
Chile Carlos Villanueva Blackburn
Gabon Daniel Cousin Hull City
Georgia Zurab Khizanishvili Blackburn
Grenada Jason Roberts Blackburn
Greece Stelios Giannakopoulos Hull City
Guinea Kamil Zayatte Hull City
Iran Andranik Teymourian Fulham
Netherlands Antilles Shelton Martis West Brom
New Zealand Ryan Nelsen Blackburn
Oman Ali Al Habsi Bolton
Paraguay Roque Santa Cruz Blackburn
Slovenia Robert Koren West Brom
Zimbabwe Benjani Manchester City

Friday, October 10, 2008

Big Movers in the October FIFA Rankings





Positive Movers

Change -- Nation -- (+)Results -- Current Rank

+57 -- New Zealand -- (W: New Caledonia, W: New Caledonia) (54)
+43 -- Congo -- (W: Mali) (57*)
+29 -- Luxembourg -- (W: Switzerland) (123)
+23 -- Benin -- (W: Angola) (81)
+22 -- Cayman Islands -- (D: Antigua and Barbuda, D: Bermuda) (162)
+22 -- St Vincent and the Grenadines -- (W: Anguilla) (125)
+21 -- Niger -- (W: Uganda) (150)
+20 -- Algeria -- (W: Senegal) (56)
+20 -- Barbados -- (W: British Virgin Islands, W: St Kitts and Nevis) (114)
+19 -- Austria -- (W: France) (82)
+19 -- Albania -- (W: Malta, D: Sweden) (83)
+19 -- Montenegro -- (D: Ireland, D: Bulgaria) (117*)
+17 -- Lithuania -- (W: Austria, W: Romania) (37*)
+15 -- Peru -- (D: Argentina, W: Venezuela) (58)

* Highest ever FIFA ranking

Negative Movers

Change -- Nation -- (-)Results -- Current Rank

-34 -- Equitorial Guinea -- (L: Sierra Leone) (121)
-27 -- New Caledonia -- (L: New Zealand, L: New Zealand) (122)
-24 -- Suriname -- (L: El Salvador, L: Costa Rica) (108)
-20 -- Georgia -- (L: Italy, L: Ireland) (97)
-17 -- Moldova -- (L: Israel, L: Latvia) (65)
-17 -- Congo DR -- (L: Egypt) (85)
-15 -- Cape Verde -- (L: Cameroon) (104)
-15 -- Cyprus -- (L: Italy) (80)
-15 -- South Africa -- (L: Guinea, L: Nigeria) (85)


Notes:

New Zealand was this biggest mover with an amazing jump from a poor 111 rank to a respectable 54. How'd they get there? With two wins over their Oceania rival New Caledonia who were ranked 16 places ahead of the Kiwis at 95 when the games took place.

The two Congos in Africa did the old switcharoo this month. Congo went from a rank of 100 to 57. Conversely Congo DR, who were previously ranked 32 places ahead of their neighbors, is now ranked below them by 28 places, falling from 68 to 85.

Congo, Montenegro, and Lithuania are all currently at their highest ever FIFA ranking.

The biggest drop in the top 50 was Scotland, who moved from 16 to 26 because of a WCQ loss to Macedonia.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

QWERTY Counts in Scrabble



I was watching the CCL game on Tuesday night between Houston and San Francisco (Panama) and had a random thought when the back of Nate Jaqua's jersey was shown. I wonder how many players have a Q in their last name? I know, not the most useful information in the world, but once it popped in my head I had to find out. Here is the "Q" list from MLS, USL1, and a few of the big leagues in Europe (last names only).

Barcelona leads the way with 4 Q players on their first team and Quique and Aquivaldo Mosquera are the only double Q players.

MLS
Nate Jaqua - Houston Dynamo
Santino Quaranta - DC United

England
Francis Coquelin - Arsenal
Frank Wiafe Danquah - Newcastle United
Steed Malbranque - Sunderland
Nigel Quashie - West Ham United

France
Julien Quercia - Auxerre
Carlos Henrique - Bordeaux
Frédéric Piquionne - Lyon
William Vainqueur - Nantes
Damien Perquis - Sochaux

Germany
None

Italy
Robert Acquafresca - Cagliari
Ricardo Quaresma - Inter
Vincenzo Iaquinta - Juventus
Alberto Aquilani - Roma
Giovanni Pasquale - Udinese
Fabio Quagliarella - Udinese

Scotland
Paul Quinn - Motherwell

Spain
Gerard Piqué - Barcelona
Rafael Márquez - Barcelona
Albert Jorquera - Barcelona
Sergio Busquets - Barcelona
Sébastien Squillaci - Sevilla
Aquivaldo Mosquera - Sevilla
Javier Casquero - Getafe
Quique - Real Valladolid
Jesús Vázquez - Recreativo de Huelva

USL
Felipe Quintero - Atlanta Silverbacks
Nicolas Mosquera - Miami FC
Cédric Joqueviel - Montreal Impact
Roger Levesque - Seattle Sounders


I didn't find any Q without a U combos. Are there any out there?

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

08/09 Liverpool FC - Interactive Player Birthplace Map

Liverpool has one of the more interesting player birthplace maps because a large number of their players come from pretty small towns as opposed to larger cities. Click the icons for the player names and birthplaces and zoom in to see their birth towns. Click view larger map for easier navigation options.


View Larger Map


More Premiership Player Birthplace Maps
Chelsea FC
Manchester United
Arsenal FC

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Soccer - Football - Futbol

I was reading a post at Big Soccer the other day and for the umpteenth time someone chimed in with the, it's "football" not "soccer" argument (they also threw in a pro/rel in America because MLS is not "European" enough, but back to the point).

Here is a list of alternate names for "football" that are regularly used all over the world. In fact the combined populations of the nations that use the term soccer is well over a half a billion (632,655,865).


Nations that use the term "Soccer"

American Samoa
Australia
Canada
Cook Islands
Fiji
Japan (sakka)
Marshall Islands
Nauru
New Zealand
Nunavut
Papua New Guinea
Puerto Rico
Philippines
Republic of Ireland
Solomon Islands
South Africa (disputed)
USA
US Virgin Islands
Vanuatu


Foreign Words used for Football/Soccer

Afrikaans - sokker
Arabic - kurat al-qadam
Chinese - zúqiú or juk kau
Czech - kopaná
Finnish - jalkapailo
Georgian - pekhburti
Greek - podosfero
Hebrew - kaduregel
Hungary - foci
Italy - calcio
Korea - chukgu
Serbian, Croation, Slovenian - nogomet
Slovak - fucik
Poland - piłka nożna
Vietnamese - bóng đá
Welsh - pel-droed


Many countries use a variation on the word football, ie. Dutch - Voetbal, German - Fußball, etc..

Monday, October 6, 2008

UEFA Champions League Stunt Doubles from MLS

I was browsing through the UEFA Champions League rosters the other day and noticed that some of the players looked an awful lot like a few of the players in Major League Soccer. I haven't done a look-a-like post since the Euro 2008 head coach look-a-likes, so I was due for another one.

Here are some players from Major League Soccer that look eerily similar to their European based counterparts.



John Wolyniec (NY) and Thomas Augustinussen (Aalborg BK)



Craig Waibel (HOU) and Franck Jurietti (Bordeaux)



Michael Parkhurst (NE) and Roman Eremenko (Dynamo Kiev)



Justin Mapp (CHI) and Boudewijn Zenden (Olympique Marseille)



Sacha Kljestan (CHV) and Fucile (Porto)



Shalrie Joseph (NE) and Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid)



Kevin Hartman (KC) and Sebastien Frei (Fiorentina)



Abe Thompson (KC) and Arthur Bernhardt (Steaua Bucharest)



Jorge Flores (CHV) and Yasin Çakmak (Fenerbahçe)



Kenny Cooper (DAL) and Chris Killen (Celtic)



Brian Ching (HOU) and Julio Cruz (Inter Milan)



Jon Busch (CHI) and Michael Beauchamp (Aalborg BK)



Jonathan Bornstein (CHV) and Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool)



Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI) and Aleksandr Yurevich (FC BATE)




Chad Barrett (TOR) and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)



One of my first posts at The Best Eleven was an MLS celebrity look-a-like post. If you missed it the first time around, check it out here.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Chivas USA Player Birthplace Interactive Map

Here is an interactive google map of Chivas USA's roster showing the birthplaces of all of the players. Click the icons for the player names and birthplaces. Click view larger map for better navigation options.



View Larger Map

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Chicago Fire Player Birthplace Interactive Map

Here is an interactive google map of the Chicago Fire's roster showing the birthplaces of all of the players. Click the icons for the player names and birthplaces. Click view larger map for better navigation options.


View Larger Map

Friday, October 3, 2008

MLS: Age Analysis of Goal Scorers

Here is some age analysis of all of the goal scorers in the 2008 Major League Soccer season up to and including last night's Dallas/San Jose game (Oct 2). I used the ages as of October 1, so this analysis doesn't account for birthdays that may have happened during the season.

Goal Breakdown by Age
age -- goals
17 -- 1
18 -- 3
19 -- 8
20 -- 3
21 -- 20
22 -- 18
23 -- 86
24 -- 34
25 -- 23
26 -- 62
27 -- 36
28 -- 22
29 -- 32
30 -- 23
31 -- 13
32 -- 45
33 -- 14
34 -- 34
35 -- 11
36 -- 2

Youngest Goal Scorer
17 - (16 at the time of the goal) - Abdus Ibrahim (TOR)

Oldest Goal Scorer
36 - Brian McBride (CHI)

Youngest Team Top Scorers
23 - Sacha Kljestan (CHV), Kenny Cooper (DAL), Fabian Espindola (RSL)

Oldest Team Top Scorer
34 - Steve Ralston (NE)

Youngest Team Average Age of Goal Scorers
24.50 - FC Dallas

Oldest Team Average Age of Goal Scorers
27.72 - Los Angeles Galaxy

Top Ages for Goals

23 Years Old (86 Goals)
Justin Mapp, Sacha Kljestan, Atiba Harris, Jonathan Bornstein, Daniel Paladini, Nick LaBrocca, Brad Evans, Andy Iro, Santino Quaranta, Kenny Cooper, Dominic Oduro, Juan Toja, Geoff Cameron, Stuart Holden, Alvaro Pires, Bryan Jordan, Adam Cristman, Danleigh Borman, Fabian Espindola, Robbie Findley, Ryan Johnson, Arturo Alvarez, Chad Barrett

26 Years Old (59 Goals)
Wilman Conde, Alecko Eskandarian, Omar Cummings, Jose Burciaga Jr., Clyde Simms, Nate Jaqua, Brad Davis, Ivan Trujillo, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordan, Khano Smith, Kyle Beckerman

32 Years Old (45 Goals)
Carey Talley, Mike Petke, Terry Cooke, Marcelo Gallardo, Gonzalo Martinez, Jeff Cunningham, Chris Klein, Juan Pablo Angel, Dave van den Bergh, Darren Huckerby, Amado Guevara

Teenagers with Goals
Jorge Flores (19, CHV) Kenny Mansally (19, NE), Sainey Nyassi (19, NE), Jozy Altidore (18, NY), Abdus Ibrahim (17, TOR)

"Old Guys" with Goals (34 or older)
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (35, CHI), Tomasz Frankowski (34, CHI), Brian McBride (36, CHI), Ante Razov (34, CHV), Jesse Marsch (34, CHV), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (35, CLB), Jaime Moreno (34, DC), Claudio Lopez (34, KC), Eddie Lewis (34, LA), Steve Ralston (34, NE)

Most Different Goal Scorers
15 - Toronto FC

Least Different Goal Scorers
9 - New England Revolution


By Team
Chicago Fire - Avg. 27.08
6 - Chris Rolfe (25)
5 - Chad Barrett* (23)
5 - Cuauhtemoc Blanco (35)
5 - John Thorrington (29)
2 - Calen Carr (25)
2 - Tomasz Frankowski (34)
2 - Stephen King (22)
2 - Brian McBride (36)
2 - Gonzalo Segares (25)
1 - Wilman Conde (26)
1 - Justin Mapp (23)
1 - Patrick Nyarko (22)

Chivas USA - Avg. 26.15
5 - Sacha Kljestan (23)
5 - Ante Razov (34)
4 - Alecko Eskandarian (26)
4 - Jesse Marsch (34)
3 - Justin Braun (21)
3 - Jorge Flores (19)
3 - Atiba Harris (23)
2 - Paulo Nagamura (25)
1 - Jonathan Bornstein (23)
1 - Maykel Galindo (27)
1 - Daniel Paladini (23)
1 - Carey Talley (32)
1 - Sasha Victorine (30)

Colorado Rapids - Avg. 26.43
8 - Conor Casey (27)
6 - Omar Cummings (26)
4 - Colin Clark (24)
4 - Tom McManus (27)
3 - Christian Gomez (33)
2 - Herculez Gomez (26)
2 - Nick LaBrocca (23)
2 - Mike Petke (32)
1 - Mehdi Bllouchy (25)
1 - Jose Burciaga Jr. (26)
1 - Terry Cooke (32)
1 - John DiRaimondo (22)
1 - Facundo Erpen (25)
1 - Jacob Peterson (22)

Columbus Crew - Avg. 25.21
8 - Alejandro Moreno (29)
6 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (35)
6 - Robbie Rogers (21)
4 - Brad Evans (23)
4 - Chad Marshall (24)
3 - Jason Garey (24)
3 - Steven Lenhart (22)
2 - Emmanuel Ekpo (20)
2 - Eddie Gaven (21)
2 - Adam Moffat (22)
1 - Brian Carroll (27)
1 - Frankie Hejduk (34)
1 - Andy Iro (23)
1 - Pat Noonan (28)

DC United - Avg. 27.46
11 - Luciano Emilio (29)
10 - Jaime Moreno (34)
5 - Santino Quaranta (23)
4 - Marcelo Gallardo (32)
2 - Fred (29)
2 - Clyde Simms (26)
1 - Thabiso Khumalo (27)
1 - Quavas Kirk (20)
1 - Gonzalo Martinez (32)
1 - Devon McTavish (24)
1 - Bryan Namoff (29)
1 - Gonzalo Peralta (28)
1 - Joe Vide (24)

FC Dallas - Avg. 24.50
16 - Kenny Cooper (23)
5 - Jeff Cunningham (32)
5 - Dominic Oduro (23)
3 - Arturo Alvarez *(23)
3 - Andre Rocha (24)
3 - Abe Thompson *(26)
2 - Juan Toja *(23)
1 - Bruno Guarda (22)
1 - Drew Moor (24)
1 - Aaron Pitchkolan (25)

Houston Dynamo - Avg. 25.42
10 - Brian Ching (30)
5 - Dwayne De Rosario (30)
4 - Nate Jaqua (26)
3 - Brad Davis (26)
3 - Brian Mullan (30)
2 - Franco Caraccio* (21)
2 - Kei Kamara (24)
1 - Corey Ashe (22)
1 - Bobby Boswell (25)
1 - Geoff Cameron (23)
1 - Ricardo Clark (25)
1 - Stuart Holden (23)

Kansas City Wizards - Avg. 27.36
5 - Davy Arnaud (28)
5 - Jimmy Conrad (31)
4 - Claudio Lopez (34)
3 - Jack Jewsbury (27)
3 - Josh Wolff (31)
2 - Scott Sealy* (27)
1 - Roger Espinoza (21)
1 - Michael Harrington (22)
1 - Kevin Souter (24)
1 - Ivan Trujillo (26)
1 - Sasha Victorine* (30)

Los Angeles Galaxy - Avg. 27.72
19 - Landon Donovan (26)
13 - Edson Buddle (27)
5 - David Beckham (33)
5 - Alan Gordon (26)
1 - Ely Allen (22)
1 - Alvaro Pires (23)
1 - Bryan Jordan (23)
1 - Chris Klein (32)
1 - Eddie Lewis (34)
1 - Carlos Ruiz* (29)
1 - Peter Vagenas (30)

New England Revolution - Avg. 25.44
7 - Steve Ralston (34)
6 - Adam Cristman (23)
6 - Taylor Twellman (28)
3 - Kheli Dube (25)
3 - Jeff Larentowicz (25)
3 - Kenny Mansally (19)
2 - Sainey Nyassi (19)
2 - Khano Smith (26)
1 - Shalrie Joseph (30)

New York Red Bulls - Avg. 25.20
11 - Juan Pablo Angel (32)
6 - Dave van den Bergh (32)
5 - Mike Magee (24)
3 - Jozy Altidore* (18)
2 - Danleigh Borman (23)
2 - Kevin Goldthwaite (25)
2 - Dane Richards (24)
1 - Matthew Mbuta (22)
1 - Seth Stammler (27)
1 - Sinisa Ubiparipovic (25)

Real Salt Lake - Avg. 25.82
5 - Fabian Espindola (23)
5 - Robbie Findley (23)
5 - Javier Morales (28)
5 - Yura Movsisyan (21)
3 - Kyle Beckerman (26)
3 - Kenny Deuchar (28)
1 - Will Johnson (21)
1 - Dema Kovalenko (31)
1 - Tino Nunez (24)
1 - Jamison Olave (27)
1 - Carey Talley* (32)

San Jose Earthquakes - Avg. 26.80
6 - Darren Huckerby (32)
5 - Ryan Johnson (23)
4 - Ronnie O'Brien (29)
3 - Arturo Alvarez (23)
2 - Ramiro Corrales (31)
2 - John Cunliffe (24)
2 - Kei Kamara* (24)
1 - Ryan Cochrane (25)
1 - Ivan Guerrero* (30)
1 - Scott Sealy (27)

Toronto FC - Avg. 26.60
5 - Danny Dichio (33)
3 - Jeff Cunningham * (32)
3 - Amado Guevara (32)
2 - Chad Barrett (23)
2 - Rohan Ricketts (25)
1 - Jim Brennan (31)
1 - Maurice Edu* (22)
1 - Abdus Ibrahim (17)
1 - Julius James (24)
1 - Laurent Robert* (33)
1 - Carl Robinson (31)
1 - Tyler Rosenlund (22)
1 - Jarrod Smith (24)
1 - Marco Velez (28)
1 - Marvell Wynne (22)

* no longer with the team

Thursday, October 2, 2008

UEFA Champions League: Players from Low-Ranked Nations

I've always found it interesting to see players from lower-ranked soccer nations playing in big time games with their clubs. These are all of the players on the 2008/2009 Champions League Rosters that come from nations that are currently FIFA ranked at least 50 or higher.

FC Bate Borisov (Belarus) and Anorthosis Famagusta FC (Cyprus) are both comprised of a majority of players from low ranking nations. Somewhat surprisingly, CFR Cluj (Romania), only has two players from lower ranked nations on their roster, one being Lars Hirschfeld (Canada), the only non-Mexican CONCACAF player in the competition.





Manchester United
Park Ji-Sung - South Korea (51)
Ryan Giggs - Wales (53)
Manucho - Angola (58)

AS Roma
Mirko Vučinić - Montenegro (136)

Olympique Lyonnais
Miralem Pjanić - Bosnia and Herzegovina (75)

Bayern Munich
Daniel van Buyten - Belgium (55)

Werder Bremen
Claudio Pizarro - Peru (73)
Said Husejinović - Bosnia and Herzegovina (75)
Martin Harnik - Austria (101)

Sporting Clube de Portugal
Simon Vukčević - Montenegro (136)

CFR Cluj
Yssouf Koné - Burkina Faso (64)
Lars Hirschfeld - Canada (81)

PSV Eindhoven
Balázs Dzsudzsák - Hungary (50)
Edison Méndez - Ecuador (52)
Reimond Manco - Peru (73)

Zenit St. Petersburg
Kim Dong-Jin - South Korea (51)
Lee Ho - South Korea (51)
Nicolas Lombaerts - Belgium (55)

AaB Aalborg
Siyabonga Nomvethe - South Africa (70)

Anorthosis Famagusta FC
8 players from CYPRUS (65)
Klimenti Tsitaishvili - Georgia (77)
Arjan Beqaj - Albania (102)
Siniša Dobrasinović - Montenegro (136)

Arsenal
Aaron Ramsey - Wales (53)
Emmanuel Adebayor - Togo (78)

Barcelona
Aliaksandr Hleb - Belarus (57)
Eiður Guðjohnsen - Iceland (107)

FC Basel
Orhan Mustafi - Macedonia (56)

FC Bate Borisov
All but 4 Players from Belarus (57)
Lasha Dekanosidze - Georgia (77)

Dynamo Kiev
Maksim Shatskikh - Uzbekistan (59)
Malkhaz Asatiani - Georgia (77)

Fiorentina
Stevan Jovetic - Montenegro (136)

Juventus
Hasan Salihamidžić - Bosnia and Herzegovina (75)
Alex Manninger - Austria (101)

Olympique de Marseille
Charles Kabore - Burkina Faso (64)
Karim Ziani - Algeria (76)
Bostjan Cesar - Slovenia (79)
Lorik Cana - Albania (102)

Panathinaikos
Bryce Moon - South Africa (70)
Andreas Ivanschitz - Austria (101)
Mate Junior Simao - Mozambique (103)

Shakhtar Donetsk
Marcelo Moreno - Bolivia (71)

Steaua Bucharest
Ricardo Pedriel - Bolivia (71)