Holiday Break

Apologies for disappearing for a few days.  Last week I couldn't get my 'blogging' computer to connect to the internet for a couple of days and then I went out of town for the holidays.   I'll try to post a couple of things this week, but things won't return back to normal until next week (year).  I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.  Thanks for reading The Best Eleven.

Unusual Soccer Match Cancellations

This is a list of soccer matches that have been cancelled over the past few years due to unusual circumstances. There have been a wide range of reasons for cancellation including government intervention, war and terrorism, deadly disease outbreaks, wild boars, burning toilet paper, David Beckham issues, and more. For this list, I chose to avoid weather issues, player deaths, hooligans, riots and other similar issues. Feel free to add any memorable match cancellations in the comments.




Israel Matches Cancelled over Gaza offensive (Link)

Wales Matches cancelled in ref 'crisis' (Link)

Serie A matches Suspended for the Ailing Pope (Link)

Indian league Matches Cancelled due to Mumbai Terrorist Attacks (Link)

Match cancelled in Gloucestershire as Wild Boar Invades Football Pitch (Link1)(Link2)

PSV v Ajax postponed due to police strike (Link)

Zimbabwe Police cancel Football (Link)

SARS plays havoc with Asia's soccer schedule (Link)

Greek Cypriots pressure English team to call off Friendly with Turkish Cypriot Side (Link)

Major League Soccer postponed games in wake of September 11 attacks (Link)

Armenia-Azerbaijan matches cancelled due to dispute over match venues (Link)

Nepal League matches cancelled when Sports Council office padlocked by Maoist-affiliated group (Link)

Israeli league matches cancelled after three players admit taking bribes (Link)

Wuhan Guanggu ejected from Chinese soccer league causing the CFA to cancel all remaining fixtures (Link)

UC Irvine v UC Riverside match in California postponed due to poor air quality (Link)

Kidnapping Postpones 2001 Copa America in Colombia (Link)

British Government forces Charlton to cancel game with Iran National Team (Link)

1999: Irish ban match with the Serbs on account of events in Kosovo (Link)

FIFA cancels Fiji-New Zealand WC qualifier over Visa disagreement (Link)

Liverpool-Newcastle game Postponed due to death of Princess Diana (Link)

Man United cancel Malaysian match to avoid detracting from the Asian Cup (Link)

Adelaide-Changchun match cancelled because of Chinese mourning period for Earthquake victims (Link)

FC Groningen fans light toilet paper on fire, causing cancellation of match (Link)

Queensland Roar-LA Galaxy match cancelled due to concerns of David Beckham's availability (Link)

Burmese Military team become bad sports against a University team causing a walk-out (Link)

Ghanaian Premier League match called off due to the June Four fun games (Link)

Iran cancels Woman's football match in Berlin due to "technical problems" (Link)



Originally Posted on 11/9/09

FIFA Rankings: Biggest Movers December 2010

Nations in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings that moved +/- 5 places in December.


+32 - Cuba (62)
+24 - Jamaica (58)
+14 - Botswana (53)
+11 - Haiti (90)
+9 - Libya (72)
+8 - Ecuador (53)
+8 - Cape Verde Islands (75)
+8 - Niger (94)
+7 - Bosnia-Herzegovina (44)
+6 - USA (18)
+5 - Israel (50)
+5 - Belgium (57)
+5 - Senegal (70)
+5 - Georgia (73)


-16 - Peru (68)
-13 - Saudi Arabia (81)
-11 - Uganda (80)
-11 - Trinidad and Tobago (89)
-9 - Lithuania (55)
-9 - Malawi (86)
-8 - Estonia (82)
-8 - Azerbaijan (98)
-7 - Albania (65)
-7 - Zambia (76)
-6 - Australia (26)
-6 - Costa Rica (69)
-6 - Bahrain (93)
-5 - Latvia (78)

EPL Team Goals in the Beginning, Middle, and End of Games

The amount of goals scored by English Premier League teams at the beginning of games,  just before and after halftime, and the final ten minutes.  The % of total goals scored is also included.

Minutes 0-10
3 - Chelsea (9.68%)
2 - Liverpool (9.52%)
2 - Manchester City (8.33%)
2 - Bolton Wanderers (6.67%)
2 - Arsenal (5.88%)
2 - Manchester United (5.56%)
1 - Fulham (6.25%)
1 - Aston Villa (5.26%)
1 - Birmingham City (5.88%)
1 - Everton (5.56%)
1 - Sunderland (4.76%)
1 - Blackburn Rovers (4.35%)
1 - Blackpool (4.17%)
1 - Newcastle United (3.70%)
0 - Stoke City (0.00%)
0 - Tottenham Hotspur (0.00%)
0 - West Bromwich Albion (0.00%)
0 - West Ham United (0.00%)
0 - Wigan Athletic (0.00%)
0 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (0.00%)

Minutes 40-50
9 - Manchester United (25.00%)
7 - Blackpool (29.17%)
5 - Newcastle United (18.52%)
5 - Chelsea (16.13%)
5 - Arsenal (14.71%)
4 - Liverpool (19.05%)
4 - Stoke City (19.05%)
3 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (16.67%)
2 - Fulham (12.50%)
2 - West Ham United (12.50%)
2 - Everton (11.11%)
2 - Aston Villa (10.53%)
2 - Sunderland (9.52%)
2 - Blackburn Rovers (8.70%)
2 - West Bromwich Albion (8.33%)
2 - Tottenham Hotspur (8.00%)
2 - Bolton Wanderers (6.67%)
1 - Wigan Athletic (7.69%)
1 - Manchester City (4.17%)
0 - Birmingham City (0.00%)


Minutes 80-90
9 - Stoke City (42.86%)
8 - Arsenal (23.53%)
8 - Manchester United (22.22%)
7 - Everton (38.89%)
7 - Bolton Wanderers (23.33%)
7 - Chelsea (22.58%)
6 - Blackburn Rovers (26.09%)
6 - Newcastle United (22.22%)
5 - Sunderland (23.81%)
5 - West Bromwich Albion (20.83%)
5 - Tottenham Hotspur (20.00%)
4 - Wigan Athletic (30.77%)
4 - Fulham (25.00%)
4 - Blackpool (16.67%)
3 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (16.67%)
3 - Aston Villa (15.79%)
3 - Manchester City (12.50%)
2 - West Ham United (12.50%)
2 - Birmingham City (11.76%)
1 - Liverpool (4.76%)


Stats from soccerway.com

Map: African Champions League Semi-Finalists since 2005

A google map showing the locations of the final four teams in each African Champions League since 2005.


View African CL Semi-Finalists since 2005 in a larger map

Serie A: Average Squad Age - Dec 2010

The average age of Italian Serie A squads.


24.11 - Palermo
25.09 - Cagliari
25.19 - Udinese
25.28 - Fiorentina
25.39 - Cesena
25.50 - Sampdoria
25.72 - Juventus
25.94 - Lecce
25.95 - Bologna
26.15 - Parma
26.24 - Genoa
26.36 - Bari
26.45 - Inter Milan
26.99 - Catania
27.00 - Chievo
27.82 - Brescia
27.84 - Lazio
28.42 - Napoli
28.92 - Roma
29.03 - AC Milan


Stats from soccerway.com

Supporter Videos: Colo Colo (Chile) and Lech Poznań (Poland)

Colo Colo (Chile)


Lech Poznań (Poland)

Top 20 Transfer Fees: France to England

According to TransferMarkt.co.uk, Premier League teams have paid nearly $900,000,000 in transfer fees to clubs in France over the years. This is a list of the top 20 highest transfer fees for players moving from France to England.


$50.9m - Michael Essien (Lyon to Chelsea; 05/06)
$49.6m - Didier Drogba (Marseille to Chelsea; 04/05)
$26.8m - Djibril Cisse (Auxerre to Liverpool; 04/05)
$26.5m - Nicolas Anelka (PSG to Man City; 02/03)
$25.5m - Florent Malouda (Lyon to Chelsea; 07/08)
$23.6m - Steve Marlet (Lyon to Fulham; 01/02)
$23.5m - Sylvain Wiltord (Bordeaux to Arsenal; 01/02)
$21.5m - Asamoah Gyan (Rennes to Sunderland; 10/11)
$21.5m - Samir Nasri (Marseille to Arsenal; 08/09)
$20.1m - El-Hadji Diouf (Lens to Liverpool; 02/03)
$19.1m - Laurent Robert (PSG to Newcastle; 01/02)
$17.4m - Petr Cech (Rennes to Chelsea; 04/05)
$16.9m - Johan Elmander (Toulouse to Bolton; 08.09)
$16.8m - Laurent Koscielny (Lorient to Arsenal; 11/11)
$16.6m - Didier Zokora (St. Etienne to Spurs; 06/07)
$16.1m - Younes Kaboul (Auxerre to Spurs; 07/08)
$14.1m - Olivier Dacourt (Lens to Leeds United; 00/01)
$13.4m - John Utaka (Rennes to Portsmouth ; 07/08)
$13.4m - Gabriel Heinze (PSG to Man United; 04/05)
$13.1m - Robert Pires (Marseille to Arsenal; 00/01)


All stats from transfermarkt.co.uk (currency conversion at xe.com)

Videos: Teenage Prospects

Videos of a few up and coming young players from around the world.

Jano Ananidze (18) - Spartak Moscow and Georgia


Iker Muniain (17) - Athletic Bilbao and Spain


Juan Agudelo (17) - New York Red Bulls and USA


Nassim Ben Khalifa (18) - VfL Wolfsburg and Switzerland


Stephan El Shaarawi (18) - Padova and Italy

Videos: Norway Tippeligaen Top Scorers

Videos of the top scorers in the Norwegian Tippeligaen from the last three seasons. Also, a tribute video of Tippeligaen all-time top scorer, Harald Martin Brattbakk.


2010: Baye Djiby Fall (Molde FK) 16 goals



2009: Rade Prica (Rosenborg BK) 17 goals



2008 and 2006: Daniel Nannskog (Stabæk I.F.) 19 goals



All-Time Norway Tippeligaen Top Scorer - Harald Martin Brattbakk, 166 goals

Castrol Index: Top 5 EPL Players by FIFA Confederation (Dec 2010)

The new Castrol Rankings were released today and these are the top 5 Premiership players from each FIFA confederation. Remember that these rankings take into account the previous 12 months. For that reason, a couple of players who haven't played much this season still make these lists while a few players who are likely more deserving (based on recent form) are left off.


Africa
16 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
79 - Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal)
101 - Alex Song (Arsenal)
111 - Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
124 - Steven Pienaar (Everton)

Asia
25 - Tim Cahill (Everton)
97 - Mark Schwarzer (Fulham)
132 - Ji-Sung Park (Manchester United)
286 - Chung-Yong Lee (Bolton)
1017 - Brett Emerton (Blackburn)

CONCACAF
66 - Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)
146 - Clint Dempsey (Fulham)
231 - Brad Friedel (Aston Villa)
358 - Tim Howard (Everton)
476 - Kenwyne Jones (Stoke City)

South America
17 - Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
27 - Alex (Chelsea)
38 - Antonio Valencia (Manchester United)
66 - Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham)
187 - Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool)

Oceania
441 - Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn)
2104 - Winston Reid (West Ham)

UK
4 - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
5 - Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
50 - Gareth Bale (Tottenham)
74 - Joe Hart (Manchester City)
76 - John Terry (Chelsea)

Europe (non-UK)
7 - Rafael Van der Vaart (Tottenham)
9 - Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
15 - Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United)
20 - Nani (Manchester United)
31 - Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal)

FIFA Rankings: Top 50 Nations - All-Time Average Ranking

Nations with an all-time average FIFA ranking of 50 or better since the rankings were started in 1993.


1.590 - Brazil
5.523 - Spain
6.179 - Argentina
6.415 - Germany
6.479 - France
7.046 - Italy
7.641 - Netherlands
10.703 - England
11.979 - Czech Republic
12.615 - Mexico

13.641 - Portugal
17.364 - Denmark
17.954 - USA
18.554 - Romania
19.267 - Sweden
20.313 - Russia
23.779 - Colombia
24.221 - Norway
25.179 - Croatia
26.226 - Serbia

27.544 - Turkey
28.426 - Cameroon
29.077 - Republic of Ireland
29.097 - Uruguay
30.144 - Egypt
30.174 - Greece
30.405 - Paraguay
32.333 - Japan
33.479 - Bulgaria
34.164 - Poland

34.318 - Tunisia
34.979 - Morocco
35.359 - Nigeria
36.979 - Belgium
37.256 - South Korea
38.251 - Scotland
39.026 - Cote d'Ivoire
39.651 - Switzerland
40.569 - Chile
41.421 - Israel

41.448 - Slovakia
41.579 - Saudi Arabia
44.354 - Ecuador
45.021 - Ghana
45.359 - Ukraine
47.072 - South Africa
47.185 - Iran
48.513 - Costa Rica
49.056 - Australia
50.185 - Finland

Highest Market Values in the English Leagues

The highest market value players in each of the top four English Leagues according to transfermarkt.co.uk.


$45,000,000 Premier League Players

£48,400,000 - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
£48,400,000 - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
£44,000,000 - Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
£36,960,000 - Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
£33,440,000 - Michael Essien (Chelsea)
£30,800,000 - Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
£30,800,000 - John Terry (Chelsea)
£29,920,000 - Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)

$5,000,000 Championship Players

£5,280,000 - Aaron Ramsey (Nottingham Forest)
£4,840,000 - Chris Kirkland (Leicester City)
£4,400,000 - Andy Reid (Sheffield United)
£3,960,000 - Curtis Davies (Leicester City)
£3,960,000 - Michael Chopra (Cardiff City)
£3,960,000 - Craig Bellamy (Cardiff City)
£3,520,000 - Kris Boyd (Middlesbrough)
£3,520,000 - Gianni Zuiverloon (Ipswich Town)
£3,520,000 - Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town)

$1,500,000 League One Players

£2,024,000 - Guilherme Do Prado (Southampton)
£1,540,000 - Lee Miller (Notts County)
£1,386,000 - Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)
£1,320,000 - Luke Summerfield (Plymouth Argyle)
£1,320,000 - Jonathan Macken (Walsall)
£1,320,000 - Wayne Brown (Bristol Rovers)
£1,232,000 - Jose Fonte (Southampton)
£1,144,000 - Rickie Lambert (Southampton)
£1,100,000 - James O'Connor (Sheffied Wednesday)
£1,100,000 - Gary Doherty (Charlton Athletic)
£1,100,000 - Marcel Seip (Charlton Athletic)
£1,100,000 - Lee Croft (Huddersfield Town)
£1,100,000 - Rowan Vine (Brentford)
£1,100,000 - Michael McIndoe (Milton Keynes Dons)
£1,100,000 - Frank Simek (Carlisle United)
£1,056,000 - Mark Beevers (Sheffield Wednesday)
£1,056,000 - Danny Butterfield (Southampton)
£1,056,000 - Joe Lewis (Peterborough United)
£1,056,000 - Jonathan Téhoué (Leyton Orient)

$1,000,000 League Two Players

£1,760,000 - Adam Griffin (Stockport County)
£1,320,000 - Sean McAllister (Shrewsbury Town)
£1,100,000 - Antonio German (Shrewsbury Town)
£1,056,000 - Chris Barker (Southend United)
£880,000 - Jamie Clapham (Lincoln City)
£792,000 - Tony Capaldi (Morecambe)
£792,000 - Darren Moore (Burton Albion)
£748,000 - Ryan Jarvis (Northampton Town)
£704,000 - Ben May (Stevenage Borough)
£704,000 - Izale McLeod (Barnet)
£704,000 - Glen Little (Aldershot Town)
£704,000 - Steven MacLean (Oxford United)

Manchester City Transfer Fees

The transfer fees paid by Manchester City for their current first team squad.  All amounts are from transfermarkt.co.uk .

£26.4m - $41.4m - Yaya Touré - Barcelona
£26.0m - $40.1m - Mario Balotelli - Inter Milan
£25.5m - $40.0m - Carlos Tevez - Manchester United
£25.5m - $40.0m - Emmanuel Adebayor - Arsenal
£25.3m - $39.7m - David Silva - Valencia
£24.2m - $38.0m - Joleon Lescott - Everton
£21.1m - $33.1m - Jô - CSKA Moscow
£20.0m - $31.4m - Aleksandar Kolarov - Lazio
£19.4m - $30.5m - James Milner - Aston Villa
£18.7m - $29.4m - Roque Santa Cruz - Blackburn
£16.5m - $25.9m - Kolo Touré - Arsenal
£15.8m - $24.8m - Nigel de Jong - Hamburger SV
£12.2m - $19.2m - Gareth Barry - Aston Villa
£11.4m - $17.9m - Wayne Bridge - Chelsea
£11.0m - $17.3m - Jérôme Boateng - Hamburger SV
£9.9m - $15.5m - Shaun Wright-Phillips - Chelsea
£7.9m - $12.4m - Shay Given - Newcastle United
£7.7m - $12.1m - Pablo Zabaleta - Espanyol
£7.5m - $11.8m - Vincent Kompany - Hamburger SV
£7.0m - $11.0m - Adam Johnson - Middlesbrough
£0.8m - $1.3m - Joe Hart - Shrewsbury Town

Transfer Fee Totals
£338.8m - $531.6m

Current Total Market Value @ (transfermarkt.co.uk)
£314.4m - $493.3m

Free Transfers
Stuart Taylor - Aston Villa
Patrick Vieira - Inter Milan
Michael Johnson - Everton U18 to Man City U18

Youth
Micah Richards
Shaleum Logan
Dedryck Boyata


I did the GBP/USD currency conversion at xe.com

Rank of European Clubs outside the Top 5 Leagues

A table of the teams ranked in Europe's top 100 clubs that are not in the top leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Rankings are from the Euro Club Index as of Nov 30.

Overall Rank	Club	Country
6	FC Porto	Portugal
12	Shakhtar Donetsk	Ukraine
17	CSKA Moscow	Russia
18	Zenit St. Petersburg	Russia
20	Benfica	Portugal
26	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands
29	FC Twente	Netherlands
32	Rubin Kazan	Russia
33	Ajax	Netherlands
36	Dynamo Kiev	Ukraine
38	Sporting CP	Portugal
39	Sporting Braga	Portugal
42	Anderlecht	Belgium
45	Panathinaikos	Greece
46	FC Basel	Switzerland
47	FC København	Denmark
53	Spartak Moscow	Russia
55	Fenerbahçe	Turkey
57	Olympiacos	Greece
62	Rangers	Scotland
63	Metalist Kharkiv	Ukraine
64	Beşiktaş	Turkey
66	Hapoel Tel Aviv	Israel
67	Sparta Praha	Czech Republic
70	BSC Young Boys	Switzerland
71	Maccabi Haifa	Israel
74	Lokomotiv Moscow	Russia
77	AZ Alkmaar	Netherlands
78	Celtic	Scotland
80	Trabzonspor	Turkey
82	Rosenborg BK	Norway
85	APOEL Nicosia	Cyprus
89	Standard Liège	Belgium
91	Red Bull Salzburg	Austria
92	PAOK	Greece
94	Partizan Belgrade	Serbia
95	Galatasaray	Turkey
97	Dinamo Moscow	Russia
100	Bursaspor	Turkey

Videos: Turkish Süper Lig Top Scorers

Goal Compilation videos of the top scorers in the last three Süper Lig seasons in Turkey.

2009/2010 - 21 goals - Ariza Makukula (Kayserispor)


2008/2009 - 20 goals - Milan Baroš (Galatasaray)


2007/2008 - 17 goals - Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe)

Blackburn Rovers - Player Birthplace Map

A map showing the birthplaces of the first team players currently at Blackburn Rovers FC.


View Blackburn Rovers Player Birthplace Map - Nov 2010 in a larger map

La Liga: Average Squad Age - Nov 2010

The average age of the current Spanish Primera División (La Liga) squads.


24.38 - Espanyol
24.43 - Athletic Bilbao
24.51 - Atlético Madrid
24.95 - Real Madrid
25.05 - Getafe
25.11 - Barcelona
25.43 - Real Sociedad
25.48 - Mallorca
25.67 - Real Zaragoza
25.70 - Deportivo la Coruña
25.76 - Sevilla
25.88 - Villarreal
25.99 - Málaga
26.15 - Almería
26.15 - Sporting Gijón
26.51 - Valencia
26.70 - Racing Santander
26.90 - Levante
28.39 - Osasuna
28.51 - Hércules



Stats from Soccerway.com

Videos: Nagoya Grampus - J-League Champions 2010

A collection of videos profiling the 2010 J-League champions, Nagoya Grampus (名古屋グランパス, Nagoya Guranpasu) (formerly Nagoya Grampus Eight)

2010 J-League Champions - Celebrations and Highlights 1


2010 J-League Champions - Celebrations and Highlights 2


1993-2010 Nagoya Grampus - Highlights from Club History


THK Coverage of J-League Champs


Feature on Australian Forward Josh Kennedy


Chant for Josh Kennedy
'He is the Jesus Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
Go Joshua Kennedy Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh'


Former Manager Arsene Wenger's Farewell Speech


Former Player Gary Lineker in a Japanese Drink Commercial

Supporter Videos: Indonesia Super League

A few of the impressive supporters groups from the Indonesia Super League.


Aksi Bonek (Persebaya)


The Jak (Jakarta)


Aremania (Arema FC)


Persitara


Persikabo


Ultras Persija


Persija vs Arema

Premier League: Average Squad Age - Nov 2010

The average age of the current English Premier League squads.


24.24 - Arsenal
24.77 - Newcastle United
25.27 - West Bromwich Albion
25.39 - Everton
25.47 - Wolverhampton Wanderers
25.48 - Sunderland
25.67 - Wigan Athletic
25.73 - Manchester City
25.82 - West Ham United
25.89 - Chelsea
26.10 - Liverpool
26.11 - Blackpool
26.32 - Aston Villa
26.35 - Blackburn Rovers
26.42 - Manchester United
27.15 - Tottenham Hotspur
27.53 - Birmingham City
27.62 - Bolton Wanderers
28.53 - Stoke City
28.78 - Fulham


Stats from Soccerway.com

Qatar National Team - Naturalized Players

A map and list of the many naturalized players called up to Qatar's National team in the last couple of years.

Qatar is the country that offered Brazilian player Aílton, who was the top scorer in the Bundesliga at the time, a sum of $1,000,000+ to become a naturalized Qatari so he could help their push towards the 2006 World Cup. That didn't work out (FIFA blocked the move), but as can be seen from this list, Qatar has been very open to naturalizing players from other countries to improve their national team.




View Qatar National Team in a larger map


BRAZIL
Marcio Emerson
Marcone
Fábio César

GHANA
George Kwasi

GUINEA
Daniel Gouma

IRAQ
Ali Mejbel

KUWAIT
Talal Al-Bloushi
Wesam Rizik

SAUDI ARABIA
Mohamed Saqr
Majdi Siddiq
Saad Al Shammari

SENEGAL
Qasem Burhan
Abdulla Koni

URUGUAY
Sebastián Soria

YEMEN
Mesaad Al-Hamad

Average FIFA Rank of Top 30 Nations - Nov 2006 to Nov 2010

FIFA ranking stats of the nations currently ranked in the top 30 - from November 2006 to November 2010.

Avg Rank	Nation	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Lowest Rank
2.688	Brazil	3	1	6
3.688	Spain	1	1	12
4.188	Italy	14	1	16
4.292	Germany	4	2	6
4.688	Argentina	5	1	9
5.063	Netherlands	2	2	10
8.729	Portugal	8	3	17
8.833	England	6	5	15
9.063	France	21	2	27
10.000	Croatia	9	5	15
13.708	Greece	11	8	20
15.792	Russia	13	6	27
20.292	USA	24	11	31
20.625	Mexico	28	10	33
21.250	Uruguay	7	6	30
22.875	Turkey	29	10	42
24.729	Paraguay	23	13	37
25.208	Serbia	25	13	40
25.542	Cote d'Ivoire	19	16	38
27.188	Egypt	10	9	43
27.333	Switzerland	21	13	48
28.375	Ghana	17	14	47
28.750	Denmark	27	15	38
31.521	Chile	16	10	53
33.063	Australia	20	14	52
35.875	Norway	12	12	59
37.771	Japan	30	30	47
43.042	Slovakia	18	16	67
59.813	Slovenia	15	15	94
117.000	Montenegro	26	26	199

If They Mated: American Soccer Names and UK Cities

It's been a while since I've posted a 'fun' topic so when I had this idea that nobody seemed to care about on twitter last night I naturally thought I should expand on it here.

The Kansas City Wizards changing their name to Sporting KC is just the most recent example of American soccer teams mysteriously trying to sound more 'legitimate' with Euro-style names. In this post I flipped that idea around and have combined real American-style team names from MLS, NASL, USL, etc. with cities in the United Kingdom. Oh, and you may notice that I find alliterative team names amusing...


Aberdeen Apollos
Belfast Boomers
Birmingham Burn
Burnley Burn*
Bolton Battery
Brighton Rhinos
Bristol Blizzard
Cambridge Kickers
Cardiff Cougars
Charlton Battery*
Colchester Clash
Coventry Cosmos
Crewe Crew
Derby Dynamo
Dundee Darts
Edinburgh Earthquakes
Exeter Express
Glasgow Galaxy
Huddersfield Hurricane
Inverness Invaders*
Ipswich Impact -or- Ipswich Wiz*
Kilmarnock Manic
Leeds Lynx
Leicester Lancers
Liverpool Dips
Manchester Mutiny
Middlesbrough Metrostars
Newcastle Kicks
Nottingham Timbers
Oxford Olympique
Portsmouth Thunder
Reading Revolution
Sheffield Fusion
Southend-on-Sea Whitecaps
Stockport Strikers
Stoke Fire -or- Stoke Stokers
Sunderland Sounders
Swansea Silverbacks
Watford Wizards
Yeovil Union*


Well, that was actually pretty fun...(for me at least)
Feel free to join in if you think of more Ameri-Kingdom combos

*Thanks to Jeremy for his contributions to the list

Supporter Videos: Chinese Super League

Supporter Videos from a few teams in the Chinese Super League


Beijing Guoan


Changchun Yatai


Shanghai Shenhua


Shandong Luneng


Dalian Shide

Distance between MLS Cup Final Teams - 1996-2010

Last night, when Dallas progressed to the MLS Cup final to face Colorado, I wondered what the closest (in miles) 'rivalry' in a final game has been. These are the distances between the cities of the MLS cup finalists since 1996.


1996 - DC v LA - 2293 miles
1997 - DC v COL - 1488 miles
1998 - CHI v DC - 594 miles
1999 - DC v LA - 2293 miles
2000 - KC v CHI - 410 miles
2001 - SJ v LA - 306 miles
2002 - LA v NE - 2589 miles
2003 - SJ v CHI - 1836 miles
2004 - DC v KC - 940 miles
2005 - LA v NE - 2589 miles
2006 - HOU v NE - 1602 miles
2007 - HOU v NE - 1602 miles
2008 - CLB v NY - 476 miles
2009 - RSL v LA - 579 miles
2010 - DAL vs COL - 799 miles

Shortest Distance: 306 miles (SJ v LA)
Longest Distance: 2589 miles (LA v NE)
Average Distance: 1358 miles


The closest distance between possible MLS Cup finalists would of course be 0 miles if LA Galaxy and Chivas USA were to meet. With the current setup allowing teams to switch conferences for the playoffs there are a few current and incoming rivalries that could make a potential 200 miles or less MLS Cup final.

0 Miles - CHV v LA
80 Miles - PHI v NY
120 Miles - SEA v VAN
124 Miles - DC v PHI
145 Miles - SEA v POR
190 miles - NE v NY


A couple of related thoughts:

Distance between the current longest PL road trips from London to Newcastle: about 250 miles

Distance from London to Moscow - 1552 miles, over 1000 miles less than the distance between New England and Los Angeles

It's probably somewhat out of date now, but a couple years ago I did the world's longest soccer road trips within the same league. (link)

Castrol Index: Top 5 EPL Players from Each Confederation (Nov 2010)

The top 5 Premier League players from each FIFA confederation using the newly released Nov 2010 Castrol Index rankings.


Africa
9 - Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire)
74 - Alexandre Song (Cameroon)
75 - Marouane Chamakh (Morocco)
115 - Yaya Toure (Cote d'Ivoire)
170 - Steven Pienaar (South Africa)

Asia
64 - Tim Cahill (Australia)
77 - Mark Schwarzer (Australia)
392 - Chung-Yong Lee (South Korea)
697 - Ji-Sung Park (South Korea)
1006 - Brett Emerton (Australia)

CONCACAF
28 - Marcus Hahnemann (USA)
86 - Clint Dempsey (USA)
113 - Brad Friedel (USA)
398 - Tim Howard (USA)
458 - Kenwyne Jones (Trinidad & Tobago)

South America
15 - Alex (Brazil)
18 - Carlos Tevez (Argentina)
32 - Heurelho Gomes (Brazil)
54 - Antonio Valencia (Ecuador)
165 - Maxi Rodriguez (Argentina)

Oceania
294 - Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand)
2087 - Winston Reid (New Zealand)

UK
4 - Wayne Rooney (England)
6 - Frank Lampard (England)
24 - Jermain Defoe (England)
60 - John Terry (England)
63 - Paul Robinson (England)

Europe (non-UK)
7 - Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands)
9 - Florent Malouda (France)
18 - Nani (Portugal)
21 - Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
25 - Nicolas Anelka (France)

US National Team Results by State since 2000

A list of US National Team home game results by state since 2000. The games are in chronological order with the most recent game in each state listed first.

Alabama (2-1-0)
2-0 - Guatemala (WCQ'06)
1-0 - Ecuador
1-1 - Tunisia

Arizona (1-0-0)
2-0 - Mexico

California (16-4-2)
1-3 - Honduras
8-0 - Barbados (WCQ'10)
2-0 - Sweden
2-0 - Trinidad & Tobago (GC'07)
1-0 - Guatemala (GC'07)
4-1 - China
3-1 - Denmark
3-2 - Japan
5-0 - Norway
0-0 - Canada
3-0 - Colombia
1-1 - Denmark
2-0 - Wales
2-0 - Costa Rica (GC'02)
0-0 - Canada (GC'02; 4-2 PK)
4-0 - El Salvador (GC'02)
1-0 - Cuba (GC'02)
2-1 - South Korea (GC'02)
1-2 - Brazil
2-1 - China
2-0 - Mexico
1-1 - Iran

Colorado (2-0-0)
2-0 - Guatemala (WCQ'10)
1-0 - Mexico

Connecticut (2-0-1)
2-4 - Czech Republic
1-0 - Latvia
1-0 - Trinidad & Tobago (WCQ'06)

Florida (6-2-3)
2-1 - El Salvador
3-1 - Ecuador
1-1 - Haiti
3-2 - Costa Rica (GC'03)
1-2 - Brazil (GC'03)
0-1 - Argentina
4-0 - Canada
0-1 - Colombia
2-2 - Colombia (GC'00; 1-2 PK)
1-0 - Peru (GC'00)
3-0 - Haiti (GC'00)

Illinois (5-2-2)

2-2 - Poland

2-0 - Honduras (GC'09)

2-1 - Honduras (WCQ'10)

3-0 - Trinidad & Tobago (WCQ'10)

2-4 - Brazil 

2-1 - Mexico (GC'07)

2-1 - Canada (GC'07)

1-2 - England

1-1 - Poland

Massachusetts (11-2-1)

2-2 - Haiti (GC'09)

2-1 - Panama (GC'07)

4-0 - El Salvador (GC'07)

2-0 - Panama (WCQ'06)

3-1 - Jamaica (GC'05)

0-0 - Costa Rica (GC'05)

2-0 - El Salvador (WCQ'06)

4-0 - Honduras

5-0 - Cuba (GC'03)

2-0 - Martinique (GC'03)

2-0 - El Salvador (GC'03)

0-2 - Netherlands

2-1 - Jamaica (WCQ'02)

2-0 - Trindad & Tobago (WCQ'02)

7-0 - Barbados (WCQ'02)

1-1 - Ireland

Missouri (1-0-0)

1-0 - Costa Rica (WCQ'02)

New Jersey (3-2-2)

0-2 - Brazil

0-5 - Mexico

0-0 - Argentina

0-0 - Panama (GC'05; 3-1 PK)

2-1 - Honduras

5-0 - Jamaica

3-0 - Mexico

New Mexico (1-0-0)

1-0 - Honduras

Ohio (6-3-0)

2-0 - Mexico (WCQ'10)

2-0 - Venezuela

2-0 - Mexico (WCQ'06)

1-1 - Jamaica (WCQ'06)

3-0 - Grenada (WCQ'06)

2-0 - Paraguay

0-0 - Ecuador

2-0 - Mexico (WCQ'02)

0-0 - Costa Rica (WCQ'02)

Pennsylvania (2-1-0)

0-0 - Colombia

2-1 - Turkey

2-1 - Panama (GC'09)

Tennessee (1-0-1)

3-0 - Trinidad & Tobago (WCQ'10)

0-1 - Morocco

Texas (2-3-0)

2-2 - Mexico

0-0 - Guatemala

4-0 - Guatemala

1-0 - Mexico

0-0 - Mexico

Utah (2-0-0)

2-1 - El Salvador (WCQ'10)

3-0 - Costa Rica (WCQ'06)

Virginia (1-0-0)

2-1 - New Zealand

Washington (5-0-0)

4-0 - Grenada (GC'09)

2-0 - Canada (GC'05)

4-1 - Cuba (GC'05)

2-0 - Venezuela

4-0 - Honduras 

Washington DC (7-1-1)

2-2 - Costa Rica (WCQ'10)

2-0 - Honduras (GC'09)

6-1 - Cuba (WCQ'10)

6-0 - Panama (WCQ'06)

2-0 - El Salvador

2-1 - Uruguay

2-3 - Honduras (WCQ'02)

1-0 - Guatemala (WCQ'02)

4-0 - South Africa

Europe: Domestic Based Top Scorer List

Players in Europe who led their homeland's domestic league in scoring in the last completed season.

Goals - Player - Nation - Club

17 - Daniel Xhafaj - Albania - KS Besa
17 - Arthur Kocharyan - Armenia - Ulisses FC
16 - Farid Guliyev - Azerbaijan - Standard Sumgayit
15 - Romelo Lukaku - Belgium - RSC Anderlecht
16 - Fedja Dudić - Bosnia-Herzegovina - NK Travnik
12 - Michal Ordoš - Czech Republic - Sigma Olomouc
24 - Sander Post - Estonia - Flora Tallinn
22 - Arnbjørn Hansen - Faroe Islands - EB/Streymur
16 - Hermanni Vuorinen - Finland - FC Honka
14 - Atli Björnsson - Iceland - FH Hafnarfjördur
14 - Alfreð Finnbogason - Iceland - Breidablik
28 - Shlomi Arbeitman - Israel - Maccabi Haifa
29 - Antonio Di Natale - Italy - Udinese
30 - Kristaps Grebis - Latvia - Liepajas Metalurgs
19 - Valdas Trakys - Lithuania - FK Ekranas
22 - Daniel Huss - Luxembourg - CS Grevenmacher
15 - Bobi Božinovski - Macedonia - Rabotnički
13 - Aleksandru Maksimov - Moldova - FC Milmami
24 - Ivan Bošković - Montenegro - FK Grbalj Radanovići
30 - Rory Patterson - Northern Ireland - Coleraine FC
18 - Robert Lewandowski - Poland - Lech Poznań
16 - Andrei Cristea - Romania - Dinamo Bucuresti
23 - Kris Boyd - Scotland - Rangers FC
22 - Dragan Mrđa - Serbia - Vojvodina
18 - Robert Rak - Slovakia - FC Nitra
23 - Milan Osterc - Slovenia - ND Gorica
18 - Tobias Hysén - Sweden - IFK Göteborg
17 - Artem Milevskiy - Ukraine - Dinamo Kiev
30 - Rhys Griffiths - Wales - Llanelli AFC

CONMEBOL: All-Time Average FIFA Rankings

The all-time average FIFA rankings of the CONMEBOL nations (South America) -- from Aug 1993 to Nov 2010

Average Ranking	Nation	Highest Rank	Lowest Rank
1.582	Brazil	1	8
6.186	Argentina	1	24
23.660	Colombia	4	51
29.211	Uruguay	6	76
30.443	Paraguay	8	103
40.696	Chile	6	84
44.268	Ecuador	24	76
61.299	Peru	34	91
69.876	Bolivia	18	114
85.634	Venezuela	47	129

FA Logos: Former Soviet Republics

Logos of the Current UEFA and AFC Nations that were formerly Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union.

Uzbekistan

Ukraine

Turkmenistan

Tajikistan

Russia

Moldova

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan

Georgia

Belarus

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Europe: 30 League Goals in a Season since 1996

These players have all scored at least 30 league goals in a single season in one of Europe's top 10 leagues according to UEFA coefficient. (since 1996-1997)

Goals	Player	Club	Season
42	Mário Jardel	Sporting CP	2001-02
38	Mário Jardel	FC Porto	1999-00
38	Hakan Şükür	Galatasaray	1996-97
36	Mário Jardel	FC Porto	1998-99
35	Mateja Kezman	PSV Eindhoven	2002-03
35	Luis Suárez	Ajax	2009-10
34	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	2009-10
34	Afonso Alves	SC Heerenveen	2006-07
34	Nikos Mahlas	Vitesse	1997-98
34	Ronaldo	Barcelona	1996-97
33	Klaas Jan Huntelaar	Heerenveen/Ajax	2005-06
33	Klaas Jan Huntelaar	Ajax	2007-08
32	Diego Forlan	Atletico Madrid	2008-09
31	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	2007-08
31	Luca Toni	Fiorentina	2005-06
31	Ruud van Nistelrooy	PSV Eindhoven	1998-99
31	Fatih Tekke	Trabzonspor	2003-04
31	Mateja Kezman	PSV Eindhoven	2002-03
30	Samuel Eto'o	FC Barcelona	2008-09
30	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	2003-04
30	Mário Jardel	FC Porto	1996-97
30	Kevin Phillips	Sunderland	1999-00
30	Serkan Aykut	Samsunspor	1999-00

MLS Results on Halloween

Happy Halloween!  (Sorry, I'm a couple days late on this due to some health issues at TB11 HQ.  Hopefully you all had a better weekend than I did)

There have now been five playoff games on 10/31 in the history of MLS. Here are the results of those games along with the goal scorers.

October 31, 1999

Conference Final

Dallas Burn 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy

Dallas Goal
Ariel Graziani 75'

Los Angeles Goals
Mauricio Cienfuegos 39'
Ezra Hendrickson 90'


October 31, 1999

Conference Final

Columbus Crew 1-2 DC United

Columbus Goal
Jeff Cunningham 76'

DC United Goals
Jaime Moreno 15'
Ben Olsen 72'


October 31, 2004

Conference SemiFinals

New England Revolution 1-1 Columbus Crew
New England Advanced with 2-1 aggregate score

New England Goal
Twellman 81'

Columbus Goal
Edson Buddle 90+2'



October 31, 2009

Conference SemiFinals

Columbus Crew 0-1 Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Goal
Robbie Findley '88


October 31, 2010

Conference SemiFinals

Los Angelese Galaxy 1-0 Seattle Sounders

Los Angeles Goal
Edson Buddle 38'



Image from flickr

FIFA Confederation Rankings Comparison (Oct 2010)

Comparing the six FIFA Confederations by averaging the top 10 and top 5 ranked teams of each region.

Average Rank of the Top Ten Teams in each FIFA Confederation

8.0 - Europe
32.0 - Africa
37.8 - South America
68.1 - Asia
70.5 - CONCACAF
164.7 - Oceania

Average Rank of the Top Five Teams in each FIFA Confederation

4.2 - Europe
10.6 - South America
22.8 - Africa
44.6 - Asia
46.4 - CONCACAF
139.0 - Oceania

Top Ranked Team in Each FIFA Confederation

1 - Spain (Europe)
3 - Brazil (South America)
11 - Egypt (Africa)
21 - Australia (Asia)
25 - USA (CONCACAF)
51 - New Zealand (Oceania)

10th Ranked Team in Each Confederation

15 - Slovenia (Europe)
47 - Guinea (Africa)
96 - Oman (Asia)
100 - Bolivia (South America)
107 - Barbados (CONCACAF)
203 - American Samoa (Oceania)

Pictures: Australian A-League Stadiums

The Stadiums of Australia's A-League.  As you can see from the photos, many of the stadiums are multi-purpose sports facilities.

EnergyAustralia Stadium - Newcastle Jets
Capacity: 26,164

AAMI Park - Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart
Capacity: 30,050

Bluetongue Stadium - Central Coast Mariners
Capacity: 20,119

Dairy Farmers Stadium - North Queensland Fury
Capacity: 26,500

Etihad Stadium - Melbourne Victory
Capacity: 56,347

Hindmarsh Stadium - Adelaide United
Capacity: 17,000

nib Stadium - Perth Glory
Capacity: 20,500

Skilled Park - Gold Coast United
Capacity: 27,400

Suncorp Stadium - Brisbane Roar
Capacity: 52,500

Sydney Football Stadium - Sydney FC
Capacity: 45,500

Westpac Stadium - Wellington Phoenix
Capacity: 36,000

All photos from Wikimedia Commons.