UEFA CL: Nationalities of Non-European Starters

The number of players from different nationalities who have started a game in the 2010/2011 UEFA Champions League so far.


Africa
9 - Cameroon
6 - Nigeria
5 - Ghana
4 - Cote d'Ivoire
3 - Mali
3 - Senegal
3 - South Africa
2 - Kenya
2 - Morocco
1 - Algeria
1 - Angola
1 - Burkina Faso
1 - Congo
1 - Gambia
1 - Mozambique
1 - Sierra Leone
1 - Uganda
1 - Zambia

Asia

2 - Australia

1 - Iran

1 - Japan

1 - South Korea

CONCACAF
3 - Costa Rica
2 - Mexico
1 - Honduras
1 - USA

South America
68 - Brazil
35 - Argentina
3 - Uruguay
2 - Ecuador
2 - Peru
1 - Bolivia
1 - Chile
1 - Colombia
1 - Paraguay
1 - Venezuela


For comparison, here are the top 10 European Nations.  Interesting, though not really surprising, that Brazilian players top the starter list in a European competition.

Europe
68 - Brazil
62 - France
42 - Spain
35 - Argentina
35 - Germany
31 - Italy
30 - Netherlands
26 - Portugal
21 - England
19 - Russia
17 - Serbia
16 - Israel

Numbers compiled from Statbunker

Castrol Index: Top 5 EPL Players from Each Confederation

The top 5 Premier League players from each world region based on the most recent Castrol Index rankings.

Overall Index Ranking - Player (Club; Country)

AFRICA
3 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea; Cote d'Ivoire)
92 - Yaya Toure (Manchester City; Cote d'Ivoire)
120 - Alexandre Song (Arsenal; Cameroon)
149 - Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal; Morocco)
165 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City; Togo)

CONCACAF
15 - Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves; USA)
98 - Clint Dempsey (Fulham; USA)
113 - Brad Friedel (Aston Villa; USA)
299 - Tim Howard (Everton; USA)
544 - Ricardo Fuller (Stoke City; Jamaica)

ASIA
94 - Tim Cahill (Everton; Australia)
137 - Mark Schwarzer (Fulham; Australia)
405 - Chung-Yong Lee (Bolton; South Korea)
985 - Ji-Sung Park (Manchester United; South Korea)
1092 - Brett Emerton (Blackburn; Australia)

SOUTH AMERICA
18 - Carlos Tevez (Manchester City; Argentina)
36 - Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham; Brazil)
50 - Alex (Chelsea; Brazil)
50 - Antonio Valencia (Manchester United; Ecuador)
214 - Hugo Rodallega (Wigan; Colombia)

UK
4 - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United; England)
9 - Frank Lampard (Chelsea; England)
19 - Jermain Defoe (Tottenham; England)
41 - John Terry (Chelsea; England)
44 - Paul Scholes (Manchester United; England)

UEFA (Non-UK)
12 - Florent Malouda (Chelsea; France)
20 - Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United; Netherlands)
21 - David Silva (Manchester City; Spain)
23 - Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal; Russia)
24 - Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea; France)

OCEANIA
351 - Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn; New Zealand)
1924 - Winston Reid (West Ham; New Zealand)

10/11 Premier League Unique Internationals

The players that are the only one of their nationality playing in the English Premiership in the 2010/2011 season.


Austria
Paul Scharner - West Bromwich Albion

Barbados
Emmerson Boyce - Wigan Athletic

Belarus
Alexander Hleb - Birmingham City

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Asmir Begović - Stoke City

Canada
David Hoilett - Blackburn Rovers

Congo
Christopher Samba - Blackburn Rovers

Ecuador
Antonio Valencia - Manchester United

Egypt
Ahmed El Mohamady - Sunderland

Faroe Islands
Gunnar Nielsen - Manchester City (Loaned out to Tranmere Rovers)

Finland
Jussi Jääskeläinen - Bolton Wanderers

Greece
Sotirios Kyrgiakos - Liverpool

Grenada
Jason Roberts - Blackburn Rovers

Mali
Mamady Sidibe - Stoke City

Morocco
Marouane Chamakh - Arsenal

Oman
Ali Al-Habsi - Bolton Wanderers (Loaned out to Wigan Athletic)

Romania
Gabriel Tamaş - West Bromwich Albion

Slovenia
Haris Vučkić - Newcastle United

Turkey
Tuncay Şanlı - Stoke City

Zimbabwe
Benjani Mwaruwari - Blackburn Rovers

Goals of the World

Translations of the English word 'Goal' in many other languages from around the world.


Afrikaans - Doel
Arabic - الهدف
Basque - gola!
Bulgarian - гол
Chinese - 球门,得分
Croatian - gol
Czech - gól
Danish - mål
Dutch - Goal, Doelpunt
English - Goal
Estonian - värav
Finnish - maali
French - but
German - Tor
Greek - τέρμα, γκολ
Hebrew - שַׁעַ
Hindi - गोल
Hungarian - gól
Icelandic - mark, stig
Indonesian - gol
Italian - goal, gol, rete
Japanese - ゴール
Korean - (경기의) 득점, 골
Latvian - vārti
Lithuanian - įvartis
Malay - gol
Norwegian - mål
Polish - gol
Portuguese - golo
Romanian - gol
Russian - гол
Serbian - gol
Slovak - gól
Slovenian - gol
Spanish - ¡gol!
Swedish - mål
Thai - ประตู
Turkish - gol
Ukrainian - гол
Vietnamese - bàn thắng; điểm





Translations from: The Free Dictionary

EPL: Longest Consecutive Win Streaks since 1999/2000

The longest consecutive win streaks in the Premier League since 1999. (minimum 6 consecutive wins)

13 - Arsenal (01/02)

11 - Manchester United (08/09)
11 - Manchester United (99/00)

10 - Liverpool (05/06)
10 - Chelsea (05/06)

9 - Chelsea (06/07)
9 - Manchester United (05/06)
9 - Arsenal (03/04)

8 - Manchester United (07/08)
8 - Chelsea (04/05)
8 - Manchester United (01/02)
8 - Manchester United (00/01)
8 - Arsenal (99/00)

7 - Arsenal (07/08)
7 - Manchester United (06/07)
7 - Liverpool (02/03)
7 - Liverpool (01/02)

6 - Arsenal (09/10)
6 - Chelsea (09/10)
6 - Wigan Athletic (05/06)
6 - Manchester United (04/05)
6 - Manchester United (03/04)
6 - Manchester United (02/03)
6 - Everton (02/03)
6 - Leeds United (00/01)
6 - Leeds United (99/00)



Compiled from Statbunker

Random Video Day

A few completely random soccer related videos that I've watched recently and found entertaining. I especially like the Japanese Adidas commercial, very cool.

Nuns at Chelsea FC


Alexandre Pato - Internacional Cartoon


Hanging out with USA National Team Player Steve Cherundolo in Germany


Japanese Adidas Commercial


This guy better hope he never gets caught doing this prank

Club Logos: The Arsenals

The logos of teams from around the world with Arsenal in their club name.

FC Arsenal Kyiv - Ukraine

FC Arsenal-Tula - Russian Amateur

Formerly Russian Professional 2nd Division

Arsenal FC (Roatan) - Honduras (2)

Arsenal F.C. - England

Arsenal de Sarandi - Argentina

Attersana (Arsenal) Tripoli SC - Libya

FK Arsenal Tivat - Montenegro

Arsenal Kharkiv - Ukraine (3)

Atletico Arsenal de Salto - Uruguay (3)

Arsenal Futebol Clube de Frutal-MG - Brazil

Arsenal CF Ferrol - Spain
Defunct - 1981

Map: American Players in Scandinavia

A map and list of the American players playing in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. (September 2010).

Note: There are many players at the same clubs so you have to zoom in to see all of the icons. If you view the 'larger map' there is a clickable list of all the players. Also, switch to Sat view if you want to look at the satellite imagery of the stadiums.

View American Players in Scandinavia in a larger map

Denmark

MF - Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus

DF - Babajide Ogunbiyi - Viborg

DF - Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjælland

FW - Chris Rolfe - Aalborg BK

FW - Marcus Tracy - Aalborg BK

Finland

MF - Daniel Antunez - FC Inter Turku

DF - Greg Eckhardt - Vaasan Palloseura

GK - Brian Pope - Vaasan Palloseura

DF - Guiseppe Funicello - IFK Mariehamn

FW - Lamar Neagle - IFK Mariehamn

DF - Mason Trafford - IFK Mariehamn

Sweden

MF - Alejandro Bedoya - Örebro SK

DF - Ryan Miller - Halmstads BK

GK - Nick Noble - Ljungskile SK

MF - Michael Thomas - Ljungskile SK

Norway Eliteserien

MF - Erik Benjaminsen - Stabæk

MF - Mikkel Diskerud - Stabæk

GK - Steve Clark - Hønefoss

MF - Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Hønefoss

DF - Hunter Freeman - IK Start

DF - Clarence Goodson - IK Start

Norway 1.Division

GK - Joseph Bendik - Sogndal

GK - Colin Burns - Sarpsborg 08 FF

DF - Graham Dugoni - Mjøndalen IF

List compiled from Yanks-Abroad.com

African FIFA rank differences: 2005 and 2010

Comparing the Jan 2005 and Aug 2010 FIFA rankings of all the African nations.

Rank Difference - Nation (2005 rank/2010 rank)

+73 - Gabon (104/31)

+73 - Gambia (164/91)

+54 - Tanzania (165/111)

+48 - Burkina Faso (87/39)

+46 - Guinea-Bissau (186/140)

+45 - Algeria (80/35)

+45 - Namibia (161/116)

+44 - Benin (113/69)

+44 - Mozambique (130/86)

+41 - Cape Verde Islands (118/77)

+38 - Uganda (101/63)

+31 - Sierra Leone (163/132)

+30 - Ghana (50/20)

+28 - Malawi (106/78)

+25 - Burundi (147/122)

+25 - Chad (159/134)

+23 - Niger (177/154)

+23 - Egypt (32/9)

+19 - Botswana (101/82)

+19 - Cote d'Ivoire (42/23)

+12 - Djibouti (200/188)

+11 - Central African Republic (183/172)

+9 - Equitorial Guinea (173/164)

+9 - Mauritania (178/169)

+8 - Eritrea (169/161)

+8 - Somalia (184/176)

-65 - Zimbabwe (53/118)

-59 - Morocco (36/95)

-55 - Congo DR (77/132)

-50 - Mauritius (143/193)

-49 - Senegal (30/79)

-32 - Angola (61/93)

-31 - Togo (56/87)

-28 - Tunisia (28/56)

-27 - Libya (80/107)

-25 - Kenya (89/114)

-23 - Ethiopia (112/135)

-23 - Rwanda (89/112)

-16 - Zambia (58/74)

-14 - Cameroon (23/37)

-12 - Lesotho (145/157)

-10 - Nigeria (24/34)

-9 - South Africa (49/58)

-9 - Sudan (92/101)

-8 - Swaziland (134/142)

-8 - Seychelles (176/184)

-7 - Congo (110/117)

-5 - Madagascar (149/154)

-4 - Liberia (135/139)

-2 - Guinea (79/81)

-2 - Mali (63/65)

Comoros - no ranking in 2005

Videos: John Charles

John Charles is considered one of the best players of all time, but he still doesn't seem to get the recognition that many 'higher profile' players receive. Here is an interesting documentary video about King John, the former Leeds United, Juventus, and Wales legend.

FIFA Rankings: Biggest Movers September 2010

Nations in the top 100 in the world that have gained or lost at least 10 places in the September 2010 FIFA rankings. Nations in red are currently at their best or worst (Poland and Morocco) FIFA ranking of all time.

+Rank - Nation (Current Ranking)

+33 - Montenegro (40)

+31 - Cape Verde Islands (77)

+27 - Panama (70)

+23 - Belarus (55)

+21 - Guinea (81)

+21 - Georgia (89)

+20 - Cyprus (43)

+14 - Northern Ireland (45)

+13 - Canada (88)

+12 - Senegal (79)

+12 - Gambia (91)

+11 - Slovakia (16)

+11 - Hungary (51)

+11 - Botswana (82)

+10 - Lithuania (42)

-Rank - Nation (Current Ranking)

-24 - El Salvador (110)

-21 - Iceland (100)

-21 - Trinidad and Tobago (97)

-19 - Latvia (68)

-14 - Belgium (62)

-14 - Ecuador (72)

-13 - Finland (64)

-13 - Libya (107)

-13 - Venezuela (60)

-12 - Togo (87)

-12 - Morocco (95)

-11 - Bulgaria (54)

-11 - Kuwait (96)

-11 - Oman (92)

-10 - Mali (65)

-10 - Poland (66)

Inter Milan Player Birthplace Map

The birthplaces of the Inter Milan first team players as of September 2010.

View Inter Milan Player Birthplace Map in a larger map

African Players in Serie A: September 2010

Algeria

Abdelkader Ghezzal - AS Bari

Mourad Meghni - Lazio

Djamel Mesbah - Lecce

Hassan Yebda - Napoli (loan from Benfica)

Cameroon

Samuel Eto'o - Inter Milan

Steve Leo Beleck - Udinese

Cote d'Ivoire

Christian Manfredini - Lazio

Ghana

Daniel Kofi Agyei - Fiorentina

Richmond Boakye - Genoa

Sulley Muntari - Inter Milan

Kevin-Prince Boateng - AC Milan

Afriyie Acquah - Palermo

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu - Udinese

Kwadwo Asamoah - Udinese

Kenya

McDonald Mariga - Inter Milan

Mali

Mohamed Sissoko - Juventus

Souleymane Diamoutene - Lecce

Morocco

Houssine Kharja - Genoa

Mehdi Benatia - Udinese

Nigeria

Joel Chukwuma Obi - Inter Milan

Nwankwo Obiorah - Inter Milan

Nnamdi Oduamadi - AC Milan

Senegal

Papa Waigo - Fiorentina

Sierra Leone

Rodney Strasser - AC Milan

Pictures: North African National Stadiums

The national stadiums of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia.

Algeria - Stade 5 Juillet 1962

Egypt - Cairo International Stadium

Libya - June 11 Stadium

Morocco - Stade Mohamed V

Sudan - Al Merreikh Stadium

Tunisia - Stade 7 November

Pictures from:
www.stadionwelt.de
sudanwatch.blogspot.com
wikimedia commons

Supporter Videos: Arema (Indonesia) and Esperance (Tunisia)

Every once in a while I do a post highlighting the supporters from clubs and countries that are a little outside of the 'mainstream' of world soccer. This time around it's the excellent support from Arema in Indonesia and Esperance in Tunisia.

Arema - Indonesia





Espérance Sportive de Tunis - Tunisia

Videos: Asian Cup Final Highlights

Highlights from the last three Asian Cup Finals, in 2000, 2004, and 2007.

Eredivisie Top Scorers since 05/06: Where are they Now?

Players who have scored at least 20 goals in the Dutch Eredevisie since 2005/2006 and the clubs they are with for the 10/11 season.

2005/2006
33 - Klass-Jan Hunterlaar - SC Heerenveen / Ajax
22 - Shota Arveladze - AZ
22 - Dirk Kuyt - Feyenoord
21 - Jefferson Farfan - PSV

2006/2007
34 - Afonso Alves - SC Heerenveen
24 - Jefferson Farfan - PSV
22 - Blaise N'Kufo - Twente
22 - Danny Koevermans - AZ
21 - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Ajax

2007/2008
34 - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Ajax
21 - Blaise N'Kufo - Twente

2008/2009
23 - Mounir El Hamdaoui - AZ
22 - Luis Suarez - Ajax

2009/2010
35 - Luis Suarez - Ajax
24 - Bryan Ruiz - Twente
21 - Mads Junker - Roda JC
20 - Mounir El Hamdaoui - AZ


Current Clubs

England
Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool

Germany
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Schalke 04
Jefferson Farfan - Schalke 04

Netherlands
Danny Koevermans - PSV
Mounir El Hamdaoui - Ajax
Bryan Ruiz - FC Twente
Mads Junker - Roda JC

Qatar
Afonso Alves - Al-Rayyan

USA
Blaise N'Kufo - Seattle Sounders



Retired
Shota Arveladze - Manager Kayserispor (Turkey)

Flashback Video: Mario Kempes

A flashback video of one of the all-time Argentine World Cup greats, Mario Kempes. 'El Matador' is also the owner of one of the best saves by a non-GK in World Cup history (around the 2:00 minute mark). Take that Luis Suarez.

Bundesliga 2010/11: CONCACAF and AFC Players

CONCACAF

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

Costa Rica
Felicio Brown Forbes - 1. FC Nuremberg

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


ASIA

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

China
Hao Junmin - Schalke 04

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

Lebanon
Youssef Mohamad - 1. FC Köln

South Korea
Son Heung-Min - Hamburger SV

Video Game Soccer Shirt Sponsors

A list of video game sponsored soccer shirts.

2009 Seattle Sounders "XBOX 360" Shirt




Paris Saint Germain "Commodore" Shirt




1999 Home Manchester City "Eidos" Shirt




Kyoto Sanga "Nintendo" Japanese Shirt




2000-01 Away Saint Etienne Dreamcast Shirt




1991 Chelsea Home "Commodore" Shirt





2005-06 Auxerre "Playstation" Shirt




1999 Arsenal Away "Sega" Shirt




2000 Arsenal Home "Dreamcast" Shirt




Fiorentina "Nintendo" Shirt




1988 Home Bayern Munich "Commodore" Shirt





Tokyo Verdy "Konami" Shirt

1994 JEF United "Sega/Sonic the Hedgehog" Shirt

1999 Sampdoria "Dreamcast" Shirt

09/10 Swindon Town "FIFA 10" Shirt

2000 Deportivo La Coruña "Dreamcast" Shirt

2008 Lazio "PES 2009" Shirt

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

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


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

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