Tuesday, December 28, 2010

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.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

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

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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)

Monday, December 20, 2010

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

Friday, December 17, 2010

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

Thursday, December 16, 2010

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

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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)

Monday, December 13, 2010

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

Friday, December 10, 2010

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

Thursday, December 9, 2010

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)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

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

Monday, December 6, 2010

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)

Friday, December 3, 2010

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

Thursday, December 2, 2010

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