Friday, September 23, 2011

Best/Worst FIFA Rankings (September 2011)

Nations currently in their best or worst all-time FIFA ranking position in the September 2011 FIFA Rankings.


Best Ranking
4 - Uruguay
22 - Bosnia-Herzegovina
27 - Hungary
44 - Armenia
58 - Estonia
133 - Belize

Worst Ranking
98 - Saudi Arabia
143 - Congo
168 - Myanmar
178 - Curaçao
189 - Bermuda
190 - Eritrea
193 - Mauritania
201 - Tonga
203 - Samoa

Thursday, September 22, 2011

FIFA Confederation Ranking Comparison - September 2011

Comparing FIFA Confederations using the average ranking of the top 5 teams from each region.

Top 5 Avg. - Confederation (+/- August)


3.4 - Europe (+0.0)
1 - Spain
2 - Netherlands
3 - Germany
5 - Portugal
6 - Italy

11.8 - South America (-0.6)
4 - Uruguay
7 - Brazil
10 - Argentina
14 - Chile
24 - Paraguay

34.4 - Africa (-1.8)
16 - Côte d'Ivoire
36 - Egypt
37 - Ghana
41 - Burkina Faso
42 - Senegal

37.2 - Asia (+1.2)
15 - Japan
19 - Australia
29 - South Korea
50 - Iran
73 - China

40.4 - CONCACAF (-0.2)
20 - Mexico
31 - USA
45 - Jamaica
53 - Honduras
53 - Panama

148.2 - Oceania (-0.4)
89 - New Zealand
146 - Fiji
154 - New Caledonia
173 - Vanuatu
179 - Solomon Islands

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Non-European EPL Medal Winners

A list of non-European players that have received a Premier League winners medal.



Africa

Cameroon
2 - Lauren, 01-02, 03-04 (Arsenal)
2 - Geremi, 04-05, 05-06 (Chelsea)

Ghana
2 - Michael Essien, 05-06, 09-10 (Chelsea)

Ivory Coast
3 - Didier Drogba, 04-05, 05-06, 09-10 (Chelsea)
1 - Salomon Kalou, 09-10 (Chelsea)
1 - Kolo Touré, 03-04 (Arsenal)

Liberia
1 - Christopher Wreh, 97-98 (Arsenal)

Nigeria
2 - Nwankwo Kanu, 01-02, 03-04 (Arsenal)
1 - John Obi Mikel, 09-10 (Chelsea)

South Africa
1 - Quinton Fortune, 02-03 (Manchester United)

Asia

Australia
1 - Robbie Slater, 94-95 (Blackburn Rovers)
1 - Mark Bosnich, 99-00 (Manchester United)

South Korea
4 - Park Ji-Sung, 06-07, 07-08, 08-09, 10-11 (Manchester United)

CONCACAF

Mexico
1 - Javier Hernández, 10-11 (Manchester United)

Trinidad and Tobago
3 - Dwight Yorke, 98-99, 99-00, 00-01 (Manchester United)


CONMEBOL

Argentina
2 - Carlos Tevez, 07-08, 08-09 (Manchester United)
1 - Hernan Crespo, 05-06 (Chelsea)
1 - Juan Sebastian Veron, 02-03 (Manchester United)
1 - Gabriel Heinze, 06-07 (Manchester United)

Brazil
3 - Anderson, 07-08, 08-09, 10-11 (Manchester United)
2 - Edu, 01-02, 03-04 (Arsenal)
2 - Rafael, 08-09, 10-11 (Manchester United)
1 - Gilberto Silva, 03-04 (Arsenal)
1 - Juliano Belletti, 09-10 (Chelsea)
1 - Alex, 09-10 (Chelsea)
1 - Fábio, 10-11 (Manchester United)

Ecuador
1 - Antonio Valencia, 10-11 (Manchester United)

Uruguay
1 - Diego Forlan, 02-03 (Manchester United)



The League Champions shall further receive 21 commemorative medals to be presented by the Club to its Manager and to such of its Players and Officials as it thinks fit provided, in the case of a Player, that he has that Season played in a minimum of 10 of its League Matches.
2010–11 FA Premier League Handbook

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

MLS: Top Goal-Scoring Defenders

Major League Soccer defenders with 10+ career goals.

24 - Marcelo Balboa
23 - Ezra Hendrickson
22 - Greg Vanney
20 - Jimmy Conrad
18 - Steve Trittschuh
17 - Jay Heaps
16 - Ted Chronopoulos
16 - Lubos Kubik
16 - Tyrone Marshall*
16 - Alexi Lalas
16 - Tony Sanneh
14 - Jose Burciaga Jr.
14 - Ramiro Corrales*
13 - Mike Petke
12 - Diego Gutierrez
12 - Frankie Hejduk*
11 - Drew Moor*
11 - Jeff Agoos
10 - Bobby Boswell*
10 - Eddie Pope
10 - Jamison Olave*


*Active MLS Players

Monday, September 19, 2011

40+ EPL Goals - 2006-2011

Players with 40+ English Premier League goals in the past 5 seasons (2006/07 to 2010/11)

75 - Wayne Rooney
74 - Didier Drogba
72 - Darren Bent
68 - Dimitar Berbatov
66 - Cristiano Ronaldo
66 - Carlos Tevez
65 - Frank Lampard
64 - Fernando Torres
58 - Nicolas Anelka
57 - Emmanuel Adebayor
56 - Robin van Persie
54 - Jermain Defoe
49 - Dirk Kuyt
47 - Steven Gerrard
47 - Gabriel Agbonlahor
44 - Robbie Keane

Friday, September 16, 2011

Europa League Group Stage Goals by Nationality

The nationalities of the goal scorers through 1 match played in the 2011/2012 Europa League group stage.

EUROPE (35)
4 - Portugal (Almeida [2], Barbosa [2])
3 - France (Bodmer, Cisse, Ménez)
3 - Netherlands (de Jong, Maher, van Wolfswinkel)
3 - Turkey (Aurelio, Karadeniz, Korkmaz)
2 - Belgium (Mertens, Odjidja-Ofoe)
2 - Denmark (Jensen, Nordstrand)
2 - England (Jerome, A.Johnson)
2 - Israel (Ghadir, Kaat)
2 - Italy (Di Natale, Sculli)
2 - Spain (Muniain, Susaeta)
2 - Sweden (Elm, Johansson, Larsson)
1 - Croatia (Vukojević)
1 - Czech Republic (Jun)
1 - Hungary (Szabics)
1 - Romania (Herea)
1 - Russia (Sychev)
1 - Serbia (Jovanović)
1 - Slovakia (Guédé)
1 - Slovenia (Kirm)


SOUTH AMERICA (15)
8 - Brazil (Wesley [2], Nenê, Edu, Lima, Diego, C.Xavier, Leonardo)
4 - Argentina (M.Suárez [3], Insúa)
2 - Colombia (Armero, Falcao)
1 - Ecuador (Noboa)


AFRICA (7)
3 - Nigeria (Martins, Obinna, Utaka)
2 - Morocco (Dirar, Hadji)
1 - Senegal (Gueye)
1 - Uganda (Sekagya)


CONCACAF (2)
1 - USA (Altidore)
1 - Jamaica (King)


ASIA (1)
1 - Australia (Holman)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Castrol Ranking: Top 5 EPL Players by FIFA Confederation (Sep 2011)

The Top 5 English Premier League players from each FIFA Confederation (Europe and UK listed separately) according to the September 2011 Castrol Rankings.


Europe
5 - Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
10 - Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria)
16 - Florent Malouda (France)
19 - Branislav Ivanović (Serbia)
35 - Nani (Portugal)

UK
25 - Frank Lampard (England)
34 - Joe Hart (England)
42 - John Terry (England)
65 - Wayne Rooney (England)
73 - Stewart Downing (England)

South America
8 - Sergio Agüero (Argentina)
19 - Maxi Rodriguez (Argentina)
45 - Carlos Tévez (Argentina)
145 - Anderson (Brazil)
179 - Ramires (Brazil)

Africa
22 - Gervinho (Cote d'Ivoire)
86 - Michael Essien (Ghana)
104 - Alex Song (Cameroon)
118 - Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire)
133 - Demba Ba (Senegal)

CONCACAF
31 - Javier Hernandez (Mexico)
72 - Clint Dempsey (USA)
285 - Stuart Holden (USA)
333 - Kenwyne Jones (Trinidad and Tobago)
472 - David Hoilett (Canada)

Asia
106 - Ali Al-Habsi (Oman)
130 - Tim Cahill (Australia)
140 - Park Ji-Sung (South Korea)
387 - Mark Schwarzer (Australia)
513 - Lee Chung-Yong (South Korea)

Oceania
733 - Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Videos: Soccer Similar Sports

A few interesting soccer inspired sports from around the world.

Sepak Takraw


Bossaball


International Rules Football

Chinlone (Mystic Ball)


Soccer Tennis (Djokovic vs. Nadal)


Jorkyball

Monday, September 12, 2011

South American Players in Top European Leagues (Sep 2011)

The number of South American players currently in each of the Top 5 European Leagues.


Italy (130)
51 - Argentina
35 - Brazil
21 - Uruguay
8 - Colombia
8 - Chile
4 - Paraguay
2 - Peru
1 - Venezuela

Spain (85)
33 - Argentina
25 - Brazil
13 - Uruguay
4 - Colombia
3 - Chile
3 - Paraguay
3 - Venezuela
1 - Ecuador

France (37)
18 - Brazil
11 - Argentina
4 - Colombia
1 - Chile
1 - Peru
1 - Venezuela
1 - Uruguay

England (33)
14 - Brazil
12 - Argentina
3 - Uruguay
1 - Chile
1 - Colombia
1 - Ecuador
1 - Paraguay

Germany (30)
18 - Brazil
3 - Colombia
3 - Peru
3 - Venezuela
2 - Argentina
1 - Paraguay

Totals
110 - Brazil
109 - Argentina
38 - Uruguay
20 - Colombia
13 - Chile
9 - Paraguay
8 - Venezuela
6 - Peru
2 - Ecuador
0 - Bolivia

Friday, September 9, 2011

North Africans in Top European Leagues

North African players currently in the top leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

ALGERIA

England
Adlène Guédioura - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rafik Halliche - Swansea City (loan from Fulham)

France
Ryad Boudebouz - FC Souchaux
Brahim Ferradj - Stade Brest
Foued Kadir - FC Valenciennes
Carl Medjani - AC Ajaccio
Mehdi Mostefa - AC Ajaccio

Germany
Chadli Amri - 1.FC Kaiserslautern

Italy
Abdelkader Ghezzal - AC Cesena (loan from Bari)
Djamel Mesbah - US Lecce

Spain
Mehdi Lacen - Getafe CF
Hassan Yebda - Granada CF


EGYPT

England
Ahmed Elmohamady - Sunderland

Germany
Mohamed Zidan - Borussia Dortmund


LIBYA

none


MOROCCO

England
Marouane Chamakh - Arsenal
Adel Taarabt - QPR

France
Youssef Adnane - FC Evian
Karim Aït-Fana - HSC Montpellier
Younès Belhanda - HSC Montpellier
Kamel Chafni - AJ Auxerre
Abdelhamid El Kaoutari - HSC Montpellier
Faycal Fajr - SM Caen
Youssouf Hadji - Stade Rennes

Germany
Yacine Abdessadki - SC Freiburg
Karim Bellarabi - Bayer Leverkusen

Italy
Mehdi Benatia - Udinese
Abderrazzak Jadid - Parma
Houssine Kharja - Fiorentina
Adil Chihi - 1.FC Cologne
Yassine Jebbour - Stade Rennes
Ahmed Kantari - Stade Brest

Spain
Nabil El Zhar - Levante UD


SOUTH SUDAN

None


SUDAN

None


TUNISIA

France
Aymen Abdennour - Toulouse
Issam Jemâa - AJ Auxerre
Fahid Ben Khalfallah - Bordeaux
Saber Khelifa - FC Evian
Yassin Mikari - Sochaux
Jamel Saihi - HSC Montpellier

Germany
Sami Allagui - 1.FSV Mainz 05
Sofian Chahed - Hannover 96
Karim Haggui - Hannover 96
Ammar Jemal - 1.FC Cologne

Italy
Yohan Benalouane - AC Cesena

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Maps: EPL Goal Scorer Birthplaces

Maps showing the birthplaces of the 49 players that have scored a goal in the first 3 weeks of the 2011/2012 English Premier League season.

World

View 11/12 Premier League Goals Scorer Birthplaces in a larger map

Europe

View 11/12 Premier League Goals Scorer Birthplaces in a larger map

UK and Ireland

View 11/12 Premier League Goals Scorer Birthplaces in a larger map

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Croatia Prva HNL Club Logos

2011/2012 Club Logos from the 1.HNL in Croatia.

NK Varaždin

Dinamo Zagreb

Hajduk Split

HNK Cibalia

HNK Rijeka

HNK Šibenik

Inter Zaprešić

Lokomotiva Zagreb

NK Lučko

NK Istra 1961

NK Karlovac

NK Osijek

NK Zagreb

RNK Split

NK Slaven Koprivnica

NK Zadar

Monday, September 5, 2011

Caribbean National Team Nicknames

Nicknames of the National Teams from the Caribbean region in CONCACAF.


Anguilla - The Soccer Dolphins

Antigua and Barbuda - The Wadadli Boyz

Aruba - La Selección

Bahamas - The Rake and Scrape Boys

Barbados - Bajan Pride

Bermuda - The Gombey Warriors

British Virgin Islands - The Nature Boyz

Cayman Islands - ???

Cuba - Los Leones del Caribe (“The Lions of the Caribbean”)

Curaçao - ???

Dominica - ???

Dominican Republic - Los Quisqueyanos (Quisqueyano is sometimes used to denote a person of Dominican descent)

Grenada - The Spice Boyz

Guadeloupe - Les Gwada Boys

Guyana - Golden Jaguars

Haiti - Les Grenadiers

Jamaica - The Reggae Boyz

Montserrat - The Emerald Boys

Puerto Rico - El Huracán Azul (The Blue Hurricane)

Saint Kitts and Nevis - The Sugar Boyz

Saint Lucia - The Piton

Saint Vincent & Grenadines - The Vincy Heat

Suriname - Suriboys

Trinidad and Tobago - The Soca Warriors

Turks and Caicos - ???

US Virgin Islands - The Dashing Eagle

Thursday, September 1, 2011

CONCACAF Players in Top 5 European Leagues (Sep 2011)

CONCACAF players currently with teams in the top level leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Barbados
Emmerson Boyce - Wigan Athletic

Canada
David Hoilett - Blackburn Rovers
Simeon Jackson - Norwich City
Kevin McKenna - 1.FC Cologne
Marcel de Jong - FC Augsburg

Costa Rica
Joel Campbell - FC Lorient (loan from Arsenal)
Bryan Ruiz - Fulham FC
Keylor Navas - Levante UD

Grenada
Jason Roberts - Blackburn Rovers

Guadeloupe
Ronald Zubar - Wolverhampton Wanderers

Honduras
Wilson Palacios - Stoke City
Maynor Figueroa - Wigan Athletic
Hendry Thomas - Wigan Athletic
Edgar Álvarez - US Palermo
David Suazo - Catania

Jamaica
Tyrone Mears - Bolton Wanderers
Ricardo Gardner - Bolton Wanderers
Ricardo Fuller - Stoke City
Nyron Nosworthy - Sunderland

Mexico
Héctor Moreno - Espanyol
Carlos Vela - Real Sociedad (loan from Arsenal)
Pablo Barrera - Real Zaragoza (loan from West Ham United)
Efraín Juárez - Real Zaragoza (loan from Celtic)
Javier Hernández - Manchester United
Giovani dos Santos - Tottenham Hotspur
Francisco Rodríguez "Maza" - VfB Stuttgart
Guillermo Ochoa - AC Ajaccio

Trinidad and Tobago
Kenwyne Jones - Stoke City

United States
Jermaine Jones - Schalke 04
Timothy Chandler - 1.FC Nuremberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96
Fabian Johnson - TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen
John Anthony Brooks - Hertha Berlin
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Tim Howard - Everton
Stuart Holden - Bolton Wanderers
Brad Friedel - Tottenham Hotspur
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa
Zak Whitbread - Norwich City
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona