Tuesday, May 28, 2013

UEFA Champions League Game-Winning Goal Scorers - 1993-2013

These are the players that scored the game-winning goal or PK in a penalty shootout to help their team win the UEFA Champions League from 1993-2013.

Year Player Nationality Club Minute
2013 Arjen Robben Netherlands Bayern Munich 89'
2012 Didier Drogba Cote d'Ivoire Chelsea PK
2011 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 54'
2010 Diego Milito Argentina Inter Milan 35'
2009 Samuel Eto'o Cameroon Barcelona 10'
2008 Ryan Giggs Wales Manchester United PK
2007 Filippo Inzaghi Italy AC Milan 82'
2006 Juliano Belletti Brazil Barcelona 81'
2005 Vladimír Šmicer Czech Republic Liverpool PK
2004 Carlos Alberto Brazil FC Porto 39'
2003 Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine AC Milan PK
2002 Zinedine Zidane France Real Madrid 45'
2001 Thomas Linke Germany Bayern Munich PK
2000 Fernando Morientes Spain Real Madrid 39'
1999 Ole Gunnar Solskjær Norway Manchester United 90+3'
1998 Predrag Mijatović Montenegro Real Madrid 66'
1997 Karl-Heinz Riedle Germany Borussia Dortmund 34'
1996 Michele Padovano Italy Juventus PK
1995 Patrick Kluivert Netherlands Ajax 85'
1994 Daniele Massaro Italy AC Milan 22'
1993 Basile Boli Cote d'Ivoire Marseille 43'

Monday, May 27, 2013

Top 30 FIFA Nations Ranked by Population

Nation Population FIFA Ranking
Montenegro 620,029 27
Uruguay 3,286,314 17
Bosnia-Herzegovina 3,839,737 21
Croatia 4,290.612 4
Denmark 5,605,836 20
Switzerland 8,036,900 14
Sweden 9,573,466 24
Czech Republic 10,516,215 25
Portugal 10,562,178 5
Greece 10,815,197 13
Belgium 11,151,495 15
Mali 14,528,662 26
Ecuador 15,492,800 10
Chile 16,634,603 23
Netherlands 16,786,400 9
Cote d'Ivoire 23,202,000 12
Ghana 24,658,823 22
Argentina 40,117,096 3
Spain 47,059,533 1
Colombia 47,069,000 6
England 53,012,456 7
Italy 59,561,204 8
France 65,635,000 18
Germany 82,029,000 2
Mexico 112,335,538 16
Japan 127,300,000 30
Russia 143,400,000 11
Nigeria 170,901,000 28
Brazil 194,946,886 19
USA 315,913,000 29

Friday, May 24, 2013

CONCACAF Assist Leaders in Top European Leagues - 2012/2013

Assists Player Club Nationality
9 Carlos Vela Real Sociedad Mexico
7 Jobi McAnuff Reading Jamaica
7 Bryan Ruiz Fulham Costa Rica
7 Giovani dos Santos Mallorca Mexico
5 Jermaine Jones Schalke 04 USA
4 Clint Dempsey Tottenham Hotspur USA
4 Fabian Johnson Hoffenheim USA
3 Timothy Chandler Nurnberg USA
3 Javier Hernández Manchester United Mexico
3 Junior Díaz Mainz 05 Costa Rica
3 Joel Campbell Real Betis Costa Rica
3 Andres Guardado Valencia Mexico
2 Kenwyne Jones Stoke City T&T
2 Garath McCleary Reading Jamaica
2 Michael Bradley Roma USA
2 Hector Moreno Espanyol Mexico
2 Romain Genevois OGC Nice Haiti
1 Geoff Cameron Stoke City USA
1 Eric Lichaj Aston Villa USA
1 Steve Cherundolo Hannover 96 USA
1 David Hoilett QPR Canada
1 Marcel de Jong Augsburg Canada
1 Olivier Occéan Eintracht Frankfurt Canada
1 Maynor Figueroa Wigan Athletic Honduras
1 Bryan Oviedo Everton Costa Rica
1 Jason Roberts Reading Granada

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Assist Leaders in Top European Leagues - 2012/2013

Assists Player Club Nationality
15 Andres Iniesta Barcelona Spain
14 Franck Ribéry Bayern Munich France
14 Marek Hamšík Napoli Slovakia
12 Lionel Messi Barcelona Argentina
12 Mesut Özil Real Madrid Germany
12 Juan Mata Chelsea Spain
12 Francesco Totti Roma Italy
12 Mathieu Valbuena OM France
11 Karim Benzema Real Madrid France
11 Cesc Fàbregas Barcelona Spain
11 Santi Cazorla Arsenal Spain
11 Eden Hazard Chelsea Belgium
11 Jakub Błaszczykowski Borussia Dortmund Poland
11 Hiroshi Kiyotake Nürnberg Japan
11 Philip Lahm Bayern Munich Germany
11 Thomas Müller Bayern Munich Germany
11 Borja Valero Fiorentina Spain
11 Yohan Mollo Saint-Étienne France
11 Dimitri Payet Lille France
10 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Portugal
10 Koke Atlético Madrid Spain
10 Lukas Podolski Arsenal Germany
10 Wayne Rooney Manchester United England
10 Theo Walcott Arsenal England
10 Rafael van der Vaart Hamburger SV Netherlands
10 Gaël Danic Valenciennes France


Stats from Soccerway as of May 23, 2013

Monday, May 20, 2013

EPL Top Scorers by World Region - 2012/2013


Europe
26 - Robin van Persie (Netherlands: Manchester United)
19 - Christian Benteke (Belgium: Aston Villa)
18 - Michu (Spain: Swansea City)
17 - Romelu Lukaku (Belgium: West Bromwich Albion)
15 - Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria: Fulham)
14 - Edin Džeko (Bosnia-Herzegovina: Manchester City)
12 - Santi Cazorla (Spain: Arsenal)
11 - Marouane Fellaini (Belgium: Everton)
11 - Olivier Giroud (France: Arsenal)
11 - Juan Mata (Spain: Chelsea)
11 - Lukas Podolski (Germany: Arsenal)

UK
21 - Gareth Bale (Wales: Tottenham Hotspur)
15 - Rickie Lambert (England: Southampton)
15 - Frank Lampard (England: Chelsea)
14 - Theo Walcott (England: Arsenal)
12 - Adam Le Fondre (England: Reading)
12 - Wayne Rooney (England: Manchester United)
11 - Jermain Defoe (England: Tottenham Hotspur)
11 - Steven Fletcher (Scotland: Sunderland)
11 - Daniel Sturridge (England: Liverpool)
10 - Steven Gerrard (England: Liverpool)
10 - Kevin Nolan (England: West Ham United)

Africa
15 - Demba Ba (Senegal: Chelsea)
11 - Arouna Koné (Cote d'Ivoire: Wigan)
8 - Papiss Demba Cissé (Senegal: Newcastle United)
7 - Stephane Sessègnon (Benin: Sunderland)
6 - Victor Anichebe (Nigeria: Everton)
6 - Steven Pienaar (South Africa: Everton)
6 - Yaya Touré (Cote d'Ivoire: Manchester City)
5 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo: Tottenham Hotspur)
5 - Jimmy Kébé (Mali: Reading)
5 - Gervinho (Cote d'Ivoire: Arsenal)
5 - Peter Odemwingie (Nigeria: West Bromwich Albion)
5 - Adel Taarabt (Morocco: QPR)

South America
23 - Luis Suárez (Uruguay: Liverpool)
12 - Sergio Agüero (Argentina: Manchester City)
11 - Carlos Tévez (Argentina: Manchester City)
5 - Franco Di Santo (Argentina: Wigan)
5 - Gaston Ramírez (Uruguay: Southampton)
5 - Ramires (Brazil: Chelsea)
4 - Oscar (Brazil: Chelsea)
3 - Philippe Coutinho (Brazil: Liverpool)
3 - Rafael (Brazil: Manchester United)
3 - Hugo Rodallega (Colombia

CONCACAF
10 - Javier Hernández (Mexico: Manchester United)
7 - Clint Dempsey (USA: Tottenham Hotspur)
4 - Emmerson Boyce (Barbados: Wigan)
4 - Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica: Fulham)
3 - Kenwyne Jones (Trinidad & Tobago: Stoke City)
3 - Garath McCleary (Jamaica: Reading)
2 - David Hoilett (Canada: QPR)
1 - Roger Espinoza (Honduras: Wigan)
1 - Maynor Figueroa (Honduras: Wigan)
1 - Simeon Jackson (Canada: Norwich City)
1 - Mikele Leigertwood (Antigua and Barbuda: Reading)
1 - Adrian Mariappa (Jamaica: Reading)

Asia
6 - Shinji Kagawa (Japan: Manchester United)
1 - Brett Holman (Australia: Aston Villa)

Oceania
1 - Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand: QPR)
1 - Winston Reid (New Zealand: West Ham United)



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Map: Relegated EPL Clubs - 2008-2013


View Relegated English Premier League Clubs 2008-2013 in a larger map

Blue - 2012/2013
Red - 2011/2012
Green - 2010/2011
Purple - 2009/2010
Yellow - 2008/2009

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

City Populations in Top European Leagues

The population of cities with teams in the Top 5 European leagues in England, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.  Population statistics from citypopulation.de

English Premier League
7,619,800 - London
1,010,400 - Birmingham
465,900 - Manchester
464,200 - Liverpool
258,600 - Stoke-on-Trent
252,700 - Southampton
236,900 - Reading
200,200 - Newcastle
194,400 - Norwich
177,400 - Sunderland
174,300 - Swansea
140,000 - West Bromwich
82,600 - Wigan

German Bundesliga
1,798,836 - Hamburg
1,378,176 - Munich
691,518 - Frankfurt
613,392 - Stuttgart
592,393 - Düsseldorf
580,956 - Dortmund
548,319 - Bremen
525,875 - Hanover
510,602 - Nuremberg
266,647 - Augsburg
257,208 - Mönchengladbach
256,652 - Gelsenkirchen (Schalke 04)
229,144 - Freiburg
200,957 - Mainz
161,195 - Leverkusen
122,583 - Wolfsburg
116,317 - Fürth
35,373 - Sinsheim (Hoffenheim)

Italy Serie A
2,617,175 - Rome
1,242,123 - Milan
962,003 - Napoli
872,367 - Turin (Juventus, Torino)
657,561 - Palermo
586,180 - Genoa (Genoa, Sampdoria)
371,337 - Bologna
358,079 - Florence (Fiorentina)
293,902 - Catania
252,520 - Verona (Chievo)
175,895 - Parma
149,883 - Cagliari
117,166 - Pescara
115,349 - Bergamo (Atalanta)
98,287 - Udine (Udinese)
52,839 - Siena

Spain La Liga
3,198,645 - Madrid (Real, Atletico, Rayo Vallecano)
1,611,013 - Barcelona
792,054 - Valencia (Levante, Valencia)
698,042 - Seville (Betis, Sevilla)
678,115 - Zaragoza
561,435 - Malaga
402,044 - Palma (Mallorca)
351,356 - Bilbao
311,682 - Valladolid
295,623 - Vigo
245,053 - A Coruña
241,003 - Granada
195,943 - Pamplona (Osasuna)
185,512 - Donostia-San Sebastián (Real Sociedad)
168,642 - Getafe
86,504 - Cornellà do Llobregat (Barcelona Suburb) (Espanyol)

France Ligue 1
2,243,833 - Paris
850,726 - Marseille
484,344 - Lyon
441,802 - Toulouse
343,304 - Nice
257,351 - Montpellier
239,157 - Bordeaux
227,560 - Lille
212,317 - Lorient
207,178 - Rennes
188,320 - Troyes
179,992 - Reims
171,260 - Saint-Etienne
162,650 - Montbeliard (Sochaux)
141,303 - Brest
105,421 - Nancy
65,542 - Ajaccio
52,890 - Annecy (Evian)
43,335 - Valenciennes
43,008 - Bastia

Monday, May 13, 2013

Brazilian Goal Scorers in Top 5 European Leagues - 2012/2013


England (7)
5 - Ramires (Chelsea)
4 - Oscar (Chelsea)
3 - Rafael (Manchester United)
2 - Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
2 - David Luiz (Chelsea)
1 - Anderson (Manchester United)
1 - Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur)

France (17)
10 - Brandão (Saint-Étienne)
5 - Michel Bastos (Lyon)
4 - Diego (Reims)
3 - Eduardo (Ajaccio)
3 - Marcos (Troyes)
2 - Ilan (Bastia)
2 - Alex (PSG)
2 - Maxwell (PSG)
2 - Andre Luiz (Nancy)
1 - Betão (Evian)
1 - Nenê (PSG)
1 - Henrique (Bordeaux)
1 - Mariano (Bordeaux)
1 - Jussiê (Bordeaux)
1 - Túlio de Melo (Lille)
1 - Hilton (Montpellier)
1 - Gil (Valenciennes)

Germany (12)
9 - Diego (Wolfsburg)
6 - Naldo (Wolfsburg)
5 - Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim)
4 - Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich)
4 - Michel Bastos (Schalke 04)
2 - Raffael (Schalke 04)
2 - Rafinha (Bayern Munich)
1 - Dante (Bayern Munich)
1 - Edu (Greuther Fürth)
1 - Felipe Santana (Borussia Dortmund)
1 - Anderson Bamba (Eintracht Frankfurt)
1 - Felipe (Hannover 96)

Italy (21)
11 - Hernanes (Lazio)
6 - Eder (Sampdoria)
3 - Nenê (Cagliari)
3 - Jonathas (Torino)
3 - Marquinho (Roma)
3 - Barreto (Torino)
3 - Reginaldo (Siena)
2 - Maicosuel (Udinese)
2 - Robinho (AC Milan)
2 - Danilo (Udinese)
2 - Thiago Riberio (Cagliari)
2 - Rômulo (Fiorentina)
2 - Togni (Pescara)
1 - Zé Eduardo (Siena)
1 - Leandro Castan (Roma)
1 - Philippe Coutinho (Inter Milan)
1 - Matuzalém (Genoa)
1 - Ângelo (Siena)
1 - Anselmo (Palermo)
1 - Ederson (Lazio)
1 - Luciano (Chievo)

Spain (12)
13 - Jonas (Valencia)
8 - Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
7 - Léo Baptistão (Rayo Vallecano)
5 - Adriano (Barcelona)
3 - Júlio Baptista (Málaga)
3 - Kaká (Real Madrid)
2 - Weligton (Malaga)
2 - Miranda (Atletico Madrid)
2 - Paulão (Real Betis)
1 - Pedro Geromel (Mallorca)
1 - Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)
1 - Cicinho (Sevilla)


69 Brazilians have scored a combined 196 total goals in the top 5 European leagues in 2012/2013.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

FIFA Confederation Ranking Comparison - May 2013


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

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

3.8 - Europe (+/-0.0)
1 - Spain
2 - Germany
4 - Croatia
5 - Portugal
7 - England

11.0 - South America (+/-0.0)
3 - Argentina
6 - Colombia
10 - Ecuador
17 - Uruguay
19 - Brazil

24.6 - Africa (+0.6)
12 - Cote d'Ivoire
22 - Ghana
26 - Mali
28 - Nigeria
35 - Algeria

36.2 - CONCACAF (-0.4)
16 - Mexico
29 - USA
38 - Panama
48 - Costa Rica
50 - Honduras

48.4 - Asia (-0.6)
30 - Japan
42 - South Korea
47 - Australia
57 - Iran
66 - Uzbekistan

132.2 - Oceania (-0.2)
87 - New Zealand
104 - New Caledonia
135 - Tahiti
163 - Solomon Islands
172 - Vanuatu















Tuesday, May 7, 2013

$200,000+ MLS Players - 2013


MLS Players with Guaranteed Compensation of $200,000 or more for the 2013 season according to the Salaries released by the MLS Players Union on May 1, 2013.

Chicago Fire
$527,125 - Sherjill MacDonald
$367,500 - Arne Friedrich
$366,666 - Alvaro Fernandez (loan Al Rayyan Qatar)
$273,000 - Dilly Duka
$249,500 - Patrick Nyarko
$248,333 - Chris Rolfe
$231,000 - Jeff Larentowicz
$205,000 - Joel Lindpere

Chivas USA
NONE

Columbus Crew
$604,000 - Federico Higuain
$361,250 - Chad Marshall
$263,333 - Glauber
$230,000 - Matias Sanchez
$225,375 - Jairo Arrieta

Colorado Rapids
$285,000 - Marvell Wynne
$275,000 - Edson Buddle
$247,000 - Drew Moor
$212,933 - Matt Pickens
$200,000 - Hendry Thomas
$200,000 - Pablo Mastroeni

FC Dallas
$730,000 - David Ferreira
$342,500 - Kenny Cooper
$324,250 - Blas Perez
$301,666 - George John
$262,276 - Eric Hassli
$237,500 - Raul Fernandez
$200,000 - Ugo Ihemelu

DC United
$645,333 - Dwayne DeRosario
$361,000 - Chris Pontius
$303,341 - Dejan Jakovic
$284,625 - Rafael Teixera
$273,250 - Brandon McDonald
$205,000 - Lionard Pajoy

Houston Dynamo
$372,062 - Brad Davis
$307,750 - Ricardo Clark
$239,000 - Omar Cummings
$220,000 - Bobby Boswell

Sporting Kansas City
$312,187 - Benny Feilhaber
$302,500 - Kei Kamara
$270,500 - Paulo Nagamura
$256,250 - Aurelien Collin
$220,000 - Jimmy Nielsen
$215,000 - Bobby Convey
$208,000 - Teal Bunbury
$200,000 - Claudio Bieler

Los Angeles Galaxy
$4,333,333 - Robbie Keane
$2,500,000 - Landon Donovan
$290,000 - Juninho
$282,000 - Omar Gonzalez
$248,333 - Sean Franklin

Montreal Impact
$1,937,508 - Marco Di Vaio
$305,000 - Alessandro Nesta
$295,475 - Matteo Ferrari
$290,000 - Davy Arnaud
$236,833 - Troy Perkins
$222,000 - Andrew Wenger

New England Revolution
$445,000 - Kalifa Cisse
$295,000 - Juan Toja
$211,537 - Saer Sene

New York Red Bulls
$4,350,000 - Thierry Henry
$3,625,000 - Tim Cahill
$340,736 - Heath Pearce
$325,000 - Jamison Olave
$222,500 - Dax McCarty
$200,000 - Digao
$200,000 - Juninho

Philadelphia Union
$495,000 - Kleberson
$350,000 - Bakary Soumare
$321,000 - Carlos Valdes (loan Santa Fe Colombia)
$216,500 - Jeff Parke
$212,812 - Sebastian Le Toux

Portland Timbers
$400,000 - Diego Valeri
$300,000 - Donovan Rickets
$266,000 - Darlington Nagbe
$243,754 - Diego Chara
$243,750 - Will Johnson

Real Salt Lake
$453,333 - Alvaro Saborio
$311,250 - Kyle Beckerman
$300,000 - Javier Morales
$213,833 - Luis Gil
$211,972 - Nat Borchers
$210,833 - Nick Rimando
$205,500 - Robbie Findley

Seattle Sounders
$1,725,000 - Obafemi Martins
$856,000 - Fredy Montero (loan Millonarios Colombia)
$599,333 - Shalrie Joseph
$285,000 - Michael Gspurning
$233,000 - Steve Zakuani
$225,000 - Mauro Rosales
$210,000 - Osvaldo Alonso

San Jose Earthquakes
$600,000 - Chris Wondolowski
$217,500 - Steven Lenhart
$208,333 - Jason Hernandez

Toronto FC
$1,663,323 - Danny Koevermans
$456,250 - Darren O'Dea
$310,000 - Richard Eckersley
$200,000 - Stefan Frei
$200,000 - Matias Laba

Vancouver Whitecaps
$1,132,492 - Kenny Miller
$375,000 - Jay DeMerit
$247,500 - Camilo Sanvezzo
$242,250 - Andy O'Brien
$238,833 - Daigo Kobayashi
$237,362 - Nigel Reo-Coker
$231,100 - Young-Pyo Lee
$212,000 - Darren Mattocks

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Next Messi

There are way too many versions of the "[Fill in Nationality] Messi" out there but just in case you want to keep track, here is a list of players that are often given that impossible to achieve nickname.

Ioannis Fetfatzidis - Greece



Iker Muniain - Spain
Marco Verratti - Italy
Takefusa Kubo - Japan
Marko Marin - Germany

Seung Woo Lee - South Korea


Eden Hazard - Belgium
Viktor Fisher - Denmark

Marco Rojas - New Zealand


Angelo Henriquez - Chile
Walid Soliman - Egypt

Hachim Mastour - Morocco/Italy


Gai Assulin - Israel
Frank Acheampong - Ghana
Jong Il-Gwan - North Korea
Sasha Shadrin - Russia
Youssef Msakni - Tunisia

Alen Halilovic - Croatia


Shimelis Bekele - Ethiopia
Raúl Ruidíaz - Peru

Yevhen Konoplyanka - Ukraine


Giorgi Chanturia - Georgia
Amir Sayoud - Algeria
Rabiu Ibrahim - Nigeria
Andik Vermansyah - Indonesia
Ali Ashfaq - Maldives

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Soccer Twins

Twin brothers that are currently active professional soccer players.




Argentina
Ramiro Funes Mori - River Plate, Argentina
Rogelio Funes Mori - River Plate, Argentina

Australia
Joel Griffiths - Sydney FC, Australia
Adam Griffiths - Selangor FA, Indonesia

Brazil
Rafael - Manchester United, England
Fábio - Manchester United (loan QPR), England

Burkina Faso
Pan Pierre Koulibaly - Montegnée, Belgium
Paul Koulibaly - Al Shorta, Iraq

China
Sun Ji - Hangzhou Greentown, China
Sun Xiang - Guangzhou Evergrande, China

Cyprus
Loukas Stylianou - PAEEK, Cyprus
Demetris Stylianou - Aris Limassol, Cyprus

England
Jaydon Gibbs - Guildford City, England
Kieran Gibbs - Arsenal, England

England U21
Will Keane - Manchester United, England
Michael Keane - Manchester United, England

Estonia
Sander Puri - St. Mirren, Scotland
Eino Puri - JK Nõmme Kalju, Estonia

Finland
Niklas Moisander - Ajax, Netherlands
Henrik Moisander - TPS Turku, Finland

Germany
Lars Bender - Bayer Leverkusen, Germany
Sven Bender - Borussia Dortmund, Germany

Guinea
Alhassane Këïta - Dubai CSC, UAE
Alsény Këïta - US Sénart-Moissy, France

Hungary U21
Ádám Simon - Palermo (loan Haladás), Hungary
Andras Simon - Győri ETO FC (loan Haladás), Hungary

Japan
Hisato Satō - Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan
Yūto Satō - JEF United, Japan

Malaysia
Mohd Aidil Zafuan - Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
Mohd Zaquan Adha - Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

Poland
Piotr Brożek - Lechia Gdańsk, Poland
Paweł Brożek - Recreativo Huelva, Spain

Russia
Vasili Berezutski - CSKA Moscow, Russia
Aleksei Berezutski - CSKA Moscow, Russia

Spain U23
Miguel Flaño - Osasuna, Spain
Javi Flaño - Elche, Spain

Sweden
Marcus Olsson - Blackburn Rovers, England
Martin Olsson - Blackburn Rovers, England

Switzerland U21
Damian Bellón - Panetolikos, Greece
Yagó Bellón - FC Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

Switzerland
Philipp Degen - FC Basel, Switzerland
David Degen - FC Basel, Switzerland

Tahiti
Alvin Tehau - AS Tefana, Tahiti
Lorenzo Tehau - AS Tefana, Tahiti

Turkey
Halil Altıntop - Trabzonspor, Turkey
Hamit Altıntop - Galatasaray, Turkey

USA U17
Gabriel Farfan - Philadelphia Union, USA
Michael Farfan - Philadelphia Union, USA


Criteria: Both currently active and at least one brother has played for their youth or full national team.




Photos from: MLSsoccer.com and forum.ea.com