League Form of UEFA Quarter-Finalists

The domestic league (EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, etc.) form of the remaining 16 teams in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.





LP = League Position
FM = Form (Last 5 games with points)
PG = Points per Game (Full Season)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Lyon
LP: 5
FM: DDWWW (11)
PG: 1.82

Bordeaux
LP: 1
FM: DLDWL (5)
PG: 1.96



Bayern Munich
LP: 1
FM: WDWDW (11)
PG: 2.15

Manchester United
LP: 1
FM: WWWLD (10)
PG: 2.20



Arsenal
LP: 3
FM: WWWWW (15)
PG: 2.13

Barcelona
LP: 2
FM: WDWWL (10)
PG: 2.50



Inter
LP: 1
FM: LDWDD (6)
PG: 2.11

CSKA Moscow (Russian Season Started March 12)
LP: 1
FM: W (3)
PG: 3.0


EUROPA LEAGUE

Fulham
LP: 10
FM: LDWWD (8)
PG: 1.31

Wolfsburg
LP: 8
FM: WWWWL (12)
PG: 1.42



Hamburg
LP: 5
FM: LWLDW (7)
PG: 1.65

Standard Liege
LP: 7
FM: DLWLW (7)
PG: 1.44



Valencia
LP: 3
FM: LDLWD (5)
PG: 1.81

Atletico Madrid
LP: 10
FM: WDWLW (10)
PG: 1.31



Benfica
LP: 1
FM: WWWWD (13)
PG: 2.52

Liverpool
LP: 5
FM: WLWDL (7)
PG: 1.70

2009 MLS $150,000+ Players

This is a list of the MLS players who were paid an annual base salary of $150,000 or more in the 2009 season.

CHICAGO FIRE
$2,769,240 - Cuauhtemoc Blanco
$360,000 - Brian McBride
$200,000 - Justin Mapp
$168,000 - Wilman Conde

CHIVAS USA
$170,000 - Sacha Kljestan
$165,000 - Jesse Marsch

COLOMBUS CREW
$650,000 - Guillermo Barros Schelloto
$250,000 - Chad Marshall
$173,250 - Eddie Gaven
$150,000 - Frankie Hejduk
$150,000 - Gino Padula

COLORADO RAPIDS
$255,000 - Pablo Mastroeni
$200,000 - Conor Casey
$175,008 - Pat Noonan
$159,600 - Jamie Smith
$156,000 - Julien Baudet

FC DALLAS
$300,000 - David Ferreira
$210,000 - Dave Van Den Bergh
$209,170 - Jeff Cunningham

DC UNITED
$720,000 - Luciano Emilio
$350,000 - Jaime Moreno
$255,000 - Christian Gomez
$225,000 - Fred
$225,000 - Ben Olsen
$150,000 - Clyde Simms

HOUSTON DYNAMO
$248,050 - Ricardo Clark
$242,550 - Brian Ching
$181,650 - Pat Onstad
$171,000 - Brian Mullan
$165,375 - Richard Mulrooney
$154,000 - Wade Barrett
$150,000 - Bobby Boswell

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
$220,000 - Davy Arnaud
$200,004 - Josh Wolff
$213,750 - Jimmy Conrad
$180,000 - Claudio Lopez
$168,000 - Zoltan Hercegfalvi
$165,000 - Kevin Hartman

LOS ANGELES GALAXY
$5,500,000 - David Beckham
$900,000 - Landon Donovan
$175,000 - Chris Klein
$169,950 - Edson Buddle
$160,008 - Eddie Lewis
$150,000 - Donovan Ricketts

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
$425,000 - Shalrie Joseph
$395,000 - Taylor Twellman
$240,000 - Edgaras Jankauskas
$176,000 - Chris Albright
$173,343 - Matt Reis
$150,000 - Steve Ralston

NEW YORK RED BULLS
$1,500,000 - Juan Pablo Angel

REAL SALT LAKE
$160,650 - Kyle Beckerman
$157,500 - Jamison Olave
$150,000 - Javier Morales

SEATTLE SOUNDERS
$1,300,000 - Freddie Ljungberg
$300,000 - Kasey Keller
$189,996 - Nate Jaqua
$158,400 - Pete Vagenas
$157,500 - Tyrone Marshall
$155,000 - Fredy Montero

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
$360,000 - Darren Huckerby
$222,000 - Bobby Convey
$190,000 - Ramiro Corrales
$180,500 - Joe Cannon
$174,750 - Arturo Alvarez

TORONTO FC
$909,600 - Julian de Guzman
$357,000 - Dwayne DeRosario
$300,000 - Amado Guevara
$300,000 - Carl Robinson
$288,000 - Pablo Vitti
$195,000 - Chad Barrett
$190,000 - Nick Garcia
$185,000 - Jim Brennan

Videos: MLS New Foreign Players

There's a decent number of new and exciting foreign internationals entering MLS for the 2010 season. Here's a few videos showing some of the new guys in action.


Julio Martinez - El Salvador (Chicago Fire)


Krzysztof Krol - Poland (Chicago Fire)


Osael Romero - El Salvador (Chivas USA)


Sergio Herrera - Colombia (Columbus Crew)


Cristian Castillo - El Salvador (DC United)


Stephane Auvray - Guadeloupe (Kansas City Wizards)


Jimmy Nielsen - Denmark (Kansas City Wizards)


Blaise Nkufo - Switzerland (Seattle Sounders)

Short Goalkeepers

A list of Goalkeepers shorter than 6 feet in the top level leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States.

5' 11½"
Uwe Gospodarek (Hannover 96; Germany)

Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers; England)

Geoffrey Jourdren (Montpellier; France)
Grégory Coupet (PSG; France)

Júlio Sérgio (Roma; Italy)
Gianluca Pegolo (Siena; Italy)

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid; Spain)
Javi Varas (Sevilla; Spain)
Manu (Deportivo La Coruña; Spain)
Javi Ruiz (Espanyol; Spain)
Toño (Racing Santander; Spain)
Roberto (Osasuna; Spain)
Sergio Aragoneses (Tenerife; Spain)


5' 11"
Jason Brown (Blackburn Rovers; England)
James Walker (Tottenham Hotspur; England)

Jean-François Bedenik (US Boulogne; France)

Roberto Colombo (Bologna; Italy)

Armando (Athletic Bilbao; Spain)
Justo Villar (Valladolid; Spain)

5' 10½"
Esteban (Almeria; Spain)

5' 10"
Sebastian Mielitz (Werder Bremen; Germany)

Johan Lapeyre (Nancy; France)

Jon Busch (Chicago Fire; USA)
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; USA)

5' 9½"
Willy Grondin (PSG; France)
Jérémie Janot (Saint-Etienne; France)

2009: MLS Lowest Paid Player Statistics

This list shows the statistics of the players in Major League Soccer who made $20,100 or less in annual salary during the 2009 season. Only players with at least one league appearance are included.

CHICAGO FIRE
$20,100 - Peter Lowry (9GP -- 659MIN -- 3G -- 0A)
$20,100 - Austin Washington (8GP -- 360MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

CHIVAS USA
$20,100 - Justin Braun (15GP -- 1211MIN -- 3G -- 2A)
$20,100 - Gerson Mayen (12GP -- 428MIN -- 0G -- 4A)
$20,100 - Chukwudi Chijindu (11GP -- 420MIN -- 1G -- 1A)
$20,100 - Lance Parker (4GP -- 314MIN -- 2.29GAA -- 1W,2L)

COLUMBUS CREW
$20,100 - Kevin Burns (8GP -- 359MIN -- 0G -- 0A)
$20,100 - Alex Grendi (3GP -- 127MIN -- 0G -- 1A)
$20,100 - Cory Elenio (1GP -- 17MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

COLORADO RAPIDS
$20,100 - Michael Holody (4GP -- 80MIN -- 1G -- 0A)
$20,100 - Ross Schunk (3GP -- 10MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

FC DALLAS
NONE

DC UNITED
$20,100 - Milos Kocic (4GP -- 308MIN -- 2.34GAA -- 1W,2L,1T -- 0SHO)
$20,100 - Brandon Barklage (4GP -- 98MIN -- 0G -- 0A)
$20,100 - John DiRaimondo (1GP -- 45MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

HOUSTON DYNAMO
$20,100 - Erik Ustruck (2GP -- 40MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
$20,100 - Matt Marquess (1GP -- 85MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

LA GALAXY
$20,100 - Kyle Patterson (3GP -- 127MIN -- 0G -- 1A)

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
NONE

NEW YORK RED BULLS
$20,100 - Danleigh Borman (24GP -- 1441MIN -- 1G -- 1A)
$20,100 - Nick Zimmerman (11GP -- 757MIN -- 0G -- 0A)
$20,100 - Matthew M'Buta (10GP -- 280MIN -- 1G -- 0A)

REAL SALT LAKE
$20,100 - Raphael Cox (6GP -- 208MIN -- 1G -- 0A)
$20,100 - Tino Nunez (3GP -- 18MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

SEATTLE SOUNDERS
$20,100 - Sanna Nyassi (14GP -- 305MIN -- 0G -- 0A)

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
$20,100 - Brandon McDonald (18GP -- 1579MIN -- 1G -- 1A)
$20,100 - Michael Zaher (10GP -- 757MIN -- 0G -- 2A)

TORONTO FC
$20,100 - Gabe Gala (1GP -- 3MIN -- 0G -- 0A)


TOP 5 MINUTES
1579 - Brandon McDonald (SJ)
1441 - Danleigh Borman (NY)
1211 - Justin Braun (CHV)
757 - Nick Zimmerman (NY)
757 - Michael Zaher (SJ)

TOP 5 APPEARANCES
24 - Danleigh Borman (NY)
18 - Brandon McDonald (SJ)
15 - Justin Braun (CHV)
14 - Sanna Nyassi (SEA)
12 - Gerson Mayen (CHV)

GOALS
3 - Peter Lowry (CHI)
3 - Justin Braun (CHV)
1 - Chuckwudi Chijindu (CHV)
1 - Michael Holody (COL)
1 - Danleigh Borman (NY)
1 - Matthew M'Buta (NY)
1 - Raphael Cox (RSL)
1 - Brandon McDonald (SJ)

ASSISTS
2 - Justin Braun (CHV)
2 - Michael Zaher (SJ)
1 - Chukwudi Chijindu (CHV)
1 - Alex Grendi (CLB)
1 - Kyle Patterson (LA)
1 - Danleigh Borman (NY)
1 - Brandon McDonald (SJ)



2008 Lowest Paid Player Statistics (LINK)

Bayern Munich First Team: Previous Clubs

Martin Demichelis - River Plate (Argentina)


The clubs/nations that Bayern Munich's first team players were at previous to signing with the German giants.


ARGENTINA
Martin Demichelis - River Plate

FRANCE
Franck Ribery - Marseille

GERMANY
Hamit Altintop - Schalke 04
Daniel Van Buyten - Hamburg
Ivica Olić - Hamburg
Andreas Görlitz - 1860 Munich
Miroslav Klose - Werder Bremen
Mario Gómez - Stuttgart

NETHERLANDS
Danijel Pranjić - Heerenveen

PORTUGAL
Hans-Jörg Butt - Benfica

RUSSIA
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk - Zenit St. Petersburg

SPAIN
Arjen Robben - Real Madrid
Mark van Bommel - Barcelona



BAYERN MUNICH YOUTH
Philipp Lahm
Michael Rensing
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Thomas Müller
Diego Contento
David Alaba
Holger Badstuber
Christian Lell
Mehmet Ekici
Thomas Kraft



Photo from Foros.Riverplate.com

Best Strike Rates in Europe - 09/10

A list of players that have a 0.50 strike rate or better with a minimum of 10 league appearances so far this season (as of 3/10/10). I've included the strike rates from the top 15 UEFA coefficient leagues except for Russia.

1.04 - Luis Suárez (Ajax; 26G/25AP)
0.95 - Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys; 19G/20AP)
0.88 - Kris Boyd (Rangers; 21G/24AP)
0.88 - Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos; 21G/24AP)
0.88 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid; 14G/16AP)
0.86 - Lionel Messi (Barcelona; 19G/22AP)
0.86 - Oscar Cardozo (Benfica; 18G/21AP)
0.85 - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United; 23G/27AP)
0.85 - Ariza Makukula (Kayserispor; 17G/20AP)
0.85 - Jajá Coelho (Matalist Kharkiv; 11G/13AP)
0.84 - Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid; 16G/19AP)
0.83 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea; 19G/23AP)
0.81 - Falcão (Porto; 17G/21AP)
0.80 - Morten Nicolas Rasmussen (Brøndby IF; 12G/15AP; Transferred to Celtic)
0.79 - Antonio Di Natale (Udinese; 19G/24AP)
0.77 - Alexander Frei (Basel; 13G/17AP)
0.72 - Fernando Torres (Liverpool; 13G/18AP)
0.71 - David Villa (Valencia; 17G/24AP)
0.71 - Ideye Brown (Neuchatel Xamax; 12G/17AP; Transferred to Sochaux)
0.68 - Mamadou Niang (Marseille; 15G/22AP)
0.68 - Mounir El Hamdaoui (AZ; 13G/19AP)
0.68 - Peter Utaka (Odense; 13G/19AP)
0.68 - Marco Streller (Basel; 15G/22AP)
0.67 - Francesco Totti (Roma; 10G/15AP)
0.66 - Edgar Silva (Nacional; 10G/15AP)
0.65 - Bryan Ruiz (FC Twente; 17G/26AP)
0.64 - Darren Bent (Sunderland; 18G/28AP)
0.64 - Luis Fabiano (Sevilla; 9G/14AP)
0.64 - Robin van Persie (Arsenal; 7G/11AP)
0.63 - Carlos Tevez (Manchester City; 15G/24AP)
0.63 - Evgeniy Seleznev (Dnipro; 10G/16AP)
0.62 - Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur; 16G/26AP)
0.61 - Pantelis Kapetanos (Steaua Bucuresti; 11G/18AP)
0.60 - Diego Milito (Inter Milan; 15G/25AP)
0.60 - Alexandre Pato (AC Milan; 12G/20AP)
0.59 - Anthony Stokes (Hibernian; 16G/27AP)
0.59 - Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen; 10G/17AP)
0.58 - Kenny Miller (Rangers; 14G/24AP)
0.57 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona; 12G/21AP)
0.56 - Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk; 9G/16AP)
0.56 - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal; 14G/25AP)
0.56 - Stefan Kießling (Bayer Leverkusen; 14G/25AP)
0.55 - Roberto Soldado (Getafe; 12G/22AP)
0.55 - Obafemi Martins (VfL Wolfsburg; 6G/11AP)
0.55 - Albert Bunjaku (FC Nürnberg; 11G/20AP)
0.54 - Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04; 13G/24AP)
0.54 - Louis Saha (Everton; 13G/24AP)
0.54 - Davide Chiumiento (Luzern; 7G/13AP)
0.53 - Danny Koevermans (PSV Eindhoven; 9G/17AP)
0.53 - Harry Kewell (Galatasaray; 8G/15AP)
0.53 - William (Pacos de Ferreira; 10G/19AP)
0.53 - Rajko Lekic (Silkeborg; 10G/19AP)
0.53 - Liviu Ganea (Astra Ploiesti; 8G/15AP)
0.52 - Nenê (Monaco; 13G/25AP)
0.52 - Diego Forlán (Atletico Madrid; 12G/23AP)
0.52 - Ola Toivonen (PSV Eindhoven; 13G/25AP)
0.50 - Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria; 13G/26AP)
0.50 - Lisandro Lopez (Lyon; 11G/22AP)
0.50 - Gervinho (Lille; 11G/22AP)
0.50 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City; 9G/18AP)
0.50 - Alex (Fenerbahce; 9G/18AP)
0.50 - Javier Saviola (Benfica; 11G/22AP)
0.50 - Emile Mpenza (Sion; 9G/18AP)
0.50 - Gigel Bucur (Timisoara; 8G/16AP; Transferred to Kuban Krasnodar)




Stats Compiled from Soccerway.com

Alliterative Premiership Player Names

Have you ever wondered how many alliterative names there are in the Premier League? Um....probably not... but here's a list just in case you were.



Alberto Aquilani
Andrei Arshavin

Carlo Cudicini
Carlos Cuellar
Carlton Cole
Ciaran Clark
Clarke Carlisle

Damien Duff
David Dunn
Didier Drogba
Dorian Dervite

Emmanuel Eboue

Gael Givet

Henrique Hilario
Hermann Hreidarsson

Jake Jervis
Jermaine Jenas
Jussi Jaaskelainen

Kevin Kilbane

Liam Lawrence

Marcelo Moreno
Mario Melchiot
Matt Murray
Michael Mancienne

Ricardo Rocha

Scott Sinclair
Steve Sidwell
Steve Simonsen

Teemu Tainio

2018-2022 World Cup Bid Commercials

Apparently if you want to host the World Cup you have to make a snazzy, well-produced video telling everyone how great you are. Here's a few of the promos put out by the nations bidding for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.























For some reason, I couldn't find a bid commercial from Japan

CONCACAF Players in England

A list of the CONCACAF players currently in England's top 5 divisions (Premier League to Conference National)

Premier League

Barbados
Emmerson Boyce (Wigan Athletic)

Canada
David Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers)
David Edgar (Burnley)

Grenada
Jason Roberts (Blackburn Rovers)

Honduras
Wilson Palacios (Tottenham Hotspur)
Maynor Figueroa (Wigan Athletic)
Hendry Thomas (Wigan Athletic)

Jamaica
Ricardo Gardner (Bolton Wanderers)
Tyrone Mears (Burnley)
Ricardo Fuller (Stoke City)

Mexico
Carlos Vela (Arsenal)
Guillermo Franco (West Ham United)

Trinidad and Tobago
Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton Wanderers)
Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland)
Jason Scotland (Wigan Athletic)

USA
Brad Friedel (Aston Villa)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa)
Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers)
Landon Donovan (Everton)
Tim Howard (Everton)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham)
Jozy Altidore (Hull City)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers)


League Championship

Antigua and Barbuda
Mikele Leigertwood (Queens Park Rangers)

Barbados
Jonathan Forte (Scunthorpe United)

Bermuda
Reggie Lambe (Ipswich Town)

Canada
Iain Hume (Barnsley)
Jaime Peters (Ipswich Town)

Jamaica
Darren Moore (Barnsley)
O'Neil Thompson (Barnsley)
Jason Euell (Blackpool)
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Bristol City)
Claude Davis (Crystal Palace)
Damion Stewart (Queens Park Rangers)
Jobi McAnuff (Reading)
Nyron Nosworthy (Sheffield United)
Lee Williamson (Sheffield United)
Jermaine Johnson (Sheffield Wednesday)
Darren Pratley (Swansea City)

Netherlands Antilles
Shelton Martis (Doncaster Rovers)

Trinidad and Tobago
Stern John (Crystal Palace)
Carlos Edwards (Ipswich Town)

USA
Devann Yao (Ipswich Town)
Kenny Cooper (Plymouth Argyle)
Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday)
Jay DeMerit (Watford)


Football League One

Canada
Marcus Haber (Exeter City)
Simeon Jackson (Gillingham)

Grenada
Kithson Bain (Tranmere Rovers)

Haiti
Lescinel Jean-Francois (Swindon Town)

Jamaica
Deon Burton (Charlton Athletic)
Kevin Lisbie (Colchester United)
Marcus Milner (Southend United)
Ian Goodison (Tranmere Rovers)
Darren Byfield (Walsall)

Trinidad and Tobago
Kelvin Jack (Southend United)
Clayton Ince (Walsall)

USA
Mike Grella (Leeds United)
Zak Whitbread (Norwich City)
Jemal Johnson (Stockport County)
Jon-Paul Pittman (Wycombe Wanderers)


Football League Two

Antigua and Barbuda
Marc Joseph (Rotherham United)

Barbados
Anthony Straker (Aldershot Town)
Louie Soares (Aldershot Town)
Mark McCammon (Bradford City)
Jon Nurse (Dagenham and Redbridge)

Canada
Gavin McCallum (Hereford United)
Terry Dunfield (Shrewsbury Town)

Grenada
Delroy Facey (Notts County)

Jamaica
Micah Hyde (Barnet)
Omar Daley (Bradford City)
Cleveland Taylor (Burton Albion)
Barry Hayles (Cheltenham Town)
Joel Grant (Crewe Alexandra)
Ricky Sappleton (Macclesfield Town)

Trinidad and Tobago
Kevin Austin (Chesterfield)
Jake Thomson (Torquay United)

USA
Seb Harris (Northampton Town)


Conference National

Antigua and Barbuda
Justin Cochrane (Hayes & Yeading United)

Canada
Elliott Godfrey (AFC Wimbledon)
Simon Rayner (Crawley Town)

Dominica
Jefferson Louis (Rushden & Diamonds)
Richard Pacquette (York City)

Jamaica
Frank Sinclair (Wrexham)

St. Kitts and Nevis
Callum Willock (Cambridge United)
Adam Newton (Luton Town)

Trinidad and Tobago
Ricky Shakes (Ebbsfleet United)
Andre Boucaud (Kettering Town)
Silvio Spann (Wrexham)

FIFA Confederation Rankings (March 2010)

A ranking of the six FIFA Confederations by averaging the top 10 nations from each region.

1. UEFA - 6.7

1 - Spain
3 - Netherlands
4 - Italy
5 - Germany
6 - Portugal
7 - France
8 - England
10 - Greece
11 - Croatia
12 - Russia

2. CONMEBOL - 31.6

2 - Brazil
9 - Argentina
14 - Chile
19 - Uruguay
29 - Paraguay
37 - Ecuador
38 - Colombia
49 - Venezuela
58 - Bolivia
61 - Peru

3. CAF - 34.3

17 - Egypt
20 - Cameroon
21 - Nigeria
22 - Cote d'Ivoire
28 - Ghana
32 - Algeria
43 - Gabon
51 - Burkina Faso
54 - Mali
55 - Tunisia

4. CONCACAF - 57.6

15 - Mexico
18 - USA
35 - Honduras
44 - Costa Rica
62 - Canada
72 - El Salvador
77 - Jamaica
78 - Panama
85 - Trinidad and Tobago
90 - Haiti

5. AFC - 64.2

23 - Australia
46 - Japan
53 - Korea Republic
57 - Saudi Arabia
63 - Bahrain
67 - Iran
75 - Uzbekistan
83 - China
87 - Iraq
88 - Kuwait


6. OFC - 163.1

80 - New Zealand
130 - Fiji
145 - New Caledonia
155 - Vanuatu
171 - Solomon Islands
181 - Samoa
182 - Cook Islands
189 - Tonga
195 - Tahiti
203 - American Samoa/Papua New Guinea

When They Had Hair...... Part 2

Part Deux of bald soccer players 'When They Had Hair....'

(Part 1)


Wesley Sneijder




Stephen Ireland




John Hartson




Patrick Vieira




Mehmet Aurelio




Lee Carsley




Jaap Stam




Freddie Ljungberg




Fabian Barthez




Brad Friedel




Arjen Robben




Antoine Sibierski




Players who've mysteriously never had hair (I couldn't find any pictures at least): Sylvain Wiltord, Ivan de la Pena, Marcos Senna

Homegrown Top Goal Scorers (2008/2009)

In recent years, it has become common for foreign players to lead world leagues in goal scoring, especially in the big leagues of Europe. For instance, last season the four 'big' UEFA leagues were all led by foreign born goal scorers (England; Anelka - Italy; Ibrahimovic - Germany; Grafite - Spain; Forlan).

The fact that the likes of Wayne Rooney, Stefan Kießling, Antonio Di Natale, and David Villa could all potentially lead their home nations in goal scoring this season is a minor miracle based on recent seasons.

I went to Soccerway.com to find out how many world leagues were led by homegrown goal scorers during the last completed season (2008/2009 or 2009 for summer leagues). Not every league listed at soccerway had goal scoring statistics available but this is a fairly comprehensive list. If a nation is not listed, it either had a foreign-born goal leader or the statistics were not available.

I also decided to list if a player has transferred since leading their league in goals. I was interested to know if leading a 'smaller' league in scoring led to moving abroad or to bigger clubs in the same league.

Format:
Country
Goals - Player (Club)
Club Transferred To (If applicable)


Albania
23 - Migen Memelli (KF Tirana)
KS Flamurtari Vlorë (Albania)

Algeria
18 - Mohamed Messaoud (ASO Chlef)

Argentina - Clausura
14 - José Gustavo Sand (Lanus)
Al-Ain (UAE)

Argentina - Apertura
15 - José Gustavo Sand (Lanus)
Al-Ain (UAE)

Australia
12 - Shane Smeltz (New Zealand; Wellington Phoenix)
Gold Coast United (Australia)

Austria
39 - Marc Janko (Red Bull Salzburg)

Bahrain
14 - Abdulrahman Mubarak (Al Riffa)

Brazil
19 - Adriano (Flamengo)
19 - Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro)

Bulgaria
17 - Martin Kamburov (Lokomotiv Sofia)

Chile - Apertura
16 - Esteban Paredes (Santiago Morning)
Colo-Colo (Chile)

Colombia - Copa Mustang I
9 - Teófilo Gutierrez (Junior)
Trabzonspor (Turkey)
9 - Adrian Ramos (América de Cali)
Hertha BSC (Germany)

Colombia - Copa Mustang II
13 - Jackson Martinez (Independiente Medellin)
Jaguares de Chiapas (Mexico)

Costa Rica - Torneo de Invierno
12 - Víctor Núñez (Águilas)

Costa Rica - Torneo de Verano
10 - Mario Camacho (Puntarenas)
10 - Alejandro Sequeira (Ramonense)
Saprissa (Costa Rica)

Croatia
20 - Anas Sharbini (Rijeka)
Hajduk Split

Denmark
16 - Marc Nygaard (Randers)

Estonia
27 - Vitali Gussev (Levadia)
FC Astra Ploieşti (Romania)

Faroe Islands
19 - Finnur Justinussen (Vikingur)

Finland
16 - Hermanni Vuorinen (Honka)

France
24 - André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse)

Hungary
20 - Péter Bajzát (Györi ETO)
Diósgyöri VTK (Hungary)

Iceland
16 - Björgólfur Takefusa (KR)

Indonesia
28 - Boaz Solossa (Persipura Jayapura)

Iran
19 - Arash Borhani (Esteghlal)

Israel
14 - Shimon Abuhaztera (Hapoel Petah Tikva)
Larissa (Greece)
14 - Barak Itzhaki (Beitar Jerusalem)
14 - Eliran Atar (Bnei Yehuda)

Jamaica
17 - Devon Hodges (Rivoli United)
17 - Roland Dean (Tivoli Gardens)

Japan
20 - Ryoichi Maeda (Jubilo Iwata)

Korea Republic
20 - Dong-Gook Lee (Jeonbuk Motors)

Latvia
30 - Kristapas Grebis (Liepājas Metalurgs)

Lithuania
19 - Valdas Trakys (Ekranas)

Malaysia
14 - Indra Mahayuddin (Kelantan)

Moldova
14 - Gheorghii Ovseannicov (Olimpia)

Northern Ireland
17 - Chris Scannell (Cliftonville)
17 - Curtis Allen (Lisburn Distillery)
Linfield
17 - Mark Dickson (Crusaders)

Paraguay - Apertura
19 - Pablo Velazquez (Rubio Ñú)
Libertad

Paraguay - Clausura
11 - Cesar Caceres (Guarani)

Romania
17 - Gigel Bucur (Timisoara)
Kuban Krasnodar (Russia)

Scotland
25 - Kris Boyd (Rangers)

Slovakia
15 - Pavol Masaryk (ŠK Slovan Bratislava)

Slovenia
17 - Etien Velikonja (Gorica)

South Africa
17 - Eliott Khenyeza (Ajax Cape Town)
Mamelodi Sundowns

Sweden
18 - Tobias Hysen (IFK Göteborg)

Ukraine
17 - Aleksandr Kovpak (Tavriya Simferopol)

USA
17 - Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas)

Uruguay - Apertura
7 - Emiliano Alfaro (Liverpool)
San Lorenzo (Argentina)
7 - Sergio Gonzalez (Danubio)
Ergotelis (Greece)

Uruguay - Clausura
10 - Jorge Zambrana (River Plate Montevideo)

Venezuela - Apertura
12 - Armando Maita (Monagas SC)
Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela)

Venezuela - Clausura
14 - Juan Enrique Garcia (Zamora FC)
Mineros (Venezuela)

Wales
30 - Rhys Griffiths (Llanelli)

Vintage Videos: Strikers of the 90's

Here's a small video collection of some of the best strikers of the 90's. I picked guys that are more of the "Oh yeah, I remember him, he was great" type rather than the obvious choices like Ronaldo, Shearer, Baggio, etc.

Davor Šuker - Croatia; Osijek,Dinamo Zagreb, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Arsenal, West Ham United, 1860 Munich


Jean-Pierre Papin - France; INF Vichy, Valenciennes, Club Brugge, Marseille, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bordeaux, Guingamp, US Saint-Pieeroise, US Cap-Ferret


Emilio Butragueño - Spain; Castilla, Real Madrid, Club Celaya


Krzysztof Warzycha - Poland; Ruch Chorzów, Panathinaikos


Guiseppe Signori - Italy; Leffe, Piacenza, Trento, Foggia, Lazio, Sampdoria, Bologna, Iraklis, Sopron


Carlos Hermosillo - Mexico; America, Standard Liege, Monterrey, Cruz Azul, Necaxa, LA Galaxy, Atlante, Chivas


Ally McCoist - Scotland; St. Johnstone, Sunderland, Rangers, Kilmarnock


Hami Mandıralı - Turkey; Trabzonspor, Schalke 04, Ankaragucu

When They Had Hair....

A collection of bald soccer players 'When They Had Hair....'

Zinedine Zidane


Roberto Carlos


Nicolas Anelka


Henrik Larsson


Kasey Keller


Thierry Henry



Thomas Gravesen


Danny Dichio



Conor Casey



Esteban Cambiasso




I'll probably make a part two of this one of these days. I can think of a bunch of other guys to do, but I ran out of time for now.

EDIT:
Part 2 has been Posted (Link)