Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Italy : World ranking 13
FIFA World Cup victories
Winner (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Runners-Up (1970, 1994)
Third (1990)
Fourth (1978)
| Foundation year | 1898 |
| Affiliated since | 1905 |
| Official site | |
| info | |
| international@figc.it |
Association Name : Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
Germany : World Ranking 4
All Players | 16,308,946 |
| Registered players | 6,308,946 |
| Unregistered Players | 10,000,000 |
| Clubs | 26,837 |
| Officials | 159,172 |
Association Information
| Foundation year | 1900 | ||||||||
| Affiliated since | 1904 | ||||||||
Name : Deutscher Fussball-Bund (DFB) | |||||||||
Who will claim the FIFA Ballon d’Or? (fifa.com)
Shortlists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2010
The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010:
Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Júlio César (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Mesut Özil (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).
The battle of the wonder goals (fifa.com)
Ten players are vying to savour that feeling, namely Hamit Altintop, Matthew Burrows, Linus Hallenius, Lionel Messi, Samir Nasri, Neymar, Arjen Robben, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Giovanni van Bronckhorst or Kumi Yokoyama, and like last year it’s up to you, the FIFA.com users, to vote for a winner.
They Are :
They Are :
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Premier League Weekend Winners
Winners
Manchester United
Ask a Manchester United supporter about their start to the season and the first reaction will invariably suggest that they've just heard the funniest joke of all time. United, by their standards, have been terrible. Bereft of guile, short of inspiration, ambushed by their talisman. And yet mid-way through November, with their closest rivals now in managerial turmoil, only goal difference rebuffs them from the summit, while a victory in Scotland in midweek will secure passage to the last 16 of the Champions League. All you can do is laugh.
Manchester City
Mark Hughes has made headlines this Monday with his remark that a more attacking outlook could persuade City to become genuine title challengers, but the impetus behind their emphatic victory at Fulham was a more attacking outlook. Roberto Mancini needn't concern himself with the views of his predecessor because it would appear as if he has already heeded the salient observation made by Alex McLeish after last week's stalemate at Eastlands:
"Everyone plays five in midfield these days, but it depends on your personnel. Chelsea have found a solution to playing with one up in the way that they get the others forward, the way they bomb the full-backs on. You couldn't say they were doing it for defensive reasons."
Tottenham Hotspur
In the understandable and euphoric afterglow of Spurs' stunning win, Harry Redknapp talked up his Tottenham side as title challengers, but in sober reality their comeback victory at the Emirates said far more about Arsenal than it did of Tottenham and any expansion of their aspirations. One newspaper, in the process of adjudicating on whether the win marked a shift in north London's balance of power, termed the game so 'freakish' to be 'totally inadmissible'. Arsene Wenger was sour but not unreasonable in being mystified at how his side had lost. Title winners do not lose games from being two-up at half-time, but neither do they claim just 38 per cent of possession over the 90 minutes.
Birmingham
And the hesitation in lauding Birmingham for their victory over the champions is the statistical proof that it was essentially a fluke. On another day, Chelsea's share of the match - including 70% of the ball and 25 of the 27 shots towards goal - would have prompted a landslide.
Stoke City
Of the 18 goals scored by Stoke this season, 16 have been netted in the second half. Having flirted with the relegation zone at the start of the month, three successive wins - something the club have apparently not achieved in top-flight football during the past 25 years - have propelled Tony Pulis' side into eighth.
Liverpool
The collectors of 13 points from the last 18 available.
Bolton Wanderers
Champions League is the rainbow they're chasing, but the cloud on Bolton's horizon is the reminder of how they managed to lure their leader to the Reebok a year ago. What complaint could Bolton have if Owen Coyle jumps ship again when a bigger club with a bigger budget calls? Coyle is a mercenary of ambition and the closer Bolton and Coyle come to qualifying for Europe the more likely that the taste will be bittersweet. Qualify, and he still might go. Fail to qualify, and he can point to a lack of funds as reason to move on.
It is not implausible that a showdown is just two months away. If, as their chairman suggested, Bolton have to sell at least one of their prized assets when the transfer window opens in January, it's not unfeasible that their manager will seek another stepping stone - just as he did to stop off at Bolton 12 months ago. Giddy but dangerous times at the Reebok.
Manchester United
Ask a Manchester United supporter about their start to the season and the first reaction will invariably suggest that they've just heard the funniest joke of all time. United, by their standards, have been terrible. Bereft of guile, short of inspiration, ambushed by their talisman. And yet mid-way through November, with their closest rivals now in managerial turmoil, only goal difference rebuffs them from the summit, while a victory in Scotland in midweek will secure passage to the last 16 of the Champions League. All you can do is laugh.
Manchester City
Mark Hughes has made headlines this Monday with his remark that a more attacking outlook could persuade City to become genuine title challengers, but the impetus behind their emphatic victory at Fulham was a more attacking outlook. Roberto Mancini needn't concern himself with the views of his predecessor because it would appear as if he has already heeded the salient observation made by Alex McLeish after last week's stalemate at Eastlands:
"Everyone plays five in midfield these days, but it depends on your personnel. Chelsea have found a solution to playing with one up in the way that they get the others forward, the way they bomb the full-backs on. You couldn't say they were doing it for defensive reasons."
Tottenham Hotspur
In the understandable and euphoric afterglow of Spurs' stunning win, Harry Redknapp talked up his Tottenham side as title challengers, but in sober reality their comeback victory at the Emirates said far more about Arsenal than it did of Tottenham and any expansion of their aspirations. One newspaper, in the process of adjudicating on whether the win marked a shift in north London's balance of power, termed the game so 'freakish' to be 'totally inadmissible'. Arsene Wenger was sour but not unreasonable in being mystified at how his side had lost. Title winners do not lose games from being two-up at half-time, but neither do they claim just 38 per cent of possession over the 90 minutes.
Birmingham
And the hesitation in lauding Birmingham for their victory over the champions is the statistical proof that it was essentially a fluke. On another day, Chelsea's share of the match - including 70% of the ball and 25 of the 27 shots towards goal - would have prompted a landslide.
Stoke City
Of the 18 goals scored by Stoke this season, 16 have been netted in the second half. Having flirted with the relegation zone at the start of the month, three successive wins - something the club have apparently not achieved in top-flight football during the past 25 years - have propelled Tony Pulis' side into eighth.
Liverpool
The collectors of 13 points from the last 18 available.
Bolton Wanderers
Champions League is the rainbow they're chasing, but the cloud on Bolton's horizon is the reminder of how they managed to lure their leader to the Reebok a year ago. What complaint could Bolton have if Owen Coyle jumps ship again when a bigger club with a bigger budget calls? Coyle is a mercenary of ambition and the closer Bolton and Coyle come to qualifying for Europe the more likely that the taste will be bittersweet. Qualify, and he still might go. Fail to qualify, and he can point to a lack of funds as reason to move on.
It is not implausible that a showdown is just two months away. If, as their chairman suggested, Bolton have to sell at least one of their prized assets when the transfer window opens in January, it's not unfeasible that their manager will seek another stepping stone - just as he did to stop off at Bolton 12 months ago. Giddy but dangerous times at the Reebok.
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