Interesting Facts about EPL Teams (March)

Hello everyone, how are you guys doing? I finally gottime to write an article after my examination. As usual, I’ll share some some interesting facts about the 20 teams in the Barclays Prmeier League.

Below are the compilation of statistics for the previous months:

• October 2013
• November 2013
  
• December 2013
  
• January 2014
• February 2014

Manchester United – Manchester United have taken only six points from nine games against the other teams in the PL top seven this season. Perplexed.

Manchester City – City have been shown red cards in consecutive Champions League games after not collecting any in their first 18 games in the competition. Punished.

Everton – Everton have won none of their last 19 away games against Arsenal in all competitions (W0 D4 L15). Sticky.

Liverpool – Daniel Sturridge has now scored in 20 of his 28 appearances for club and country this season. Consistent.

Arsenal –  Lukas Podolski has scored in both of his Champions League appearances against Bayern Munich. Lifeline.

Chelsea – Eden Hazard has scored (22) or assisted (18) 40 Premier League goals since he joined Chelsea in 2012. Wizard.

Tottenham – Emmanuel Adebayor has scored more goals than any other player in North London derby (10- 8 for Arsenal and 2 for Spurs). Quality.

Cardiff City – Cardiff have kept only one clean sheet in their last 13 Premier League games. Porous.

Newcastle United – Hatem Ben Arfa has scored in his 3 appearances against the Whites. Deliver.

Fulham – Fulham are only the second team (after Man City) to concede more than twice in a match vs Cardiff in the Premier League this season. Open.

Stoke City – Since Stoke reached the Premier League in 2008 they have picked up 22 red cards, level with Arsenal and second only to Sunderland (28). Off.

Hull City –  Hull have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches at home. Poor. 

Aston Villa – Aston Villa have not won back to back home matches since August 2011. Dream.

Crystal Palace – Palace have scored just six goals in 13 Premier League away games this season, fewer than any other team in top tier. Blunder.

Sunderland – Sunderland have not won four FA Cup matches in a row since they won the final in 1973. History.

Norwich City – Norwich have lost all 10 Premier League away games in which they have trailed this season. Ill-discipline.

Southampton – Jay Rodriguez has mastered the most headers on target of any Premier League player this season. Aspirin.

Swansea – Swansea have won just four of their last 19 home matches in Premier League. Curse.

West Ham – The Hammers have conceded just one goal and kept 3 clean sheets in their last four away outing. Lucky.

West Brom – West Brom have scored own goals in three of the last five Premier League meetings with Manchester United. Suicide.

Note: Figures and statistics were compiled from OptaJoe via Twitter and Football App via mobile prior to 14th of March.

Happy reading!

 

Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

Hello and Bonjour everyone!

I am pretty sure all of you have came across famous football legendary players’ names such as Pele, Maradona, Charlton, Eusebio, Cruyff, Dalglish, Ronaldo and Beckham. On the other hand, have you guys ever heard of Asian Football Legends like Mokhtar Dahari, Ali Daei, Paulinho Alcantara and Soh Chin Aun? Here, I would like to share some information regarding the Asian Football Confederation with you guys.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football and one of the six Confederations making up FIFA. It was formed in 1954 in Manila on the sidelines of the second Asian Games and sanctioned by FIFA in Berne, Switzerland on June 21 that year.

The AFC is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain is the AFC President and Dato’ Alex Soosay is the AFC General Secretary. The AFC is responsible for running football in Asia. Among its various responsibilities are: regulating the game, drafting new laws to improve the sport, implementing the law, boosting grassroots and youth football, and conducting major competitions.

The official logo of Asian Football Confederation, with its motto ‘’The Future is Asia’’ (inset)

The AFC Members’ Association is split into 4 sub-sections:

1. South East Asia which consists of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam
2.  East Asia which consists of Republic of China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, Guam, Hong Kong, Korea Republic, Macau, Mongolia and Northern Mariana Islands
3. Central and South Asia which consists of India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
4. West Asia which consists of Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

There are several tournaments which are held under the banner of AFC:

• AFC Asian Cup
• AFC Champions League
• AFC Cup
• AFC U-19 Championship
• AFC Futsal Championship
• AFC Women’s Asian Cup

In the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as of today, Japan is the cream of the crop of Asia as they continue to top the list in the Asian Zone at 50th position, followed by Australia who lie 53rd while Republic of Korea came in at 61st rank.

On an article regarding the Asian Football, Mark Schwarzer sees tremendous improvement in Asian Football over the last four years. An Australia international, Schwarzer is perhaps the most familiar of all Chelsea’s players with local football in the region, since his country began competing in the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

The aim of that move was to help improve Australian football but he has also noticed a step up in the wider Asian game in that time “On the same token I like to think it has improved Asia. You have to improve as a team, it’s exactly the same as in a club, you have to move forward or you will be caught up or overtaken. We’re continuously trying to improve and we’re there or thereabouts.” ‘’Asia is such a big continent, and they are absolutely mad about the English Premier League,”

From my point of view, there are plenty room of improvement in terms of the development and prospect of Asian Football in the future. There is definitely no shortage of potential players in the AFC’s geographical region; the member nations making up more than half the population of the entire world! Just China and India alone the total populations exceed to more than 2.5 billion people. Magnificent, isn’t it?

Football Fun Fact:

• AFC International Footballer of the Year 2012 goes to… Yuto Nagamoto (Japan) who is currently playing his trade in Inter Milan, whereas AFC International Footballer of the Year goes to Ji So-Yun (Korea)
• Asian football’s first moment of international pride came in 1912; when Philippine-born Paulino Alcantara joined Barcelona and went on to have an unbelievable scoring record of 374 goals from 375 games.
• The AFC’s first representative in the FIFA World Cup was Indonesia on 1938. Finally in 2002, after almost 50 years of hard work and progress by the AFC, it hosted its very own FIFA World Cup, in Korea and Japan.

Football brings people together indeed. Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it’s so incredible, and it’s unbelievable.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it!

 

Football records in numbers

Do you want to wow your friends with some amazing figures collected from the depths of footballing history? Read on to find out some little-known statistics!

6 – Barcelona won 6 trophies in the calendar year or 2009

8 – Liverpool blasted eight goals past a helpless Besiktas defence in a 2007-08 Champions League game, the highest goal margin in the tournament’s history.

15 years, 255 days – Sanson made his debut for Celta Vigo at a tender age of 15 years and just over 8 months.

17 – Internazionale won 17 straight games in 2007 under Roberto Mancini.

21 – 21-0 was the highest win margin, on aggregate, in the history of European football. Chelsea thrashed Luxembourg side Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971 and in the next year, Feyenoord Rotterdam handed the same thrashing to US Rumelange, also another Luxembourg team.

29 – Benfica won 29 straight league games from 1972 to 1973.

32 – Real Madrid has won the La Liga title 32 times.

36 – Referee Damien Rubino showed a record 36 red cards during an Argentinian fifth division match between fierce rivals Claypole and Victoriano Arenas. All 22 starting players and 14 substitutes, along with 2 technical staff, were sent off.

44 years, 38 days – Journeyman goalkeeper Marco Ballotta played his last game at the age of 44 years and 38 days old, in a career spanning nearly a quarter of a century. Surprisingly, he was never capped for Italy.

48 years, 222 days – Manager Harry Lowe played for Real Sociedad as one of his players went down to illness and for financial reasons, the team did not bring substitutes to the game.

51 – Dynamo Kyiv went 51 away games unbeaten from 2006 to 2008.

73 – Lionel Messi scored 73 goals in the 2011-2012 season.

78 – Barcelona have a total of 78 trophies.

91 – Lionel Messi scored a record-shattering 91 goals in a calendar year.

93 – Ivor Powell retired from management at the grand old age of 93, having managed at least 9500 different players.

93 – Brazilian goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scored 93 goals, the highest for a professional football goalkeeper.

103 – Celtic got 103 out of a possible 114 points in the 2001-02 Scottish Premier League season.

104 – FC Steaua Bucharest went on a European-record of 104 games unbeaten from 1986 to 1989.

121 – Real Madrid made the Santiago Bernabeu an impregnable fortress from 1957 to 1965 when they went 121 home games straight unbeaten.

126 – Egyptian side Al-Ahly has won a total of 126 trophies, including 36 Egyptian League titles. Their highest placing in an international tournament is the bronze medalist in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup.

149 – AS Adema beat Stade Olympique I’Emyrne 149-0. All the goals were own goals, scored as a protest against a controversial refereeing decision that mathematically ruled SOE out of the title race. Players, including the then Madagascan captain, were banned.

571 – Goalkeeper David James has started the most games among any player in the English Premier League, playing for Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City and Portsmouth in the top flight.

647 – Legendary defender Paolo Maldini played 647 times in the Serie A.

149,433 – This was the attendance at the Scottish Cup final held at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. Celtic beat Aberdeen 2-1.

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed knowing a few more statistics! 🙂

 

Unique Football Players’ Names

Bonjour everyone! I have decided to write this article since I got some time to spare. Hope you guys like it. Happy reading and do share with us if you have encountered any football players with unique names below.

Danny Drinkwater is an English footballer who plays for Leicester City. He has previously spent his time on loan at Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford, Barnsley. Besides that, he also played for Manchester United and has played in international games for England at under-18 and under-19 levels.

David Seaman is one of England’s most legendary goalkeepers with 75 international caps. He played as a goalkeeper for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. p/s he’s a fine ice skater too 🙂

Danny Shittu‘s inclusion will come as no surprise. The Nigerian has played at a number of English clubs. He’s a 33-year-old centre-back who now plays his trade at Milwall. He began his career in 1991 and has also played for clubs like Queens Park Rangers, Bolton, and Watford.

Danny Invincible is an attacking-midfielder of Italian and Australian descent. He is currently playing with Army United FC with 13 appearances and 3 goals.

Mark de Man is a Belgian footballer who currently plays for Stade Bierbeek. He is most often deployed as a defensive midfielder but has also been used as a centre-back or right full-back.

Fabian Assman is an Argentian goalkeeper playing for Independiente in the Primera B Nacional in Argentina currently.

Paul Dickov is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is the current manager of Championship side Doncaster Rovers. The Scottish striker has played more than 400 professional games for the likes of Arsenal, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City.

Wolfgang Wolf is a former player for FC Kaiserslautern and he is now a German football coach.

Johnny Moustache is the former captain of the Seychelles football team. His favourite position is playing as a Striker.

That’s it for now. Cheers!

 

Interesting Facts about EPL Teams (February)

First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone celebrating! Btw, I’m not celebrating it this year 😛

I’m back with the monthly article as usual. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about the English Premier League teams for the month of February. Happy reading!                                               

Below are the compilation of statistics for the previous months:

• October 2013: https://powersoccerextra.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/interesting-facts-about-epl-teams/
• November 2013: https://powersoccerextra.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/interesting-facts-about-epl-teams-october/
• December 2013: https://powersoccerextra.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/interesting-facts-about-epl-teams-december/
• January 2014: https://powersoccerextra.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/interesting-facts-about-epl-teams-january/

Manchester United – David Moyes has now won none of 49 PL away games at the ‘Big Four’ (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool & Man Utd) (W0 D19 L30). Block.

Manchester City – Have not lost back to back Premier League home games since December 2008. Consistent. 

Everton – Leighton Baines has scored 19 goals since his Premier League debut. Talent.

Liverpool – Luis Suarez has scored only four of Liverpool’s last 24 Premier League goals. Evolution.

Arsenal –  Mesut Özil has created more chances than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues in 2013-14 (66). Value.

Chelsea – Have now gone seven Premier League games without conceding a first half goal. Robust.

Tottenham – Emmanuel Adebayor has scored eight and assisted two more in 10 PL appearances under Tim Sherwood. Update.

Cardiff City – Nine of Cardiff’s 19 goals this season have come from crosses – a league-high proportion (47%). Whipped.

Newcastle United – Have now gone six hours and 10 minutes without a home goal in the Premier League. Decline.

Fulham – One of the away teams who failed to score away at Newcastle in the Premier League this season have been London sides (alongside West Ham and Chelsea). Mugged.

Stoke City – Have now gone 10 Premier League games without a clean sheet. Winded.

Hull City –  Have won just one of their last six Premier League home matches (W1 D2 L3). Poor. 

Aston Villa – Have had just three shots on target in their last four hours of Premier League football. Coy.

Crystal Palace – Marouane Chamakh has scored five goals from just eight shots on target this season. Patience.

Sunderland – The Black Cats have kept four clean sheets in their last six Premier League away matches. Solid. 

Norwich City – Have made 60 substitutions this season in the PL, but they are the only side yet to see one score or assist a goal. Blunt.

Southampton – Jay Rodriguez has scored seven goals in his last eight Premier League appearances away from home. Travels.

Swansea – Wilfried Bony has scored eight goals in the Premier League but none of them have come in England. Hipster.

West Ham – Have kept three Premier League clean sheets in succession for the tenth time; they have never recorded four. Target.

West Brom – Have seen 16 different players score a Premier League goal for them this season; more than any other side. Depth.

Note: Figures and statistics were compiled from OptaJoe via Twitter and Football App via mobile prior to 14th of February.

Happy reading!