Soccer a World Wide Classic Sport

Information taking from FIFA records.

In the  early Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between south America and Europe ,the two centres of strength in football . The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay , for example , led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe . The decision to hold the second of these ,the 1938  FIFA World Cup , in France was controversial , as the American countries had been led understand that the world Cup would rotate between the two continents . Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted  the tournament .

Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup , to avoid future boycotts or controversy , FIFA began  a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe , which continued  until the 1998  FIFA World Cup . The 2002 FIFA World Cup , hosted jointly by South  Korea and Japan , was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts . Sotuh Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014  FIFA World Cup will hosted by Brazil , the first held in South America since 1978, and will be first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.

The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system.  The national football association of country desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement ” from FIFA ,which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form ,the submission of which represents the official confirmation of candidacy . After this, a FIFA designed group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to hosts the event and report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However ,there have been occasions  where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time , as will be case for the 2018 and 2022  World Cups .

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups , the final tournament is rotated between confederations ,allowing  only countries from the chosen confederation  (Africa 2010, South America in 2014 ) to bid to host the tournament . The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote host the 2006 tournament . However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014 , so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding  tournaments , can apply as host for World Cups starting from 2018 . This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to bidding process for the 2014 tournament ,where Brazil was the only official bidder.

History from  FIFA World Cup Trophy >

From 1930 to 1970 , the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner .  It was originally simply known as the world Cup or Coupe du Monde , but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet  who set up the first tournament . In 1970 , Brazil’s third victory in the tournament entitled  them to keep the trophy permanently .  However , the trophy was stolen in 1983 , and has never been recovered , apparently  melted down by the thieves .

After 1970 , a new trophy ,known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy , was designed. The experts of  FIFA , coming from seven different countries , evaluated  the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer  Silvio Gazzaniga . The new trophy is 36 cm  ( 14.2 in ) high , made of solid 18 carat  (75%) gold and weighs  6.175 kg  (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious  malachite while  the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each  FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 . The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga  Was : The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world . From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently . World Cup winners  retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original .

FORMAT -  QUALIFICATION

Since the second World Cup in 1934 , qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament . They are held within the six FIFA continental  zones  (Africa, Asia,North and Central America and Caribbean , South America, Oceania and Europe),overseen  by their respective confederations . For each tournament , FIFA decides the number of places warded to each of the continental zones beforehand , generally based on the relative strength of  the confederations teams .

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period .The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations .  Usually , one or two places are warded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. for example , the winner of the Oceanian  zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations had received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn  from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil , winners in 2002 ,thus became the first defending champions to play in qualifying match.

FINAL TOURNAMENT

The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation (s) . There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage .

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each .Eight teams are seeded,including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings an/or performances in recent World Cups , and drawn to separate groups . The other teams are assigned to different  “pots” ,usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation .

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round  of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among  all four teams. The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage . points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994 ,three  points have been awarded for a  win, one for a draw and none for a loss  (before, winners, received two points ).

The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows :  a)  greatest number of points obtained in all group matches ;      b) goal difference in all group matches,                                                                                                                                                                                                  c) greatest number of goals scored  in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows :

d)  greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                      e) goal difference  resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                      f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                  g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee  (i.e. at random ).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in  one -off matches ,with extra time and penalty shootouts  used to decide the winner if necessary . It begins with the “round of 16 ” (or the second round ) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group . This is followed by the quarter-finals, the , the semi-finals, the third-place match  (contested by the losing semi-finalists ), and the final .

Statistics from FIFA.com

Since when is the expansion to 32 teams ? The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 and then to 32 in 1998 , allowing more teams from Africa , Asia and North America to take part . In recent years , teams from these regions have enjoyed more success ,and those who have reached the quarter-finals include : Mexico , quarter finalists in 1986 ; Cameroon , quarter- finalists in 1990 ,Korea Republic , finishing in fourth place in 2002 ; and Senegal ,along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002 . European and South American teams have remained the stronger; for example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.

200 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds ; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup .

OTHER FIFA TOURNAMENTS

An equivalent tournament for women’s football , the FIFA Women’s World Cup , was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China . The women’ s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s ,but is growing ;the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120 ,more than double that of 1991.

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932 . Unlike many other sports ,the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament , and since 1992 ,an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players . Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions .

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup . It is contested by the winner of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country .

FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup , FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup ), club football (FIFA Club World Cup ) and football variants as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup ) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach soccer Cup ).

FIFA WORLD CUP , From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup , the Soccer World Cup , or simply the World Cup ) is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FIFA) the sport’s global governing body . The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 , except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation (s) over a period of about a month - this phase is often called the World Cup Finals . A qualification phase ,which currently takes place over the preceding three years ,is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 19 tournaments that have been held, eight national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the world Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament .Italy, the current champions ,have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles . The other former champions are Uruguay , winners of the inaugural tournament , and Argentina, with two titles each , and England , France and Spain , with one title each .

The World Cup is the World’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany . The Current World Cup is being held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will held in Brazil.

Information taking from Main article of FIFA World Cup records.

Out of 77 nations that have played in at least one World Cup ,only eight nationals teams have won the World Cup , and they have added stars to their crests in a total of nineteen World Cups . With five titles , Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup to date . Italy 1934 and 1938 and Brazil 1958 and 1962 , are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Brazil and Germany have both made the most appearances in the final, with seven, while Germany have made the most appearances in the top four, with eleven .

Six of seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland , the exception being Brazil,
who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 . England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations . Uruguay (1930) , Italy (1934 ) and Argentina (1978) won their first title as host national but have gone on to win again , while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.

Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament . Sweden (runners-up in 1958) , Chile (third place in 1962) , Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) , and Japan (second round in 2002) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far ,all host nations have progressed beyond the first round .

BEST PERFORMANCES BY CONTINENTAL ZONES

To date , the final of the World Cup has only been contested by Europeans and South American teams . The two continents have won 10 Europe and nine South America . Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North ,Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and Korea Republic (Asia in 2002) .The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals : Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 . Only one Oceanian qualifier , Australia in 2006 , advanced to the second round.

Brazil victory in 1958 in Sweden is the only time a non-European team won a World Cup in Europe . A European team has never won the World Cup outside of Europe , as all World Cups hosted in either South America, North America ,or Asia have been won by South American teams. Only twice have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent . When Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively .

RECORDS , STATISTICS AND AWARDS ON INDIVIDUALS

Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups , Mexico Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus both played in five tournaments. Matthaus has played the most World Cup matches overall , with 25 appearances . Brazil Pele is the only player to have won three World Cup winner’s medals, with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.

The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo , scorer of 15 goals in three tournaments . West Germany’s Gerard Muller is second , with 14 goals in two tournaments . The third placed goalscorer ,France’s Just Fontaine , holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup . All his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament .

Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach . Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as player and in 1970 as head coach . Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach . Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups.All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory .

As of the end of the 2006 tournament , Brazil and Germany have both played 92 matches , the most by any nation , with Brazil scoring the most goals, 201 .The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup , in the 2002 final .

Apartes tomados de un articulo de la FIFA. com

El Barcelona y el Inter de Milan mediran sus fuerzas en el grupo de los cuatro ultimos rivales de la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA , despues de completar sendas victorias de parte y parte, el pasado Martes en la noche Abril 6/2010 . Los italianos al vencer en segunda instancia por igual marcador 1-0 al CSKA de Moscow ; mientras los catalanes hundieron al Arsenal 4-1 , con cuatro goles de un inspirado Lionel Messi .
El jugador argentino fue sin lugar a dudas la estrella de la noche en el estadio del Nou Camp, haciendo honor a su excelente forma, matando asi las esperanzas de su rivales visitantes. Por el otro lado para el Inter Wesley Sneijder desde un tiro libre fue suficiente para hundir las aspiraciones de CSKA.
Los otros dos contendores saldran de la eliminacion el siguiente Miercoles entre Bordeaux recibiendo al Lyon y el Manchester United enfrentado al Bayern Munich , los dos ganadores compondran la otra semifinal.

La mejor jugada la realizo Lionel Messi al minuto 42 ante un pase de cabeza de Seydou Keita teniendo la pelota bajo control y viendo al arquero del Arcenal Manuel Almunia que avanzaba cerrando el paso, Messi lanzo suave la bola por encima de la cabeza del portero tejiendole asi el famoso sombrero.
El Arsenal comenzo presionando a mucha velocidad sobre la cancha en los minutos preliminares dandoles por consecuencia en ser los primeros en anotar a los 18 minutos cuando Abou Diaby se robo la pelota de los botines del barcelones Milito, juntandose con su companero de la otra banda derecha Walcott quienes esperaron que se les juntara Nicklas Bendner quien clavo el gol silenciando el gran estadio del Neu Camp.
Pero los jugadores de Arsenal solo tuvieron 3 minutos para saborear su ventaja, pues el pequeno Messi con un potente disparo igualo la cuenta ,cuando se le escapo al defensor Mikael Silvestre y sobrepsando a un desesperado Almunia.

De aqui en adelante el espectaculo fue de un solo hombre Lionel Messi , goles de sombrerito, por entre las piernas del portero , de potentes disparos y con la ayuda de pases claves recibidos de sus companeros de equipo .

La gran pregunta que todos se hacen es : que si Messi juega a este nivel con su equipo argentino en el Mundial de Sur Africa ,los resultados podrian ser muy sorprendentes para el resto de los contrincantes de este campeonato mundial .

El ENTRETENIMIENTO DE MULTITUDES es sin lugar a dudas el mejor deporte del mundo y el mas popular sobre la redondez de nuestro planeta tierra .
Podemos llegar a estimulantes conclusiones sobre ligas nacionales , internacionales y locales , clubes domesticos y competiciones a nivel continental alrededor del mundo ; el 2009 ha sido testigo de la Copa de Confederaciones FIFA, 32 equipos clasificaron para Sur Africa , mas la FIFA Sub-20 y Sub 17 ambas celebraciones como copas mundiales
Talentos nuevos ha comenzado a surgir , grandes e importantes goles han sido anotados tanto en las canchas como en las arenas de la playa , tal como Brasil quienes ganaron su cuarta Copa Mundial del balompie de playa en forma consecutiva.
Vimos tambien a Lionel Messi y Marta recientemente coronados como los mejores jugadores del ano dentro de los varones y de las hembras respectivamente .
Estamos seguros que aqui no estara incluido todos los eventos que para muchos serian tambien de gran importancia, torneos locales , goles espectaculares , victorias inesperadas, y tantas experiencias que son de gran importancia en cualquier ambiente familiar ,local y mas alla de lo que podamos imaginar.

Aunque Egipto se quedo en las eliminatorias acfricanas para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Sur Africa 2010 a celebrarse precisamente por primera vez en el continente africano : se ha coronado campeon de la CAF , Copa Africana de Naciones , venciendo a un poderoso rival, Ghana por el minimo marcador de 1-0 . Este es el septimo trofeo continental para los Faraones y el tercero al hilo el cual constituye un record mundial .
El gol de la victoria fue anotado por un jugador substituto en todos los partidos , el cual no ha jugado en ninguno de los partidos mas de 30 minutos y con todo eso es uno de los mejores anotadores en la escuadra Egipcia; su nombre es Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagui. El enrtro al partido en el minuto 70 y a los 15 minutos anoto el gol del triunfo.
No obstante Ghana si califico para el torneo mundial del 2010 pero trajo un equipo plagado de bajas por lesiones al campeonato de Naciones africanas, sin embargo su desempeno fue extraordinario hasta llegar a las finales invictos,perdiendo como ya se indico contra Egipto.
Por otro lado Egipto extendio una historica marcha de 19 victorias invictos , con un Ahmed Hassan nombrado el mejor jugador del torneo siendo el unico jugador en alcanzar cuatro medallas incluyendo la de 1998 ; tambien Essam Al Hadary fue declarado por tercera ocasion el mejor portero de este campeonato.
Durante la mayor parte del encuentro , Egipto no pudo hilvanar un ataque en una buena secuencia, pues la maquina que en los cinco partidos antriores habian anotado 14 goles fueron frenados por el medio campo y la defensa Ghaniana , limitandoles tan solo a tiros de larga distancia .
Estamops seguros que los ghanianos estaran listos para la empresa del proximo Junio 2010 y que esta experiencia de la Copa de Naciones les dara una buen leccion y mejor prepara-
cion para el magno evento .
Para Egipto la clave fue la mejor experiencia y un juego de equipo muy dificil de perforar para cualquier equipo rival, por eso han sido campeones consecuitivos por tres ocasiones 2006, 2008 y 2010 , aunque este ha sido la consecucion del titulo mas dificil de todos los antriores ,comentaba su entrenador asistente Shawky Gharib.

Informacion tomada de un articulo de la FIFa.com
Un grupo muy especial de jugadores seran asociados por siempre con una camiseta en particular y su numero ; tal como en la Argentina es el No 10 de Diego Maradona , en Holanda el No 14 vestido por Johan Cruyff . En el Brasil tenemos el Club Santos y el No 10 vestido por Pele el cual lo exalta casi hasta lo mitico lo cual es una carga y al mismo tiempo una inspiracion para jugadores durante el regimen del Rey Pele.
Pero Santos cuenta con otros jugadores destacados como Paulo Henrique Ganso quien tiodavia permanece por verse hasta donde pueda llegar . Asi como Giovani otro idolo del Club . Otro jersey que trae un peso de expectacion es la No 7 vestido por Robinho quien se destaco con Santos antes de irse al Real Madrid y luego al Manchester City .
Simbolicamente el Santos trasnpasaba la camiseta por el propio Pele cuando la desvelo a sus seguidores ,mientras que Ropbinho reclamaba su numero de parte de Neymar un jovencito de 17 anos , uno de las nuevas revelaciones del futbol brasileno . Me siento contento de regresarsela nuevamente pues siempre ha sido suya , decia el jovencito .
El atacante mediocampista Giovani cuya presencia trae recuerdos como el eje de aquel periodo de Santos , cuando el club finalmente empezo a moderar la presion subsiguiente a los pasos de Pele cuando lo conquisto todo desde los anos 1960.
Nativo paranaense de 37 anos era parte de la escuadra que terminaba segundo en 1995 en la competicion brasilena perdiendo el titulo contra Botafogo .
Santos tuvo una destacada campana en el 2002 con una plana de jugadores internacionales como Diego, Elano y naturalmente Ribinho tomando por asalto la fase final del campeonato venciendo a Corintias en los dos partidos correspondientes.
Asi Santos vuelve a repetir su triunfo brasileno en el 2004 con Robinho y Elano todavia dentro de su plantel , no obstante tambien agragaron el 2006 y el 2007 , antes de enfriarse y comenzar a escasear nuevos triunfos.
Estamos seguros que el conjunto de Santos nos sorprendera con nuevas emociones para colmar las expectativas de sus seguidores y por el bien de los mejores clubes brasilenos a lo largo del presenta ano 2010.

Nosotros los occidentales, americanos y latinoamericanos somos muy dados a concentrarnos en nuestros torneos futbolisticos, campeonatos y copas de las distintas y muchisimas conferencias regionales, nacionales e internacionales ;pero poco sabemos o nos enteramos de lo que sucede en otras partes del mundo : en este caso el continente Africano, quienes en estos moemntos celebran a todo tren su mas vibrante y apasionado deporte de multitudes cada dos anos ,La CAF o Copa Africana de Naciones .
La presente edicion empezo este ano el 10 de Enero hasta el 31 de Enero del 2010 en Angola el pais sede para este evento, y con la participacion de todos los anteriores ganadores de esta copa como Argelia, Camerun, Costa de Marfil , Egipto, Ghana,Nigeria, Tunez , todos a cual mas dispuestos a llevarse su apreciado trofeo a casa .
Y para agregarle mas sabor a la mezcla por primera vez en la historia del continente Africano la Copa Mundial de la Fifa se celebrara tambien en tierra Sur Africana dentro de seis meses, lo cual contribuye a darle una atmosfera especial a este torneo en las ciudades sedes de Luanda,Cabinda,Benguela y Lubango.
Camerun es el pais con el mas alto rango en la escala de Coca/Cola de la FIFA del orden mundial; los leones indomables quienes siempre estan en todas las contiendas del Africa aunque con alguna dificultad clasificaron esta vez, pero vuleven a estar en la contienda .
Ghana desde el momento en que por primera vez en las finales de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA en Alemania hace cuatro anos despertaron las expectativas cuando finalmente calleron ante Brasil en la ronda 16 , las Estrellas Negras han continuado su trayectoria ascendente . Fueron los anfitriones en la Copa Africanas de Naciones bajo la comandancia de Claude Le Roy en 2008, quienes llegaron al tercer lugar, la mejor posicion desde aquel entonces cuando perdieron la final en ano 1992. Dirigida por telentosos entrenadores europeos tales como Michale Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Richard Kingson, Ghana era imparable en toda clase de eliminatorias ,siendo asi unos de los primeros equipos en estampar su etiqueta. Su ultimo logro lo vimos en la Sub-20, derrotando a Brasil.
Argelia los zorros del desierto parecieran que hasta hace unos pocos meses atras hubieran estado invernando, ya que estuvieron ausentes en las dos copas de Naciones previas mas un dramatico final con Egipto para calificar a Sur Africa 2010 . La competencia se pone muy recia ante rivales cada vez mas fuertes y competitivos, explicaba su entrenador Rabah Saadane. Queremos ir lo mas lejos posible en esta competencia como una preparacion crucial para la Copa Mundial .

Costa de Marfil : dando una rapida mirada a la lista de jugadores disponibles segun su entrenador Vahid Halilhodzic, hace obvio porque los “Elefantes ” son considerados entre los pesos pesados del futbol Africano . Emmanuel Eboue,Yaya Toure, Salomon Kalou,Didier Drogba: todos ellos juegan en poderoso clubes europeos .De manera que considerando todos estos individuos ilustres juntos funcionando en equipo es una cosa muy distinta, asi pues se consideraria la copa de Naciones del 2008. Sin embargo pareciendo en el papel que irian hacia la victoria sobre todo el recorrido de las semifinales ,despues de ganar los cuatro juegos previos , anotando 13 goles y recibiendo solo uno ,sufrieon el primer descalabro de 4-1 a manos de Egipto y luego un segundo de 4-2 ante Ghana por el tercer lugar, por lo cual en esta ocasion llegan grandemente motivados quienes pelearan por el honor y su dignidad dice su estrella Drogba.

Nigeria: El tercer ranqueado mundial de la FIFA y el unico juntamente con Camerun que han alcanzado cuatro de las ultimas cinco finales de las Copas mundiales de la FIFA. Nigeria no ha perdido mucho de su lustre en los recientes anos . Jugadores como Rasheed Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Jay-Jay Okocha y Sunday Oliseh han dejado un legado a Onyekachi Apam, Taye Taiwo, John Obi Mikel y Obafemi Martins una cosecha de habiles jugadores quienes les falta el estiron final de consistencia. Las Super Aguilas necesitan cabar profundo para obtener su puesto en sur Africa 2010 , despues de haber perdido la participacion en Alemania 2006, y haber terminado sin ningun insipiracion los cuartos de final del Copa Africana de Naciones del 2008 . Por eso en esta ocasion Angola representa una oportunidad perfecta para silenciar sus criticos pues desde el ano 1994 no ganan nada.

The Barcelona of Spain was selected by the International Federation of Football Statistics (IFFHS) as the best team 2009.
The catalan squad is entirely worthy of such distinction in the course of the year as a result of winning along the whole year the six tournaments that they disputed : The League of Spain, The Cup of the King, The Champions League, Super Cups of Spain and Europa and the World Cup of Clubs.
Total of votes 341 for the Blaugrana team as the best team of the planet taking out of the previous first position Manchester United who had gained the Premier League and the Champions league during 2008 .
In second place the Chelsea with 292 votes, third Manchester United with 291 , fourth place Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine 275 votes, fifth and sixth two german teams Werder Bremen 272 and Hamburgo 254, seventh Arsenal 260 , eight place Estudiantes de la Plata
with 243 points, and the ninth and tenth Cruzeiro of Brazil and Galatasaray of Turkey with 235 and 219 pints respectively .