World Cup Soccer Lists (4 of 4): The Names We Will Remember

Wow! We didn't realize that Arjen Robben of The Netherlands and Tim Howard of the United States look like twin brothers! For more info on world soccer, we recommend a true expert Ahmet Bob Turgut:

http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

And, kudos to Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for calling an excellent game yesterday in Argentina's penalty shoot-out win over The Netherlands, but I suspect we will see much more of Robben, who plays for Bayern Munich.

Here is our list:

1) Joel Campbell. 22. Costa Rica. Olympiacos (Greece; pictured top)

2) Arjen Robben. 30. Netherlands. Bayern Munich (pictured center)

3) Tim Howard. 35. USA. Everton (England, pictured bottom,)

4) Marouane Fellaini. 26. Belgium. Manchester U.

5) Thomas Muller. 24. Germany, Bayern Munich

6) Rais Mbolhi. 28. Algeria. CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria, where he plays goal-keeper)

7) Luis Suarze. 27. Uruguay. Liverpool (I guess we can objectively say he is the most scandalous futboler on the planet)

8) Faryd Mondgram. 43. Colombia. (no club team, he is the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup)

9) Xherdan Shaqiri. 22. Switzerland. Bayern Munich.

10) Mathieu Valbuena. 29. France. Marseilles.

11) Angel di Mira. 26. Argentina. Real Madrid.

The World Cup Lists (1 of 4): The Captains

Greetings to our readers in Bangladesh, Turkey and Peru, where assuredly folks are still depressed because their respective nations are not competing in the World Cup, but we are here to cheer you up.

Well, actually, this list may not help_may not help at all in fact.

We begin our long overdue World Cup coverage with a list of 11 players who are captains of their team. Of course, just because one is a captain does not he is the best player. The disgraced soccer version of Bela Lugosi, Uruguay's Luis Suarez, one of the best players in the world, was not the captain for Team Uruguay which will try to defeat Colombia today without him.

Here is our list, good luck to everyone in Brazil:

1) Thiago Silva. Brazil. Age 29. Paris Saint-Germaine (France; pictured top).

2) Giorgis Karagounis. Greece. Age 37. Fulham (England; pictured center)

3) Clint Dempsey. USA. Age 31. Seattle Sounders (MLS/USA; pictured bottom)

4) Robin van Persie. Netherlands. Age 30. Manchester United (England)

5) Hugo Lloris. France. 27. Tottenham Hotspur (England, he plays goal-keeper)

6) Lionel Messi. Argentina. 27. Barcelona (Spain)

7) Vincent Kompany. Belgium. 28. Manchester City (England)

8) Gokhan Inler. Switzerland. 29. Napoli (Italy; he is the son of immigrants from Turkey)

9) Claudio Bravo. Chile. 31. Barcelona (Spain, the player is a goal-keeper)

10) Philipp Lahm. Germany. 30. Bayern Munich (Germany)

11) Mario Yepes. Colombia. 38. Atalanta (Italy)

http://espn.go.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport

English Premiere League Soccer Tables_ Manchester United Reigns Supreme

It was a very good week for Dutch national Robin van Persie  (pictured top) who scored a hat trick in Manchester United's 3-0 win over Aston Villa, which secured MU with the English Premiere League titles as they have 84 points with just a few games remaining.

Cross-town rivals Manchester City are a distant second with 68 points. They had a dismal weekend as they lost 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur, which is in fifth place with 61 points. American Clint Dempsey (pictured bottom) previously with Fulham and the New England Revolution in the MLS, scored a goal for the victors in the 76th minute of play.

Brothers Ryan Bennett and Elliot Bennett helped secure a win for Norwich in the team's 2-1 win over last place Reading, while German national Per Mertesacker helped Arsenal, sitting in third place with 63 points, to a 1-0 win over Fulham.

And, Luis Suarez, the star striker from Uruguay who made a dubious handball that lifted his national team to victory over Ghana in the last World Cup, scored an impressive literal last minute goal in the 97th minute to help his Liverpool squad (pictured center) tie Chelsea, in fourth place with 62 points, 2-2. This does remind one of the title of an American documentary film "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29."

Here is the complete table for weekend play; Chelsea is in action tomorrow for a UEFA match with Benefica of Portugal:

1. Stoke 2 QPR 0

2. Sunderland 1 Everton 0

3. Swansea 0 Southhampton 0, tie

4. West Brom 1 New Castle 1, tie

5. West Ham U 2 Wigan Athletic 0

6. Arsenal 1 Fulham 0

7. Norwich 2 Reading 1

8. Tottenham Hotspur 3 Manchester City 1

9. Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2,, tie

10. Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 0

http://www.premiereleague.com