In Nike-world a major tournament means two things, a new collection of football boots and of course a blockbuster commercial featuring the games best footballers! Get set then for the premiere of Nike’s My Time Is Now, which includes star players Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Iniesta, Sneijder, Ribery, Götze, Özil, M’Vila, Hernandez and Welbeck. Special guest appearances are made by Pep Guardiola, Laurent Blanc and basketball superstar LeBron James. 

Top Division European teams that have scored 2+ goals per game in the 2011/2012 Regular Season.

GPG – CLUB (COUNTRY)

3.86 – UE Santa Coloma (Andorra) 3.64 – FC Santa Coloma (Andorra) 3.36 – Sant Julià (Andorra) 3.33 – Real Madrid (Spain) 2.87 – Barcelona (Spain)

2.86 – Lusitanos (Andorra) 2.71 – Ajax (Netherlands) 2.70 – F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) 2.60 – Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 2.54 – Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

2.54 – FC Twente (Netherlands) 2.50 – Hibernians (Malta) 2.50 – PSV (Netherlands) 2.47 – Manchester United (England) 2.42 – Manchester City (England)

2.41 – Budućnost (Montenegro) 2.41 – Bangor City (Wales) 2.39 – Bayern Munich (Germany) 2.37 – Olympiakos (Greece) 2.36 – Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic)

2.36 – Valletta (Malta) 2.36 – The New Saints (Wales) 2.35 – Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic) 2.33 – Partizan (Serbia) 2.30 – Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)

2.30 – Sheriff (Moldova) 2.30 – Cliftonville (Northern Ireland) 2.29 – Ludogorets (Bulgaria) 2.29 – Heerenveen (Netherlands) 2.26 – Maribor (Slovenia)

2.25 – Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 2.24 – Linfield (Northern Ireland) 2.24 – Porto (Portugal) 2.24 – Benfica (Portugal) 2.19 – Tre Fiori (San Marino)

2.18 – Schalke 04 (Germany) 2.16 – Sporting Braga (Portugal) 2.16 – Basel (Switzerland) 2.14 – Debrecen (Hungary) 2.14 – Llanelli (Wales)

2.11 – Željezničar (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 2.10 – Gent (Belgium) 2.10 – Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) 2.09 – CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 2.06 – La Fiorita (San Marino)

2.06 – Celtic (Scotland) 2.05 – Neftçi (Azerbaijan) 2.05 – Zestafoni (Georgia) 2.04 – Feyenoord (Netherlands) 2.04 – Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)

2.03 – Anderlecht (Belgium) 2.00 – Genk (Belgium) 2.00 – Jablonec (Czech Republic) 2.00 – Arsenal (England) 2.00 – Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)

2.00 – AC Milan (Italy) 2.00 – Jeunesse d’Esch (Luxembourg) 2.00 – Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) 2.00 – Dacia (Moldova) 2.00 – AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) 2.00 – Portadown (Northern Ireland)

After Day 1 of practice in Melbourne, Australia -Nico Hulkenburg tops the time sheets & gives Sahara Force India great hope for the upcoming season. For Hulkenberg , it is a return to Formula One after he was dropped by Williams at the end of his rookie season in 2010. Team principal Vijay Mallya said: “In Paul and Nico we have two extremely talented drivers with tremendous potential”.  ”As for Nico, we identified him as a rising star at the end of 2010 and chose to evaluate him during the course of this season. ”Despite having only limited time in the car, he convinced us that he deserved a race seat for 2012. ”Our new line-up means we say goodbye to Adrian, who has been with the team since we entered the sport. ”He has been an integral part of our success over the past four seasons and we wish him well for the future.”Force India’s announcement means 22 out of next year’s 24 seats have been assigned.

The longest league unbeaten streaks (10+ games) currently in top division
European leagues. (As of Dec 12, 2011)

21 – FK Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)
20 – Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
19 – FK Vardar Skopje (Macedonia)
17 – Debrecen (Hungary)
15 – Lille (France)
14 – CS Grevenmacher (Luxembourg)
14 – Juventus (Italy)
13 – Heerenveen
(Netherlands)
13 – Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
13 – İnter Bakı (Azerbaijan)
13 – Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Israel)
13 – FK Ekranas (Lithuania)
12 – FC Basel (Switzerland)
12 – Benfica (Portugal)
12 – FC Porto (Portugal)
12 – Konyaspor (Turkey)
12 – FK Željezničar (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
11 – Twente (Netherlands)
11 – Široki Brijeg (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
11 – Cliftonville FC (Northern Ireland)
10 – Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
10 – FC Lusitanos (Andorra)
10 – AC Libertas (San Marino)
10 – NK Maribor (Slovenia)
10 – HJK (Finland)

Comparing FIFA Confederations using the average ranking of the top 5 teams from each region.

Top 5 Avg. – Confederation (+/- June)

3.8 – Europe (-0.6)
1 – Spain
2 – Netherlands
3 – Germany
6 – England
7 – Portugal

11.0 – South America (+7.4)
4 – Brazil
5 – Uruguay
10 – Argentina
11 – Chile
25 – Peru

33.2 – Africa (-1.4)
14 – Côte d’Ivoire
34 – Egypt
36 – Ghana
39 – Burkina Faso
43 – Nigeria
38.8 – Asia (-1.6)
16 – Japan
23 – Australia
28 – South Korea
54 – Iran
73 – China

40.2 – CONCACAF (-6.8)
20 – Mexico
30 – USA
44 – Jamaica
51 – Honduras
56 – Costa Rica

152.8 – Oceania (-1.2)
94 – New Zealand
156 – Fiji
164 – New Caledonia
169 – Vanuatu
181 – Solomon Islands

More→

The short list of managers who have been in charge since 2006 or before at clubs
currently in the top five European Leagues. Each league has at least one manager
represented except for Italian Serie A whose longest serving manager is Lecce’s
Luigi De Canio (2 years).

Yrs – Manager (Club)

25 – Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)
15 – Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)
12 – Thomas Schaaf (Werder Bremen)
9 – David Moyes (Everton)
9 – Pablo Correa (AS Nancy)
8 – Christian Gourcuff (FC Lorient)
5 – Manolo Preciado (Sporting de Gijón)
5 – Jean Fernandez (AJ Auxerre)

The Formula 1 race track facility under construction near Austin, Texas now has a name — Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Set to be complete 2012.

According to a press release about the new facility, the name is to signify “that the center will be a premier destination in the western hemisphere where business leaders, entertainers and sports fans come to see world-class performances.”

“We are building a destination for entertainment and business, not simply a race track, and this brand reflects that entire idea,” said Hellmund.

COTA will be home not only to Formula 1, but MotoGP as well. MotoGP has committed to a 10-year deal with Austin’s F1 track beginning in 2013. It will become the third MotoGP race in the United States, joining Laguna Seca and Indianapolis.

KVUE News has also learned that 16 Texas companies are a part of the COTA track development.

In addition to COTA’s 3.4-mile circuit track with capacity for 120,000 fans, the $250 million multi-purpose facility will include a huge banquet hall and a trauma center. The paddock building will also serve as a 500-person banquet hall for private or corporate events or galas.

The parking garage will be the length of three football fields. More→

India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in a pulsating final to deliver World Cup glory to their cricket-mad population for the first time since 1983. More→

Former Brazil goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scored what he claimed was his 100th goal this week.  The effort – a free-kick from 20 yards – gave Sao Paolo a 2-1 victory over Corinthians, and the 38-year-old has also proved a reliable penalty taker over the course of his career.  In honour of his achievements, this week’s First XI takes a look at some of the other ‘keepers who have made an impact at both ends of the pitch.
Remarkably, 42 of the goals have been free-kicks – only Ronaldinho, then at Gremio, surpassed Ceni’s dead-ball strike rate in the 2000 national championship (Ceni converted seven to Ronaldinho’s ten). He reckons to score from 70 per cent of the 50 or 60 free-kicks he takes at each training session. Only one coach at São Paulo, his club since 1990, asked Ceni to concentrate solely on his goalkeeping. Mario Sergio argued it was a distraction, but has since admitted he wasted Ceni’s talent. The drill is now well rehearsed, but has gone horribly wrong in the past. Playing against Fluminense, Ceni netted a free-kick but, as he celebrated his goal, Flu restarted quickly and scored from within the centre circle, with the keeper still clapping himself en route back to his unmanned post.

View All 100 Goals Here