Is Michael Ballack the biggest loser ever?
Plus: High-scoring debutants; the origin of the blinder; little and
large strike duos; and modern football's cheapest player. Send your
questions and answers to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
* Alan Gardner, Howard Swain, Tom Davies and John Ashdown
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnashdown>
* guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/>,
* Wednesday July 23, 2008
* Article history
Michael Ballack: not even the best at being runner-up. Photograph: Lars
Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images
*"Does any top player have a more impressive collection of runners-up
medals than Michael Ballack?"* asked Tobin Dunn a few weeks ago
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/01/knowledge>.
Well, Tobin, we should perhaps start by appraising Ballack's career as
bridesmaid. You might think that 2008 is far out in front in his annus
horribilis stakes, with the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup
(all with Chelsea) and the European Championship (Germany) all going
begging; however, Ballack has been here before, missing out on the
Bundesliga, Champions League, German League Cup (with Bayer Leverkusen)
and World Cup in 2002. He's also got three more second-place medals from
the Bundesliga (two with Leverkusen in 1999 and 2000, one with Bayern
Munich in 2004), and another Premier League silver with Chelsea (2007).
That gives a total of 12 rueful pats on the back for Herr Ballack
(though we should probably also mention that he's also been champion on
several occasions). However, despite his prowess at losing, the Blues
powerhouse looks like missing out on top spot once again. Our own
research led us to Scotland, and the league of alternating champions,
where Celtic and Scotland legend Paul McStay became used to life at
number two. Having been a member of the Celtic squad that finished
second on six occasions (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1996, 1997), he was
also on the losing side in two Scottish Cup finals (1984, 1990), and
four Scottish League Cup finals (1984, 1987, 1991 1995). That would see
him tied with Ballack on 12 – but for the delightful fact that McStay
also played in the 1989 Rous Cup (a sort of replacement for the British
Home Championship), coming second to England.
Scotland possesses an even bigger loser than McStay, though. Paul Haynes
sent us details of Sandy Jardine's career, during which he won
runners-up medals in the Scottish league seven times (1967, 1968, 1969,
1970, 1973, 1977, 1979) and in the Scottish Cup three times (1977, 1980,
1982). And that was just with Rangers. He went on to achieve second-best
with Hearts in Scottish Division One (1983) and again in the SPL (1986,
1988), as well as in the Scottish Cup of 1986. To top all that off, he
captained the Scottish team that finished as runners-up to England in
the 1975 British Home Championship, setting the bar at 15.
However, our outstanding contender comes from the continent, with Dudley
Armitage (among others) alerting us to the fact that despite all his
successes, Paolo Maldini has missed out on the cigar quite a number of
times as well: three Champions League finals (1993, 1995, 2005), three
Intercontinental/World Club Cups (1993, 1994, 2003), two Coppa Italias
(1990, 1998), three Supercoppa Italias (1996, 1999, 2003), one Uefa
Super Cup (1993), a World Cup (1994), and European Championship (2000).
Add those to the three times Milan have come up one short in Serie A
(1990, 1991, 2005) and it's a grand total of 17 near misses for the
veteran Italian.
------------------------------------
HAPUS BAGIAN EMAIL YG TIDAK PERLU SEBELUM ME-REPLY.
==========================================================
Milis Tabloid BOLA
Untuk KELUAR DARI MILIS INI. Kirim Mail kosong (tanpa subject) ke alamat [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
==========================================================Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bolaml/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bolaml/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
