Strangely missing from US subscribers March issue of FourFourTwo was their World Football supplement which contained their imaginary World League teams, some interesting choices. Premiership Ajax Al Ahly Arsenal Barcelona Bayern Munich Boca Juniors Celtic Corinthians Dynamo Kyiv Galatasaray Juventus Kashima Antlers LA Galaxy Manchester Utd Milan Penarol Raja Casablanca Real Madrid River Plate Sao Paulo Division 1 Al Hilal Borussia Dortmund Colo Colo Flamengo Hearts of Oak Independiente Inter Milan Kaizer Chiefs Liverpool Marseille Olimpia Olympiakos FC Porto Rangers Red Star Belgrade Rosenborg Spartak Moscow Suwon Bluewings Sydney Sharks Valencia
Not bad choices, but still strange the wouldn't put it in the US edition. Probably worried about fall out from 'fire' fans.
How recently was the supplement published? I'd have put Santos in instead of Corinthians at least based on the finals of the Brazilian league and the games played so far this season. Was crowd support/recent hostory a factor as well?
"Taking into account such factors as success, tradition, financial clout, crowds, potential and a certain je ne sais quoi..."
Someone help me with the origin of some of these teams. If I have some of them wrong, let me know. Premiership Arsenal - England Manchester Utd - England Barcelona - Spain Real Madrid - Spain Juventus - Italy Milan - Italy Bayern Munich - Germany Galatasaray - Turkey Ajax - Holland Dynamo Kyiv - Ukraine Celtic - Scotland Boca Juniors - Argentina River Plate - Argentina Sao Paulo - Brazil Corinthians - Brazil Penarol - Uruguay Al Ahly - Egypt Raja Casablanca - Morocco Kashima Antlers - Japan LA Galaxy - United States 11 teams from UEFA 5 teams from Conmebol 2 teams from Africa 1 team from Asia 1 team from Concacaf Division 1 Liverpool - England Valencia - Spain Inter Milan - Italy Borussia Dortmund - Germany Rangers - Scotland Marseille - France Olympiakos - Greece FC Porto - Portugal Rosenborg - Norway Spartak Moscow - Russia Red Star Belgrade - Yugoslavia Independiente - Argentina Flamengo - Brazil Olimpia - Paraguay Colo Colo - Chile Al Hilal - Saudi Arabia Suwon Bluewings - Korea Hearts of Oak - Ghana Kaizer Chiefs - South Africa Sydney Sharks - Australia 11 more from UEFA 4 more from Conmebol 2 from Asia 2 from Africa 1 from Oceana There's a few problems that I have with this... 1) 2 teams from Scotland when UEFA's champions league only includes 1 -- also which of the countries get their champions in from UEFA doesn't seem to coincide with UEFA's rankings of those leagues. 2) I have a problem with so many teams from Conmebol. I would think that at most the top 2 from Argentina and Brazil plus a few others belong here. 3) I can't believe that there's only 1 team from Concacaf -- and no Mexican teams at that. Surely 1 or 2 from Mexico belong in this and possibly 1 other from Central America. Having said all this, I like the idea of doing this. A true world wide Champions League. It would wreak havoc with the playing calendar though.
The supplement was in the March issue, which came out in February, so the last was probably compiled in late December or January. Not that I would know...because, as mentioned earlier, it wasn't in the US version. And it's not like it was mistakenly left out...the "World Football" section is not listed in the table of contents, as it usually is. So somebody at Haymarket made a conscious decision to exclude the World Football section from (at least) the US version. I wonder why. Is this a one-off? We'll find out next month. If it turns out it isn't, they'll get a letter from me. It's a good thing my subscription is coming due. Gives me the tiniest bit of little leverage.
Premiership Ajax Al Ahly Arsenal Barcelona Bayern Munich Boca Juniors Celtic Corinthians Dynamo Kyiv Galatasaray Juventus Kashima Antlers LA Galaxy Manchester Utd Milan Penarol Raja Casablanca Real Madrid River Plate Sao Paulo Division 1 Al Hilal Borussia Dortmund Colo Colo Flamengo Hearts of Oak Independiente Inter Milan Kaizer Chiefs Liverpool Marseille Olimpia Olympiakos FC Porto Rangers Red Star Belgrade Rosenborg Spartak Moscow Suwon Bluewings Sydney Sharks Valencia Al AHLY???? ridiculous! how newcastle is not there is beyond belief looking at some of the teams there especially the first division.
why do all newcastle fans have this same misguided view that they are one of the world's best teams? no wonder sunderland fans see them as arrogant.