IFFHS NEWS AND STATISTICS OF THE WEEK 30


Picture :  Thibaut Courtois, IFFHS World Goalkeeper of the year 2018, wins La Liga Trophy 2019/20 !

 

 

                   THIBAUT COURTOIS WINS LALIGA’S 2019/20 ZAMORA TROPHY

Thibaut Courtouis wins the Laliga 2019/2020 season Zamora trophy for being the goalkeeper with the Most Clean Sheets during the season. He achieved this feat having had 20 clean sheets and by doing this he becomes the first keeper in history to win the Zamora trophy with both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. This is his third Zamora trophy in total having picked up the same award twice in the past with Atletico Madrid in the 2012/13 season (29 Clean Sheets) as well as the 2013/14 season (24 Clean Sheets)

The year 2018 was a remarkable year in terms of individual awards for Courtouis where he was named as THE IFFHS WORLD’S BEST GOALKEEPER, FIFA WORLD CUP GOLDEN GLOVE and THE BEST FIFA GOALKEEPER

              

 

                    LIONEL MESSI KEEPS BREAKING AND SETTING NEW RECORDS

The La Liga season may have ended on a disappointing note for fc Barcelona and their fans worldwide but there is still something to cheer about as Lionel Messi keeps breaking and setting new records, much to the delight of the Barcelona fans worldwide.

Following Fc Barcelona’s 5-0 win on Sunday, July 19 over Deportivo Alaves, a game in which Messi scored two goals and made one assist, here are a few new records he either set and or equaled.

    



1 - MESSI becomes the first player to win the La Liga Top Scorer award (Pichichi) for the seventh time moving ahead of Telmo Zarra(6), Alfredo di Stefano(5), Quini(5), Hugo Sanchez(5) and Ferenk Puskas(4)

      2.     MESSI equaled Gerd Muller’s record for the Most Top Goal scorer award in Europe’s Top 5 leagues. Messi and Gerd Muller both with 7 and Telmo Zarra and Jimmy Greaves with 6

      3.     MESSI set a new record for the highest number of Assists in a La Liga season with 21 Assists while beating the previous record of Xavi (20) which he achieved in the 2008-2009 season

      4.     MESSI broke another record previously held by Thierry Henry for being the only player to have scored 20plus goals and assisted 20plus goals in the same season. Henry had 24 goals and 20 assists in the 2002/2003 Premier League season for arsenal while Messi had 25 goals and 21 assists in the just concluded 2019/2020 La Liga season

      5.     MESSI ended the La Liga season as both the Top Scorer(25goals) and Top Assister (21 goals) and this will be the Sixth time in his career ending the league season as Top Assister which is another record

      6.     MESSI is the first and only La Liga player to hold the records in both the Most Goals Scored (50 goals in the 2011/12 season) as well as Assists given (21 assists in the 2019/20 season) 

      7.     MESSI becomes the first player in the 21st century to record 1,000 Goal Contributions (Goals and Assists) since Opta stats started recording assists in the early 200’s.

He has scored 703 goals with 298 assists = 1,001 Goal Contribution in 867 games

The closest player to this numbers is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored 732 goals with 217 assists = 949 Goal Contribution in 1,009 games

 

 

 

                                          FACUP 2020 FINAL


 The FACUP, which is the oldest national football competition in the world will be hosting the 2020 Final at the WEMBLEY stadium on August 1, 2020 between Two London Clubs, Arsenal Fc who are 13 times winners of the Fa cup (Most) and Chelsea Fc who are 8 times winners of the same competition. The last time both teams met in the Final of the competition was in 2017 where the arsenal side coached by Arsene Wenger came out victorious in a 2-1 victory over a conte led Chelsea side. Much has changed in the managerial positions of both clubs since that last encounter. Arsenal is being currently coachec by Mikel Arteta while Chelsea is being coached by Frank Lampard

 

 


 

                         FORMER CAMEROON STRIKER WINS TURKISH LEAGUE AS DEPUTY COACH.

Pierre Achille Webo Kouamo has added one more red feather on his crown of achievements by winning the Cup of Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir F.K. as deputy trainer. The 38-year-old who has been in that role for two years now, is being celebrated by fans of the Cameroon National Football Team, especially those who kept records of his performance when he starred therein as striker.

Twice FIFA World Cup participant, Webo, who last sported the Indomitable Lions jersey during their doomed African Cup of Nations in 2015 when they were given an early exit in Malabo, is best remembered for his hat-trick against the Ivory Coast in their penultimate match in the run-up to the 2016 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He also scored severally for Cameroon in twelve years of his romance with the Indomitable Lions, for whom he played in national duty, severally from his professional clubs at Leganés, Osasuna, Mallorca, Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe SK. After leaving the den, he continued playing professional football at Osmanlispor, Gaziantep FK, both of the Turkish league, and then Nacional of Montevideo, before ultimately coming back to Basaksehir of Turkey where he became deputy trainer in November, 2019.

Webo’s newest achievement  could draw him closer to national duty in the domain in a country where nationals have almost always been treated as second fiddle.

 

 

                           THE BALLON D’OR WILL NOT BE AWARDED IN 2020


France Football, the magazine behind the annual prestigious Ballon d’Or award, announced on Monday, 20th July 2020 that the prize will not be handed out this year.

The decision comes due to the complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which put a halt or cancelled the major football leagues.

This will be the first time since 1956 that the Ballon d’Or will not be awarded.

 


 

                              CRISTIANO RONALDO KEEPS ON BREAKING RECORDS

 

Following Juventus 2-1 win over Lazio in which Cristiano Ronaldo netted the two goals in the match, he set the following individual records

1.     RONALDO became the first player in history to score 50+ goals in the Serie A, Spanish League and the Premier League.

2.     RONALDO became the second player in history to score 50+ goals in three of the big five European leagues after Eden Dzeko who achieved this feat in 2018 for As Roma as being the first to score 50+ goals in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A

3.     RONALDO became the fastest player in the Serie A to score 50 goals since 1994/95 season by scoring 50 goals in 61 matches. Shevchenko scored 50 goals in 68 matches while Ronaldo de Lima scored 50 goals in 70 matches.


Cristiano Ronaldo is currently joint top scorer in the Serie A with Ciro Immobile having both scored 30 goals. They are both in the race for the European Golden shoe award with four games remaining. Robert Lewandowski currently has 34 goals and with the Bundesliga completed, it is likely either Ronaldo or immobile will surpass him for the prize. Ronaldo is gunning for his 5thEuropean Golden shoe, only Lionel Messi has more in the history of football with 6 European Golden Shoe awards.

 

  VICTOR OSIMHEN TO JOIN NAPOLI




Victor James Osimhen, a 21-year-old Nigerian professional footballer is set to join Napoli from French Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille in a reported fee of around 67 Million Euros. He is currently one of the young promising strikers in Europe at the moment where he ended the Ligue 1 season as the joint fourth top goal scorer (shared with Neymar) with 13 goals as well as having 18 goals and 6 goals in 38 games in all competitions this season.

Osimhen was awarded the PRIX MARC VIVIEN FOE 2020 which is an award in honor to the late Marc- Vivien Foe to the best player who represents an African national football team in Ligue 1.