World Soccer Blogger Top 20

Back with another edition of the Top 20, but first a comment on rankings in general. Let's not mince words here: some of the rankings printed in prominent publications (Sports Illustrated, I'm talking to you) are downright idiotic. I know that in theory it makes sense for 'world' rankings to favor leaders of leagues around the world rather than second, third, and fourth-place teams in the major European leagues, but it's just stupid to rank a team such as Sao Paolo at #6 ahead of Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Sevilla, etc. Does anyone really think that Sao Paolo is better than all of those teams? Would the writer of those rankings really be willing to bet his own money that Sao Paolo would beat those teams more often than not? Of course not. It's nothing more than a way of trying to give equal time to leagues around the world, but if you're doing that at the expense of accuracy and honesty, then it trivializes the rankings in general. Look at my top 10 - do you see any South American teams? No, you don't, but does that mean that they're not taken into consideration? Hardly. It's just that, while I give credit where it's due to teams such as Sao Paolo and Estudiantes, I'm not about to vault them into my top 10 just because they're doing well in second-tier leagues such as the Brasileirao and the Apertura. Now the counter-argument is the fact that teams from these leagues have beaten the European powers - Boca Juniors' wins over AC Milan and Real Madrid in the Intercontinental Cup come to mind. But let's be real - those instances tend to be one-offs, games where on that given day...in a stadium far far away...playing for a trophy that the Europeans may or may not care about...anyone can win. And if you still need proof, if teams such as Sao Paolo are so good, how come when their best players (like Cicinho at Real Madrid or Luis Fabiano at Sevilla) move to the bigger European clubs they instantly struggle to get into the squad and more often than not fail to duplicate their success in Latin America? Gee, I dunno.

But enough of that, I'll come down off the ole soapbox now...mainly because I've exceeded my allowance of rhetorical questions, but also because today is not a day when I really want to take the luster off of the achievements of Latin American teams. Of course, I'm talking about Estudiantes de La Plata. Diego Simeone's boys have done the impossible. Trailing almighty Boca by 7 points with three games to play, Estudiantes forced a playoff and then, to everyone's surprise, won the title, defeating los Xeneixes 2-1. It was an epic comeback, one that will live on in the memory for years to come. Just three weeks ago, all the talk in Buenos Aires was about Boca's three-peat. Their new coach Ricardo LaVolpe was promising to shave off his famous 'bigote' (mustache) if (he meant 'when') Boca won it all. If there were any concerns, it was over whether or not LaVolpe or his predecessor Alfio Basile (now coaching the national team) would get credit for the famous three-peat. Well, not so fast, mis amigos. A Boca loss and Estudiantes win cut the margin to four. Then Boca went to Cordoba and lost, but no need to worry because Estudiantes gave up a late equalizer to Gimnasia - the gap was still three, so all Boca needed was a draw in the finale, a home game against Lanus, a team everyone pegged as a hopeless case heading into the inferno of La Bombonera. After Boca went up 1-0 on a penalty by Martin Palermo, the celebrations were on. Shame no one told Lanus. Two second-half goals silenced the home crowd and, when word came that Estudiantes was winning 1-0, shockwaves could be felt all around Argentina. It was on to a playoff game. Even then, no one thought that the team captained by Juan Sebastian Veron could pull it off...especially not after Palermo again put Boca a goal up with an easy finish in the 3rd minute. That scoreline held until the second-half when Estudiantes finally stopped squandering the chances that they'd had all game long. Two goals by the Students and all of a sudden it was 2-1 with 15 minutes to play. Could the underdogs hold on? Damn straight - and just to rub it in, they were never pressured in the final minutes, coming far closer to scoring an insurance goal than giving up an equalizer. And just like that - Estudiantes campeones! The post-game scenes are hard to put into words, but suffice to say that that's why soccer is the best game on earth - fans and players sobbing with joy, unrestrained emotion everywhere you looked, downright disbelief on the faces of even the winning fans much less the losing Boca supporters (who to their credit stayed in the stadium to applaud the Estudiantes players)...it was truly an amazing sight to behold. Now does that mean that Estudiantes will be cracking the top-5 in the rankings anytime soon? Puhleeze, don't be ridiculous.

1. Chelsea - No matter what Fergie says, they're not at their best but they're still right in the thick of it in the Premiership and Champions League. Would be favored against anyone in the world.
2. Barcelona - Nothing like a round-the-world trip to Japan when you're trying to defend your titles in Spain and Europe. Please send all postcards to Sepp Blatter.
3. Olympique Lyon - They just keep rolling along, beating everyone in their path.
4. Inter Milan - Mancini's got all systems go at the San Siro. And there's enough talent there to...(gulp)...make a run at the Champions League title. Nah, who am I kidding? They'll find a way to screw it up.
5. Manchester United - They could be higher and maybe they should be. Right now they can play with anybody, although my money's still on Chelski to steal the title come May.
6. Sevilla - They've lost Reyes, Baptista, Sergio Ramos, Saviola, but they're still second in la Liga and they've beaten both Real and Barca (in the European SuperCup) in the past four months. Don't sleep on the boys from the south.
7. Real Madrid - It's under-20 night at the Bernabeu: Marcelo, left-back from Fluminense - signed. Higuain, striker from River Plate - signed. Gago, midfielder from Boca Juniors, signed. So I'm guessing we can now officially lay to rest that whole 'Zidanes y Pavones' policy now, huh?
8. Arsenal - No Henry. No Gallas. No problem - the Gunners have climbed to third in the Premiership.
9. Roma - Love watching this team, but wow did they get destroyed by Lazio in the latest edition of the Roma derby.
10. Werder Bremen - Just when you think they might be for real, they get shellacked by Barca and bounced out of Europe. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
11. Bayern Munich - They're only ranked this high because they won their European group that included Inter Milan and they're hanging tough (New Kids-like) in the Bundesliga despite being far far far from their best.
12. Liverpool - Not having a good year, so why do I think they'll still play Barca tight in the Champions League?
13. Porto - Oh, it'll be a special night in the Dragao stadium when they get to welcome back ole buddy Jose Mourinho when the Champions League resumes in February...
14. PSV Eindhoven - Best in the Eredivisie. Now let's see if they keep Alex from moving to Real Madrid. But hey, how many players can one team sign?
15. Sao Paolo - Don't get me wrong - they're good. Just not #6 in the world good.
16. AC Milan - Serious issues for the Rossoneri. When the three major talking points of the season are 1- A courtcase resulting in a massive points penalty for match-fixing, 2- Kaka's possible move to Real, and 3- An unexpected battle with relegation...well, you know it's a bad year for the red half of Milano.
17. Celtic - Cruising along in Scotland. Blah blah blah.
18. Internacional - Play Barca tonight for the World Club Cup title. Thanks for coming guys. Enjoy the trip home.
19. Zaragoza - Fourth in la Liga, with talent like Aimar, Ewerthon, the brothers Milito...don't say I didn't warn you.
20. Estudiantes - Cinderella story.

On the Bubble - Bolton (good time to be a Wanderers fan), Schalke 04 (top-3 in Deutschland), Lille (advanced in Champions, now they get Milan...), Palermo (fallen off the pace in Serie A), Valencia (injuries, in-fighting, and controversies have de-railed the season for los Ches)