Friday Footie Link List, Dec. 7, 2007

Worldclubrankings.com is by its own definition "no-frills," focusing on rankings it culls from a proprietary algorithm. I imagine this will continue to be the site's bread and butter (it's part of their URL, lest we forget) but they are expanding their "service offerings" (to delve into marketing-ese for a second. Vile, innit? My day-job editors would never let me get away with that. Not that I'd want to. Marketing people are evil). Where was I? Oh yes, worldclubrankings.com now has a handy schedule for its top 25 teams in action, complete with TV listings for a U.S. audience. I know from my own experience what a pain in the arse it is to pull this kind of data together, so I really appreciate their efforts--especially if they were smart enough to figure out a way to automate the process. Not only that, the site is taking suggestions for additional "frills" its readers want to see added. Be sure to check them out.

Earlier this week, I decided that FIFA's Club World Cup was worth my time. Surprisingly, most reactions to this have been positive. This means I either don't have any readers in Europe, or that most people actually agree with me. Twohundredpercent happens to share my view (not only are they based in Europe, but the writer actually attended the event itself last year). They lay out five reasons why we should, in fact, care about this tournament. It's a compelling case, combining aspects of history, violence and serendipity to name just a few. Give it a read.

Who Ate All The Pies have their top 20 football moments of 2007. Actually that's just part one. Crikey, how many great moments were there, guys? Must be Man U (but not England) fans.

QPR Report has their own tribute to Gerry Francis, who turned 56 yesterday (I honored him in my quote of the day column).

Dan Looney at Top Drawer Soccer is taking nominations for CONCACAF Player of the Year. I nominated a trio of players. I'm not going to divulge who they are here; you'll have to check Dan's site. I will say that they aren't all U.S. nationals, though.

Finally, WV Hooligan debunks chatter (more like hopelessly wishful thinking) that Andrei Shevchenko is coming to MLS. Non-delusional soccer fans everywhere, particularly in the U.S., should send WV Hooligan a note of gratitude for clearing that up. Oh by the way: Jose Mourinho is not coming to coach the Red Bulls either, folks. Sorry to burst your bubble.