Club Sportif Sfaxien (Tunisia)

Hailing from the coastal city of Sfax - once base to the fabled Barabary pirates of the Mediterranean - CSS have recently been deemed one of the five best club sides currently playing in African. Their history in both their home league and the African Champions League is littered with trophies and awards, and their fans as rabid and excitable as you'll find anywhere. 

Founded in 1928 as Club Tunisien, the originally played in a rather eye- melting kit of red and green stripes. It took them another 34 years to realise that this really wasn't particularly nice, and changed their strip to the glorious black and white stripes in 1962 - the same time they changed their name to their current title. They were promoted to the top flight of Tunisian football in 1947, and there they have stayed, for the most part, ever since.

The club and fans alike are hard task masters, and despite their frequent success on the pitch, the team has got through a startling 30 managers in the last 20 years. Although I've not checked in the last few minutes, so that figure may have risen. Despite this rapid turnover of coaching staff, they've still reeled in seven league titles, four President's Cup wins, three CAF Confederation Cups, and were runners-up in the CAF Champions League in 2006, narowly missing out by a late second leg goal to the prolific Egyptian trophy hunters Al Ahly.

They also have had success in both the North African Cup Winners Cup last year, and the Arab Champions League, which they have won twice.

However, despite their great success on the field of play, they are perhaps even better known for their fans, and were among the first on the continent to employ elements of choreography to their pre-match fun. They finished fourth in Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 last season, some distance behind the champions and all-time local record holders and fierce rivals Espérance Sportive de Tunis, but you can bet that the team widely known as The Juventus of the Arabs won't leave it too long before their next league triumph.



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Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas (Brazil)

Very little is simple in a country as vast and diverse as Brazil, and getting to grips with the history of Botafogo and its projectory through the various layers of its nations football league system is no exception. Pinpointing the club's exact genesis is tricky, but popular legend cites it as being the foundation of a rowing club called the Club de Regatas Botafogo in the summer of 1894. Based in the beach area of Botafogo, which means literally 'he who sets fire', they chose as their colours black and white, and devised the Lone Star emblem that they've kept to this day.

Ten years later in 1904, a local football team called Electro Club was formed by a bunch of school mates during an algebra class. They chose their black and white striped strip because one of their number was an ardent Juventus fan. After one of their grandmother's complained that the name sounded a little silly, they quickly changed their name to Botafogo Football Club. They soon became one of the strongest teams in the city, winning the local championship many times in their first few years.

The football club and the rowing club finally merged in 1942. Despite having the same team colours and hailing from the same part of town, it never dawned on them to pool their resources until a basketball challenge between the two. When one of the football club's members died suddenly after the game, the president of the rowing club (the famous Brazilian poet Augusto Frederico Schmidt) deemed that the two should club together in his memory. From then on in, they shared the same badge and the same general management. I told you nothing was simple in Brazil.

Until as recently as 1971 there was no national league in the country, because of its massive size the difficulty of travelling between the regions. So in that time, Botafogo played in a number of regional, state and invitational leagues and tournaments. Their most impressive record is in the Rio de Janeiro state league, which they have won a massive 19 times - plus another 27 other titles from a variety of regions - including one national league title in 1985.

The club has seen some of the most famous names in Brazilian football history grace its stripes. The names roll off the tongue like a fantasy league of greatness - Bebeto, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Josimar, Nilton Santos. But the greatest of them - and in many eyes the greatest footballer of all time - was a little fella with wonky legs called Garrincha.

Manuel Francisco dos Santos was better known by his nickname - a local phrase meaning Little Bird. he was the first international superstar of Brazilian football, and dazzled the planet in their twin victories in 1958 and 1962. Widely regarded as the greatest dribbler in the history of the game, his success was even more spectacular as he was born with a series of birth defects, including a deformed spine, a right leg that bent inwards, and a left leg that was two inches shorter and curved outwards. That he could walk at all was fantastic. That he could play like and angel was nothing short of amazing.

Sadly he died almost destitute in 1983, a victim to the wicked alcoholism that had blighted his family. But despite all that, thousands of well-wishers turned up to his funeral to pay their respects to Alegria do Povo - the Joy of the People. They still fly flags with his face on at Botafogo. But had he lived in a more televised age he would be an international household name perhaps even greater than Pelé.

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Rabat Ajax FC (Malta)

Based in the village of Rabat in the centre of Malta's main island, Rabat Ajax FC have become somewhat of a yo-yo club in recent years, dipping in and out of the second and third tiers of Maltese football with some regularity. However, they have a long and fairly complicated history. Founded in 1930 under the name Rabat Rovers, they joined with their local rivals Rabat Rangers and a team called Old City in 1937 to become Rabat Zvanks. A year later, they decided that this was too complicated a name, and changed it to the simpler Rabat FC, before joining with a club already called Rabat Ajax in 1980, finally settling on the name Rabat Ajax FC.

Their golden years were in the mid- 1980s, when they twice won the Maltese Premier League. Around the same time, they had a short but spectacular flirtation with European football - twice in the UEFA Cup and twice in the European Cup. 1983 saw them take a 16-0 UEFA hammering by Inter Bratislava, but they performed much better the following year against fellow stripes FK Partizan, losing by only two goals in each leg. However, their title wins saw them enter the big one, back in the day the Champions Trophy was for champions only. Their European Cup debut in 1985 saw them take two 5-0 batterings to Omonia Nicosia, but their biggest moment of all came in 1986 when they got a plumb first round draw against FC Porto.

In the home leg they only conceded a single goal to the high-flying Portuguese champs, so were full of expectation for the return leg. Unfortunately Porto denied the team whose home ground can only hold 400 the chance of playing at their massive Estádio das Antas, and the game was played at the much smaller Rio Ave stadium instead. Still over-awed by the occasion, Ajax took a brutal 9-0 beating, and it was the last time this plucky side would ever grace a European stage.

Their most noted player was Carmel Busuttil, who saw action away from the Island, at first with Italian amateur side Verbania, before joining the Belgian outfit Racing Genk. Also of note from their roster is a chap called Paddy Sloan, a much travelled Irishman who not only played internationally for both Irish national side, but became the first Irishman ever to play for in Serie A when Milan signed him way back in 1948. he also had spells at Manchester United, Arsenal, Fulham and Udinese, before finding his way to Malta, both playing for and managing Rabat Ajax, and eventually ending his playing days at Bath City.

See, we stripes like to keep it in the family!

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Saba Qom FC (Iran)

Nestling within the city limits of the beautiful holy city of Qom are a team who were indeed born again. Starting life as Mohemat Sazi in the capital Tehran, the team saw little success, and spent most of its days pottering around the lower divisions of the Iranian league system. However, in 2002, the club was bought up by the Saba Battery Company, a commercial wing of the Iranian Ministry of Defense. immediately they had the funds to afford a few decent players, and within two years were promoted to the local top flight, the Iran Pro League.

Indeed, their rise was so meteoric that a cup win in the 2004/06 season saw them in the Asian Champions League - although they swiftly knocked out in the first round. In 2008 though, the Saba company moved them from the capital to the city of Qom, as it was decided that there were too many clubs in Tehran with tiny fanbases. In this case, doing a Milton Keynes worked in their favour, as their gates immediately rose. It was at this time that they thankfully changed their name from Saba Battery to Saba Qom. A much more becoming title, don't you think?

The same season they were notable in being the only team in the IPL who kept the same manager for the whole season! Since their second coming, they've become a solid mid-table team, making their second Champions league appearance - although seeing the same brief exit.

Perhaps their most well-known player was the prolific Ali Daei - the world's all time leading goalscorer in international matches, with 109 goals in 149 matches. This puts him a massive 25 goals ahead of his nearest rival, Hungary's Ferenc Puskás. His massive caps tally also put him at 12th in the most capped internationals list, two behind the grumpy German Lothar Matthäus. After a distinguished career in Iran, he spent the spent the turn of the century years playing in Germany, for the likes of Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin, before returning home and breifly becoming the manager of the Iranian national side.

Saba's currently manager is one Rasoul Korbekandi, who eagle-eyed readers may remember from the Iran squad at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.Their current squad include Brazillian journeyman Diego José Clementino, Andrzej Bednarz - the first Pole ever to play in the IPL and the free-scoring Fereydoon Fazli.

With the IPL season drawing to a close at the time of writing, Saba are sitting in 7th place in a close league, hoping for a last push for a Champions League place. Let's hope the Batterys have got the power to make it!

 
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Eso es tener fe...

* Santos le regala su calificación a un gris América.
* Si vas a descansarlos...¿pa´que los metes pues pelao?
* Santos solo jugó 45 min.
* Se pierde el juego y la posibilidad de recibir el 2do. juego.
* ¿Conformismo o simplemente así era el script?

Créanme que el desplegado fue lo mas "light" posible, hubo otras ideas que si las posteaba hasta de antisantista me hubieran tachado y es que despues del juego, tenia sentimientos encontrados.
Me preguntaba por dentro, ¿ por qué dejar ir la posibilidad de eliminar, echar, humillar y frustrar a uno de los llamados historicamente "grandes"? ¿por qué no echar la carne al asador desde el minuto 1? ¿por qué no ir por el 3er lugar general ahora que ya se sabían los resultados? en fin, tenía un sin fin de preguntas en la mente que no me serán nunca respondidas, ya que "el aficionado no sabe de táctica" tal y como siempre lo dice el flamante tecnico verdiblanco cuando se le cuestiona su "estilo".

Fueron 45 minutos de...¿que estará bien decir?

Bueno, cada uno de ustedes tendrá su opinión, créanme que por dentro, me sentí desilusionado de ver como el equipo al que quiero, le daba tantas posibilidades al rival para que demostrara "su poder"; hasta 5 cambios nuestro técnico hizo para sabra Dios que hacer ( ¿o sí lo sabemos?) haciendo ver a un Santos desesperantemente FALLIDO, era desesperante ver como les rebotaban todos los balones, parecía que les daban sandías que no podían mantener quietas, no habia control y las pocas veces que eso ocurría mandaban un balonazo al "viva Villa ( y no tito)" a ver si en una de esas un Vuoso desesperado la agarraba y se sacaba alguna jugada de la chistera estilo "los supercampeones" para anotar de forma epica...obviamente eso no pasó.

En solo 8 minutos, Angel Reyna, abria el marcador, 1-0 el "super" America ya le ganaba al Santos ( no a los guerreros, esos ya los he dejado de ver hace varias fechas ) y párenle de contar, los restantes minutos del primer tiempo fueron de bostezo tras bostezo ( en mi caso era de enojo tras enojo ).

Las aguilas eran incapaces de poder hacer mas goles, y Santos, bueno, Santos intentaba jugar a algo para responder a la "confianza" dada por su tecnico de mandarlos a la cancha bajo el argumento de que "descansaría a los titulares" por su gran carga de trabajo en la temporada
( que alguien le diga a Romano que NO CALIFICÓ a la Libertadores, quien sabe, igual y el piensa que estan jugando esa copa también ).

para el Segundo tiempo, vinieron los cambios, entra Oribe, Ludueña y Morales, salen Vuoso, Toledo y Chema, ¿ el resultado? otro Santos Laguna este si, con llegadas al frente de peligro que Darwin Quintero, Oribe y Ludueña se encargaban de desperdiciar , pero que al menos se veía con peligro ante un "poderoso" América echado a atrás a ratonear el unico gol que habían logrado concretar, aún así, y gracias a desatenciones y buenas jugadas amarillas, América tuvo en los botines de Reyna y Montenegro, sendas jugadas de peligro que hubieran callado con los cuestionamientos, así mismo, un tiro libre que Arce sacó de la línea cuando ya los amarillos cantaban gol.

Las jugadas mas claras de Santos Laguna, fue un gran disparo que Navarrete se encargó de enviar para afuera, así mismo un disparo de Darwin Quintero que hizo reventar el arguero, y en el contrarremate de cabeza se lanza vistozamente para tirarla por encima, de igual manera, una entrada de Ludueña que tira cruzado y con el pie, ahoga la esperanza verdiblanca de tan siquiera tan siquiera, empatar un partido QUE NO DEBERÍA HABERSE ENTREGADO DE ESA FORMA.

¿Desde cuando somos tan...unidos?

Así America califica, echando a un Cruz Azul ( sorry carnal, pero tu equipo de plano lo merecía al dejarse empatar por un patético Chivas, lo peor de todo, es que ellos solitos se lo hicieron xD) mientras, Santos laguna pierde el juego, el 4to lugar general y es enviado hasta el 5to lugar, perdiendo además la posibilidad de jugar el partido de vuelta en su estadio todo gracias a la "estrategia" de dejar a 5 titulares en la banca.

La proxima semana, Santos recibe en el juego de Ida de Cuartos de final a las 7pm. a las gatas pardas de CU, ( Romano, recuerda, juegan SIN 3 SELECCIONADOS BASE ) y Santos tiene que tomar ventaja, ya que CU es una cancha difícil, pero teniendo esas bajas, y contando Santos con el plantel que tiene así como su talento ES IMPERATIVA LA VICTORIA, ya que gracias a el papelón en el Azteca, los de Romano también perdieron la posibilidad de que ante el empate global, pasaran por mejor posicion, todo eso perdió nuestro equipo gracias a la gran "decision".
Es liguilla, es TIEMPO DE QUE EL CORONA PESE, recuerden lo que Pumas nos hizo en aquella eliminación, ténganlo presente Y REVENTEMOS AL RIVAL desde que salga a la cancha, olvidemos a Romano y compañía, pues todos queremos ver CAMPEONAR a nuestro equipo ( aún estando él aquí ) así pues, necesitamos que la voz del corona se escuche, si antes, 18mil gargantas hacían temblar al rival, hoy 30 mil debemos hacer que nuestro estadio vuelva a ser temido, que vuelva a ser...

LA CASA DEL DOLOR AJENO.

Santos Laguna, estamos con ustedes, DEMUESTREN que siguen siendo guerreros.
Sale!.

GANADOR DEL TORNEO VIRTUAL
VALRESA - SANTA GRANDEZA.
( ajas, quedo verso sin esfuerzo ).

CLICK PARA VER LA LISTA COMPLETA.

Felicidades Isaac Ramírez Enriquez
y su equipo II Diavolo Neoazurro.
Ojala puedas enviarme algun correo
a la cuenta de darksaint_mx@hotmail.com
para ponerme de acuerdo contigo.

Jeunesse Esch (Luxembourg)

Formed as the rather more cumbersome sounding Jeunesse la Frontière d'Esch back in 1907, Jeunesse Esch are the most successful single club in Luxembourgian history with a whopping 27 title wins. Rivals Racing Football Club Union Lëtzebuerg (they don't do snappy club names round their way, it seems) claim they've won more, but as they're the result of the gradual merging of at least nine different clubs, we don't think that really counts. Based in the glorious South Western city of Esch-sur-Alzette - the country's second biggest city with a population of 27,146 - they have also won the Luxembourg Cup twelve times, and the double on an impressive eight occasions.

Their original, slightly lumpy name was in reference to their proximity to their border with France. They kept this name until 1918, when they dropped the Frontière bit. This they retained until the Second World War when the occupying Nazis forced them to rename as Schwarz-Weiß 07 Esch, as well as making them play in the Gauliga Mittelrhein - the highest league in the Prussian Rhine Province - alongside some Belgian clubs, where despite everything they managed to finish as runners-up in the 1943-44 season. They reverted to their pre-war name upon the liberation of Luxembourg, which they have kept ever since.

The club is considered one of their country's big three, alongside F91 Dudelange and FC Etzella Ettelbruck. However, the mid 2000s saw them take an uncharacteristic dip in fortunes, finishing as low as ninth in 2006 - only just missing out on a relegation play-off.

They also have a proud history in European competition. They've taken part in the three main competitions on an impressive 30 occasions, debuting in the old European Cup in 1958. The following year they pulled off a massive shock by beating Polish club ŁKS Łódź 6-2 on aggregate. The next round saw them up against a little team you may have heard of called Real Madrid. Despite being hammered 7-0 at the Bernabéu, they races to a shock two goal lead in the return leg, before a full strength Real side including Puskás and  Di Stéfano banged another five past them.

Then 1963 they pulled off one heck of a comeback, where despite going 4-1 down to Finns FC Haka in the first leg, they managed to nip them in the last minute in the home leg. This saw them up against fellow stripes Partizan Belgrade for a place in the quarter final, confounding all expectations by beating them 2-1 in the first leg, before being sadly hammered 6-2 by the Serbs at the return. Even more notably they held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in their home leg back in 1973.

For many years they were managed by the English football journeyman George Berry. A player at Charlton, Crystal Palace, Gillingham and Brentford in the 20s and 30s, he won titles in France as a manager with Lille and Nice, before moving to clubs in first Tunisia then Luxembourg.

Current stars include the exciting 22 year old prospect Claudio Lombardelli, Bosnians Ernad Sabotić, Almin Babačić and Meris Ramdedović, and the much capped Luxembourgish international René Peters. Currently they sit at the top of the Luxembourg league with only a couple of games to play. Good luck to the brothers in stripes!

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Heracles Almelo (The Netherlands)

Herecles are a top flight team from Almelo on the Easternmost edge of The Netherlands. They were formed back in 1903, and are named after the heroic figure of Heracles, the demigod son of the Greek god Zeus. They have twice won the Dutch national title, in 1927 and in the war time tournament in 1941. Since that time though they had spent much time in the second tier, reclaiming their rightful place in the Eredivisie in the 2005/6 season, where they finished 13th at their first stab back.

In all they have spent ten seasons in the Eredivisie since its inception as a fully professional league in 1956, including their current five season stretch, which has seen them become a respectable and very watchable mid-table team. Their astroturfed Polman Stadion ground has a cosy capacity of 8,500, which it has come close to filling in most games since their elevation back to the top table of Dutch football.

The club are perhaps most notable for being the first in The Netherlands to employ a black player. South African Steve Mokone was beloved to Heracles fans as The Black Meteor when he arrived in 1958, after a short spell at Coventry City. He was a lively character, who also saw service at Cardiff City, Barcelona, Torino and Valencia, as well as being a regular star in the South African national squad for many years. He sadly also spent a spell in prison for knocking his wife about, and is the subject of a Dutch novel and film called De Zwarte Meteoor.

Other notable former Heracles players include the popular Dutch journeyman Ricky van den Bergh, the promising Japanese international Sōta Hirayama, solid Estonian defender Ragnar Klavan, much capped Canadian Rob Friend and the legendary Rudy Degenaar, a member of the Surinamese exhibition team the Colouful 11 who were all but wiped out in the worst plane crash in Dutch aviation history in 1989 - a plane that famous Dutch names like Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Aron Winter were all due to catch.

Of their current squad, Qays Shayesteh is thought to be the only Afghani currently playing in a major European league, and keeper Martin Pieckenhagen was Hamburg's first choice custodian for many years. For team team from such a rural location, they have a refreshingly cosomopolitan feel to them. All hail to the Heraclieden!


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Seoul United (South Korea)

Possibly the youngest team on our list, Seoul United formed as recently as 2007, by a loose collection of  fans from the capital bemoaning the fact that the K-League had moved all of the city's former top flight football clubs out of the city. The battle began as far back as 2001, but suffered a setback when Sponsors LG moved the Anyang LG Cheetahs club to Seoul, renaming them FC Seoul.

Despite this spanner in the works, the foundation of the new third tier league, K3, in 2007 meant that there was now a chance of a fan-led club being established. To that effect, two local amateur sides, Good Bu and Bu and Youngseo FC were merged and a slot in K3 was found for the newly formed club. Initially they played in the immense 70,000 seat Olympic Stadium, but thankfully they moved to the much more manageable 15,194 Hyochang Stadium early in 2010.

Their first ever match was a 2-2 draw against Changwon Dudae FC on 21 April 2007, but they went on to take the innaugral title with a 3-0 aggregate win over Hwasung Sinwoo Electronics in a two game title play-off. But sadly, because of the commercial vaguaries of the Korean league system they didn't win promotion to the second level, and came a disapointing fifth in 2008, and a distant thirteenth in 2009. There's hope on the horizon though, with the United currently sitting in fourth after the first few games of the new season.

Last season they found themselves with a Seoul derby in K3, as a new team, Seoul FC Martyrs joined the league - although they finished plumb last after winning only two of their 32 games. Quite how long the club will last in a country whose league has such a controlling hand in the location of their clubs, but as long as this cheery, fan-led mob keep kicking a ball in black and white stripes, I'll be keeping an eye on their results.

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Elements Cefn Druids AFC (Wales)

Cefn Druids have a direct lineage from the historic old Welsh team Druids FC, who founded in the 1860s. As such they claim to be the oldest club in Wales, which also makes them the world's oldest club outside of England. The present day Cefn Druids, though, were formed in 1992 after a merger between Cefn Albion and Druids United. Their name since then has depended on who is sponsoring them. Initially they were Flexsys Cefen Druids, then NEWI Cefn Druids (after the initials of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education), and most recently Elements Cefn Druids.

They are a Welsh Premier League team from the village of Cefn Mawr on the outskirts of Wrexham, and ply their trade at the splendidly named Plaskynaston Lane ground in the village, which can hold 2000 punters at a push, 300 of them seated. But there's is a long and nomadic history.

The original Druids FC, formed in 1869, hailed from the nearby village of Ruabon, but were briefly known as Plasmadoc FC, before adopting the Druidic mantle in 1872. They were the first Welsh Club to enter the English FA Cup, and have won the Welsh Cup on eight occasions. They originally played on a ground in the Wynnstay Estate, but after WWI merged with Rhosymedre FC to become Rhosymedre Druids, moving their ground to Rhosymedre village. This was a good arrangement for a small number of years until, fearing insolvency in 1923, they merged with Acrefair United FC to form Druids United - the club that lasted until 1992.

Back to the nineties, and the newly club took the bold step of applying to join the second tier of Welsh Football - the Cymru Alliance, and in 1999 were promoted to the Welsh Premier League, where they have played ever since. They nearly took the dive back to the Alliance after finishing in the bottom two in 2005, but were reprieved when the winners of the second flight Buckley Town chose not to take up their promotion.

Briefly managed by former Wrexham manager Dixie McNeil, The Ancients achieved a string of respectable league positions, but after he left to concentrate on TV punditry, their fortunes have dived, and at the time of writing sit plumb last in the Welsh top flight. Let hope this historic club survive though and soon bounce back to the top table - whatever name they happen to go under next year!

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Armee Patriotique Rwandaise FC (Rwanda)

Armee Patriotique Rwandaise FC, thankfully otherwise known as APR FC, are based in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, and despite only being formed in June 1993, have quickly become the most successful club in their nation's history, winning the Rwandan Premier League on ten occasions, and the Rwandan Cup four times in their short but eventful 17 year history.

The club was formed during a peace talks in the the civil war in the early 1990s, and was the team of the Rwandan Patriotic Front - a group formed by Tutsi refugees in Uganda. After the genocide in 1994, the RPF liberated the country and its leader Paul Kagame became president, and normal football business could resume. Instantly APR FC sprang to the forefront of the region's football, and there are now few trophies in the region that doesn't have their name on it.

The team play at the 10,000 capacity Amahoro Stadium in the East of the city, a location symbolic for Tutsis as it was one of the few places that they could hide from the genocidal massacre, as the UN had their headquarters in a hotel directly behind the stadium. Anywhere up to 12,000 refugees from the city were living there at any one time, so the site has a special significance for the locals. They are still ostensibly the official club of the RPF, although have a small number of players from other African nations on their books, and are managed by Dutchman Eric te Paske, a fringe player for AZ Alkmaar in the 1990s.

They've also made seven appearances in the CAF Champions League, but have never got further than the third round, back in 2004. They did however make the heights of the semi-finals of the African Cup Winner's Cup in 2003, losing to eventual winners Étoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia in the last ever running of the tournament. It does though have a good track record in the CECAFA Club Cup, a tournament for East and Central African teams, winning the tournament in 2004 and 2007.

Notable former players include Jimmy Gatete, known locally as The God of Goals, and believed to the most prolific goalscorer in Rwandan history, Olivier Karekezi, who went on to play for Helsingborgs IF and Östers IF in Sweden, Jimmy Mulisa, who has done the rounds in Belgium, and Ugandan Abubaker Tabula, also currently plying his trade in Sweden.

And if you pay a visit to their website, try tracking down their team song, because it's a right blaster!

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Beşiktaş JK (Turkey)

Beşiktaş JK are considered outside of Turkey to be their nation's third club, in terms of both results and support. But you try telling their fans that. Followers of the Black Eagles are among the most passionate anywhere, holding as they do the world record for the loudest supporters on the planet - weighing in at a whopping 132 decibels.

But here also is a club steeped with as much myth and confused history as the city of Istanbul itself. Formed as a general sports club in the late Ottoman era in 1903, it's not clear when the playing of football actually began - although it is known to have been frowned upon by the secret police at the time. The first official sports club in Turkey, the Bereket Jimnastik Kulübü as it was then known (hence the JK in the club's name), often supplied many national squads in a range of sports in those early days, making it the only club in the country allowed to have the national flag as part of its badge.

In the early days they played in red and white stripes, but their change to the glorious black and white is a cause of much debate. Some say they changed to commiserate of the loss of territory in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. Others state that the switch commemorates the loss of the whole team in WWI, while another school of thought suggests it has more to do with the school colours of the French-educated first preseident of the club, Mehmet Şamil Bey. But whatever the origin, they've not been afraid to be creative with the strip, on occasions playing in a near white strip with only the faintest of black pin stripes, and this season offering up a bizarre black and white harlequin affair for their European away trips.

Their stadium, the BJK İnönü is a cauldron of sound and beauty, and ranked as the fourth best in the world by The Sunday Times. Nestled in a slope on a leafy bank on the banks of the Bosphoros with the beautiful Dolmabahçe Palace, at its foot, it is the only ground in the world from which you can see two continents - Asia peaking out across the water as it does. To this end it Beşiktaş are a club with supporters from both side of the bridge. While Galatasaray's fans are predominantly from the more afluent Gala neighbourhood on the European side, and Fenerbahçe play on the Asiatic quarter of the city, BJK's punters are a more citywide crew, with many of the Asian fans crossing the water on a flotilla of ferries on match days.

As is the case in many of the clubs in the South Eastern corner of Europe, the fans are divided into many different factions, but the over-arching element among them all over the last 30 years have been the Çarşı - a socially and politically sussed aggregation that ignores many of the cultural barriers that divide much of Turkish football, and the Istanbul game in particular. In fact many fans don't even consider the Çarşı as a fan club - more an ethos in the way the club is followed. So it was a surprise then when a high profile fan declared them disbanded in 2008, when it was decided that they were becoming bigger than the club itself. Despite this, many loyal fans still wear the anarchistic Çarşı loco to games.

So if you ever find yourself in Istanbul and feel brave enough to go to a game, don't go to the apparently more Rolls Royce grounds of Fener or Gala - although you'll undoubtedly have a lot of fun. Instead drag yourself down to the water's edge and immerse yourselves in what is probably one of the five most passionate bunch of fans on the globe.






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Lo mejor fue la victoria pero...

* Sufrido triunfo verde * Felicidades al Pequeño Gigante Estrada! * Darwin...hay Darwin como nos hace sufrir. * Baloy, se le fue la lengua * Con alfileres la victoria.

Antes que nada, una gran disculpa por la tardanza, es solo que a veces se cuestiones que no hacen posible publicar el resumen en tiempo.

El juego vs San Luis no debió haber sido tan sufridoy es que es verdaderamente desesperante las opciones que se estan fallando ( no desde este juego, ojo, ya tiene bastante) si bien Darwin Quintero fue casi casi la figura del juego, tambien y por un minuto, pudo haber sido el villano del mismo al fallar de forma tan lamentable las opciones que tuvo.
Santos salió y jugo como debía hacerlo, en el campo se veía realmente quién era el equipo 5to lugar general y quien el colero, los guerreros realmente demostraron el poder ofensivo del equipo llegando por todos los lados posibles, abriendo la cancha y tirando balones a fondo, desgraciadamente, Darwin se cansó de fallar una tras otra como decía Paco Stanley.

Sin embargo, alguna tenía que caer ( si no, era demasiada mala suerte ) y Darwin metio una de las tantos balones filtrados para el 1-0, aunque para ese momento, era ese o la rechifla por parte del respetable y con justificada razon, algo se tiene que hacer en liguilla pues todos sabemos que se gana en base a goles y las oportunidades se las estan creando, solo que ya las concrete, me cae que si metiera la mitad de las que tiene, hubiera quedado campeón de goleo.

Aún siendo bailado y con gol en contra San Luis no bajó los brazos, venían por el empate y lo conseguirían con un sendo trallazo del Chango Moreno ante la pasiva y lenta marca de Lacerda que nomas le faltó aplaudirle y felicitar el gol 100 del chango.

Así se irian a medio tiempo, con la gente enojada y con justa razon pues no era posible que un cuadro que sólo habia llegado una sola ocasion le bastara para empatarte ante la displiscencia de tus delanteros que pensaban que podían resover todo en un parpadeo.
Y casi lo logran los tuneros, porque en la segunda mitad, se metieron al bunker y de ahi no salían mas que para lo necesario, como un ostion, Ambriz mandaba a sus jugadores que destruyeran todo lo que llegara, simplemente venían por el empate, lo tenían y no lo dejarían ir.

hasta la chilindrina metieron atras los del San Luis...

Cuando el partido expiraba, ultimo minuto, chiquimarco casi a punto de pitar, Darwin realizo una gran jugada personal, para luego ser compartido y darla a la llegada del pequeño gigante Guti Estrada que ni tardo ni perezoso enviaría al fondo de las redes para alegría de todos los asistentes al TSM y sobre todo alegría a un jugador que se ha ganado en base a entrega, valor, pundonor y sobre todo amor a la camiseta un reconocimiento con toda la aficion, al grado de adoptarlo ya como un elemento crucial en el equipo.

Desgraciadamente, Baloy echó a perder el momento y le quitó algo de los reflectores al Guti al hacerse expulsar tontamente gracias a que se le fue la lengua vs un sanluisino a menos de 2 metros de Marco Rdgz. quien dijo "de aquí soy" y se anotó la roja de costumbre a costillas del defensor lagunero.

Así, Santos se anota un triunfo que lo mete de lleno a la liguilla, que lo hace renacer, pero sobre todo que le corta esa racha tan mala que ya parecía extenderse gracias a la poca contundencia de los delanteros.
No fue un triunfo facil, fue difícil, pero porque ellos mismos así lo quisieron, Santos durante el primer tiempo, demostró el potencial que tiene, es cuestión que ese nivel sea mantenido y sobre todo, hacer entender a sus delanteros que las opciones generadas por sus compañeros deben ser aprovechadas en todo momento.
Ahora y cerrando la temporada, visitamos nada mas y nada menos que al America, teniendo en sus manos su calificacion. Santos DEBE IR POR LA VICTORIA, así, sin mas, nada de que "llevaré cuadros alternativos" ni "voy a experimentar" ni ocho cuartos, Sr. Romano, ese ultimo juego, CUENTA DE SOBREMANERA, con una combinación de resultados, se puede -incluso- hasta un segundo lugar general ese que tantas satisfacciones nos ha regalado.

Sr. Romano, vaya por la victoria, la liguilla empezara UNA SEMANA después, lo mejor es ir con el equipo afiladito y no tener que levantarlo en caso de un resultado adverso por ir con miedo al DF.
Pumas va vs Indios que se despiden de la primera, se querran ir con una victoria, pues es lo unico que les queda, mientras que Chivas irá vs Cruz Azul que requiere la victoria a toda costa si quiere quedar en buena posicion, America tiene que abrirse pues la victoria es lo unico que le resta, aproveche la velocidad de Darwin, NO SE ECHE PARA ATRAS, juegue a ganar...este equipo sabe atacar, mas no defender.

Sale!!.

PD. Resultados de la penultima jornada de futbol virtual
la proxima semana, publicaremos al ganador.