2014 WORLD CUP PREVIEW 1 About the CIES Football Observatory The CIES Football Observatory is a unique project initiated in 2005 by Drs Raffaele Poli and Loïc Ravenel under the name of the Professional Football Players Observatory (PFPO). Since 2011 it is one of the cornerstones of the broader CIES Sports Observatory project, dedicated to the statistical analysis of sport in all its diversity. Two annual reports are published for football. In January, the Demographic Study presents an in-depth analysis of club composition and player characteristics in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member countries. In June, the Annual Review analyses clubs and players in the big-5 European leagues from a demographic, economic and pitch performance perspective. Methodological rigour coupled with a deep knowledge of football guarantee high quality analy- ses at competitive rates. For more information: www.football-observatory.com About the CIES The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre lo- cated in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Using a multi-disciplinary approach CIES provides research, top-level education and consulting services to the sports world with the aim of overcoming the complexities of sport in today’s so- ciety and improving how it is governed and managed. For more information: www.cies.ch 2 Foreword The 20th FIFA World Cup will start on 12th June in Brazil and will generate huge media interest. The CIES Football Observatory is now pleased to be able to present new and exclusive data on the 32 teams who will be taking part in this mega event with the 2014 World Cup Preview. This new Football Observatory report analyses the profile of players used by each national team during the qualification process. For Brazil, we took into account footballers employed in friendly matches played during the qualification phase and in the Confederations Cup. The average age of players on the pitch for teams that qualified was 27.2. The oldest team was Australia (30.2 years), while the youngest was Nigeria (24.2). The average age on the pitch of European nations varies from 28.6 years for Italy and Russia to 24.7 for Belgium. The youngest player fielded was Fabrice Olinga (16.8 years during the match between Cameroon and Togo on 23/03/2013), while the oldest was Mark Schwarzer (40.7 years during the Australia v. Iraq match on 18/06/2013). The employer club whose footballers played the most minutes during World Cup qualification matches was Real Madrid (10,549 minutes), followed by FC Barcelona (9,549) and Bayern Munich (9,351). The first non-European club, Esteghlal FC of Iran (5,061 minutes), ranked only 14th. This finding reflects both the over-representation of European teams in the World Cup and the high concentration of top level players in the most competitive European leagues. In total, 48.9% of World Cup qualification minutes were played by footballers under contract with top division clubs in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. All national teams qualified fielded players employed by big-5 league clubs. However, the percentage of minutes played by big-5 league footballers was below 25% for Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Iran, South Korea and Russia. These nations will most probably struggle to qualify for the knockout stages. Only about one third of the qualification minutes were played by footballers playing in domestic leagues. This percentage was 0% for Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. The percentage was also under 5% for Uruguay, Bosnia, Ghana and Belgium. At the opposite end of the spectrum, do- mestic league based footballers played 100% of minutes in the English side. All other qualified nations fielded at least one player under contract with a foreign team. We hope that you will enjoy the new statistics presented in our 2014 World Cup Preview and we stay at your disposal for more analysis. 3 Player Club(s)* Min 2013 Friendlies and Confederation Cup: 19 matchs - 48 players Neymar Santos FC (BRA), Barcelona (ESP) 1,594 Paulinho Corinthians (BRA), Tottenham (ENG) 1,311 David Luiz Chelsea (ENG) 1,306 Júlio César QPR (ENG) 1,170 % of minutes Average age Dani Alves Barcelona (ESP) 1,149 on the pitch Oscar Chelsea (ENG) 1,085 62.0% Thiago Silva PSG (FRA) 1,064 Luiz Gustavo Bayern München (GER), Wolfsburg (GER) 1,062 Brazil Marcelo Vieira Real Madrid (ESP) 871 26.98 27.20 Hulk Zenit (RUS) 851 48.9% Fred Chaves Fluminense (BRA) 833 Brazil World Cup Big-5 league players Dante Bonfim Bayern München (GER) 554 participants World Cup participants Hernanes Lazio (ITA) 521 Jô Alves Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 454 Maxwell Scherrer PSG (FRA) 427 Maicon Douglas Roma (ITA) 347 Main clubs of employment (minutes) Ramires Chelsea (ENG) 338 30.8% 1. Chelsea (ENG) 2,799 8. Santos FC (BRA) 1,042 Fernando Lucas Grêmio (BRA), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 292 2. Barcelona (ESP) 1,815 9. Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 1,023 Jefferson de Oliveira Botafogo (BRA) 270 Brazil 3. PSG (FRA) 1,744 10. Real Madrid (ESP) 977 Anício Bernard Atlético Mineiro (BRA), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 250 4. Fluminense (BRA) 1,229 11. Zenit (RUS) 851 Lucas Moura PSG (FRA) 235 34.6% 5. Bayern (GER) 1,187 12. Tottenham (ENG) 540 Anderson Dede Vasco da Gama (BRA), Cruzeiro (BRA) 223 6. QPR (ENG) 1,170 13. Lazio (ITA) 521 Jean Raphael Fluminense (BRA) 216 World Cup participants Domestic league players 7. Corinthians (BRA) 1,100 14. Grêmio (BRA) 438 Ronaldinho Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 214 Diego Cavalieri Fluminense (BRA) 180 Réver Humberto Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 180 André Santos Grêmio (BRA) 180 Minutes per country of the employer club Jádson Rodrigues São Paulo FC (BRA) 175 Alexandre Pato Corinthians (BRA) 171 Ralf de Souza Corinthians (BRA) 158 Top 5 Filipe Luís Atlético Madrid (ESP) 143 1. Brazil ...................... 5,800 Lucas Leiva Liverpool (ENG) 130 2. England.................. 4,639 Kaká Real Madrid (ESP) 106 3. Spain...................... 2,979 Leandro Damião SC Internacional (BRA) 102 4. France.................... 1,744 Leandro Victor Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 90 5. Germany ................ 1,616 Robinho Milan (ITA) 83 Henrique Adriano SE Palmeiras (BRA) 71 Willian Borges Chelsea (ENG) 70 Adriano Correia Barcelona (ESP) 70 Lourenco Osvaldo São Paulo FC (BRA) 66 L Luis Fabiano São Paulo FC (BRA) 46 Marcos Arouca Santos FC (BRA) 44 I Diego Costa Atlético Madrid (ESP) 33 Z Marcos Rocha Atlético Mineiro (BRA) 31 Marquinhos PSG (FRA) 18 Leandro Oliveira SE Palmeiras (BRA) 12 A 5,800 (BRA) A João Miranda Atlético Madrid (ESP) 11 P Matheus Dória Botafogo (BRA) 3 230 (UKR) Done with Philcarto Number of minutes BR GROU * Club(s) at which the player was employed at the time of the matches 4 Player Club(s)* Min WC 2014 qualifying round: 12 matches - 27 players used Stipe Pletikosa Rostov (RUS) 1,080 Mario Mandžukić Bayern München (GER) 993 Darijo Srna Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 990 Luka Modrić Real Madrid (ESP) 984 % of minutes Average age Ivan Rakitić Sevilla (ESP) 829 on the pitch Vedran Ćorluka Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) 801 43.9% Josip Šimunić Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 800 Ivan Strinić Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) 765 Croatia Ivan Perišić Dortmund (GER), Wolfsburg (GER) 692 28.17 27.20 Eduardo da Silva Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 430 48.9% Dejan Lovren Lyon (FRA), Southampton (ENG) 414 Croatia World Cup Big-5 league players Ognjen Vukojević Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 404 participants World Cup participants Ivica Olić Wolfsburg (GER) 402 Mateo Kovačić Internazionale (ITA) 375 Domagoj Vida Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 311 Gordon Schildenfeld Dinamo Moskva (RUS), PAOK (GRE) 268 Main clubs of employment (minutes) Niko Kranjcar Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), QPR (ENG) 204 10.0% 1. Shakhtar (UKR) 1,420 8. Lok. Moskva (RUS) 801 Nikica Jelavić Everton (ENG) 183 2. Din. Zagreb (CRO) 1,108 9. Wolfsburg (GER) 739 Danijel Pranjić Panathinaikos (GRE) 180 Croatia 3. Rostov (RUS) 1,080 10. Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 706 Jorge Sammir Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 177 4. Bayern (GER) 993 11. Internazionale (ITA) 375 Nikola Kalinić Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) 143 34.6% 5. Real Madrid (ESP) 984 12. Dortmund (GER) 355 Milan Badelj Hamburger (GER) 142 6. Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) 908 13. Southampton (ENG) 270 Šime Vrsaljko Genoa (ITA) 90 World Cup participants Domestic league players 7. Sevilla (ESP) 829 14. Hamburger (GER) 189 Josip Radošević Hajduk Split (CRO) 78 Ivo Iličević Hamburger (GER) 47 Ante Rebić Fiorentina (ITA) 33 Leon Benko Rijeka (CRO) 3 Minutes per country of the employer club Top 5 1. Ukraine .................. 3,034 2. Germany ................ 2,276 3. Russia .................... 2,015 4. Spain...................... 1,813 5. Croatia ................... 1,189 IA T oa A P 3’034 (UKR) 144 (FRA) Done with Philcarto Number of minutes CR GROU * Club(s) at which the player was employed at the time of the matches 5 Player Club(s)* Min WC 2014 qualifying round: 18 matches - 48 players used Javier Hernández Man. United (ENG) 1,227 Francisco Rodríguez Stuttgart (GER), América (MEX) 1,170 Andrés Guardado La Coruña (ESP), Valencia (ESP) 1,149 Héctor Moreno Espanyol (ESP) 1,080 % of minutes Average age José Zavala Monterrey (MEX) 1,072 on the pitch Carlos Salcido Tigres de la UANL (MEX) 1,067 29.3% José de Jesus Corona Cruz Azul (MEX) 900 Oribe Peralta Santos Laguna (MEX) 889 Mexico Severo Meza Monterrey (MEX) 846 27.50 27.20 Jorge Torres Tigres de la UANL (MEX) 756 48.9% Giovani dos Santos Tottenham (ENG), Mallorca (ESP), Villarreal (ESP) 721 Mexico World Cup Big-5 league players Javier Aquino Cruz Azul (MEX), Villarreal (ESP) 707 participants World Cup participants Carlos Peña Club León (MEX) 393 Miguel Layún América (MEX) 360 Rafael Márquez Club León (MEX) 360 Guillermo Ochoa Ajaccio (FRA) 360 Main clubs of employment (minutes) Diego Reyes América (MEX), Porto (POR) 360 66.8% 1.