binhozie: Xavi had 20 assists in 09 season

Xavi's 09 assists doesnt count in this piece because Ozil wasnt in the Laliga then.. the statistics was based on all three in the same league

Its all about numbers. For months now i'v been pondering in my little head the significance of numbers. First things first, numbers don't lie. With that in mind i looked back at some arguments I had in secondary school with my class-mates always yelling at the top of their voices ' Adriano is better than Henry, Okocha is better than Ronaldinho, Enyeama is better than Casillas!!!'. Seriously we argued that. Unfortunately we can't compare all players but today I bring you a compelling case study that will make u bend to the power of numbers.

Andres Iniesta Mesut Ozil (L) of Real Madrid CF battles for the ball against Andres Iniesta of FC Barcelona during the Copa del Rey semi final, first leg match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on January 30, 2013 in Madrid, Spain.

The number game is between Mesut Ozil and the duo of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. I know I know, why compare two players against one? Well Xavi and Iniesta are seen as a single, cohesive unit with people describing them as the best midfielders ever( I beg to differ). With two of them in your team, success is guaranteed and possession all yours. That's what analysts say anyway. In steps Mesut Ozil has shown that there is 'two' much hype placed on the Spanish maestro's. At least when it comes to stats. Let's play a game of numbers.


In the 2010\ 2011, Ozil in his debut season made a total of 17 assists in La Liga. Xavi had 7 while Iniesta had 3. In the 2011\2012 season, Iniesta had 9 assists while Xavi had 7. Ozil had 17. The 2012\2013 season saw Ozil chalk up 13 assists while Iniesta had 16 and Xavi 13. In 3 seasons the total number of assists(all comps) chalked up by Xavi is 35 while Iniesta has racked up 44. Mesut Ozil currently has over 90 assists for Madrid!!!

In the goal scoring department, the German edges out the Spanish duo once again, scoring a total of 27 goals in 3 seasons at Madrid. Iniesta scored 23 and Xavi 26 in the same period. Ozil also had the highest assist in the Bundesliga in 09\10 season with 17 assists while at Bremen. Numero Diez ( Number 10) also created the most scoring chances in 2011\2012 season with 103 across Europe. He also had the second highest number of assists in Europe in 2011\2012 ( behind Messi) creating 24 goals. He had the highest number assists for Euro 2012 qualification,7. Many will squawk that both Iniesta and Xavi do stuff Ozil can't like retaining possession for long spells and twisting like a snake. News flash: All Spanish Midfielders do!!! Just look at the way David Silva and Juan Mata play. Maybe its the water they drink or something.

I submit that Ozil is statisically better than both Iniesta and Xavi combined using the three season's the trio have spent in the same league. Like my homie Jay Z will say: The numbers don't lie.


There is a serious debate going on and some more interesting facts on this topic at http://sportunes91..com/2013/08/do-statistics-make-better-player-join.html or engage us on twitter @Sportunes90

All stats were culled from Wikipedia.Org, Bleacher Report.Com, WhoScored.com

Most of us are guilty of categorizing all Kenyans as good distance runners but the truth has to be told on this blog. NOT ALL KENYANS ARE GOOD DISTANCE RUNNERS! Descendants of the Kalenjin (a tribe in Kenya) make up 12% of the population but account for the vast majority of the country's distance runners.

The Kalenjin have been called by some "the running tribe." Since the mid-1960s, Kenyan men have earned the largest share of major honours in international athletics at distances from 800 meters to the marathon; the vast majority of these Kenyan running stars have been Kalenjin.

From 1980 on, about 40% of the top honours available to men in international athletics at these distances (Olympic medals, World Championships medals, and World Cross Country Championships honours) have been earned by Kalenjin. In recent years, Kenyan women have become a major presence in international athletics at the distances; most of these women are also Kalenjin.

Wilson Kipketer who holds the current indoor world records at the 1000 and 800 metres distance is of the Kalejnin tribe.


Even American Bernard Lagat who is a twelve time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals hails from Nandi District, a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin people.

To know the exact reason why the Kalejins are experts in this long distance, visit Sportunes at http://sportunes91..com/2013/08/did-you-know-secret-behind-kenyans-long.html or follow on twitter @Sportunes90

Its now official Blessing Okagbare is the only athlete in the country that can bless Nigeria with a medal in a world major international event, actually not a medal but two.. According to Wikipedia, Nigeria's population is approximately 170 million which makes the 'Giant of Africa' the most populous country in Africa and ranks 7th in the world. Out of this populace we have millions of supposed to be athletes that train their hearts out everyday, if you go to the National Stadium Surulere on a Saturday morning, you will think the Olympics is just about to kick off there. Unilag sports centre is not exempted, people troop in and troop in and one wonders if the Redeem camp has shifted base to the 'university of choice'... But after all the merry go round, gallivanting, there is only 1 athlete that matters in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that's Blessing Okagbare.

It all started on October 9th 1988 when the African 'Queen of track and field' was introduced to planet earth in Sapele area of Delta state. She attended defunct Association primary school, but had challenges and had to change to go to a more modest Okotie Primary School II.

It was in High school that her sporting prowess were discovered. Back then, She was always found playing football and intended to take up that career until she was talked out of it by a coach and teacher in her elder sister's school who noticed her athleticism and advised her to venture into track and field.

“I grew up in Sapele as a normal kid and it gave me a lot of challenges in life. Actually, I used to play soccer for my high school sometimes and later on fell in love doing track. A coach from my elder sister’s school talked me into doing sports,” she told iaaf.com.

Since then she started jumping- she took to long jump, high jump and triple jump.. Her turning point as a jumper came in 2004 when she won gold in long jump and bronze in high jump for Delta State at the 2004 National Secondary Schools Games in Owerri, Imo State.

Still that same year, she won a bronze medal in the triple jump event at the 14th National Sports Festival in Abuja. The feat was remarkable as it earned her her first international outing at the 2006 World Junior Athletics Championships in Beijing.

She never looked back from then, In May 2007, at the All-Africa Games trials in Lagos, she established a Nigerian record of 14.13 metres in the triple jump. At the 2007 All-Africa Games she won the silver medal in the long jump and finished fourth in the triple jump. In the latter competition her Nigerian record was beaten by Chinonye Ohadugha, who jumped 14.21 metres. She went on to make her mark on the world stage by winning bronze medal in long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It was not until 2009 that her jump coach Kebba Tolbert noticed her do 11.21 seconds in sprint which eventually motivated her to start doing the sprints, hence following the heroic path of Nigeria's greatest ever Olympian Chioma Ajunwa by combining the track and the field events together. She immediately laid her mark in the short sprint as she won the 100m gold medal at the 2009 National athletics championship.

She went on to win the 100m gold medal at the 2010 African championships in Nairobi and also continued her dominance in long Jump by winning another gold medal. Up came the 2011 All African games in Maputo, Okagbare could only muster a second place finish in the 100m but leaped to a gold medal win in the long jump.

These and many more tagged her medal favorite for Team Nigeria at the 2012 London Olympics, but the then 23 year old could not absorb the pressure and she cracked as she finished last place in the Women's 100m final. Coming back to Nigeria she received a lot of sticks and stones from passionate patriots that were looking for their first Olympic Gold medal in 16 years.

But fast-forward one year, the Sapele born has gathered those stones and built a beautiful castle with it as she broke a 14 year curse plaguing her country by winning its first medal since 1999 and being the only Nigerian double medalist in the history of the IAAF world championship. Blessing won a Silver medal at the Long Jump and Bronze in the 200m.


After attaining Legendary status in Moscow, Where does she go from here?

Visit at Sportunes to catch the full gist http://sportunes91..com/2013/08/where-does-okagbare-go-from-here.html

The FIFA Worldcup is a quadrennial tournament that's held during the summer (June - July). The host selection process is based on a continental rotation whereby the host country must be drawn from a confederation that didnt host the two previous editions. So come 2022, Ceteris Paribus!, it will be Asia's turn, Qatar's will host the one month festivities.

However FIFA has created a pitfall - The weather in Qatar during the summer has been a concern with temperatures reaching more than 50°C (122 °F), But backed by oil money the Qataris are planing on doing the unthinkable by installing Air conditioning systems inside all the stadiums.

Qatar bid's chief executive, Hassan al-Thawadi said "Heat is not and will not be an issue."

The Qatar 2022 Bid's official site also explains:

"Each of the five stadiums will harness the power of the sun rays to provide a cool environment for players and fans by converting solar energy into electricity that will then be used to cool both fans and players at the stadiums."

"When games are not taking place, the solar installations at the stadiums will export energy onto the power grid. During matches, the stadiums will draw energy from the grid. This is the basis for the stadiums’ carbon-neutrality. Along with the stadiums, we plan to make the cooling technologies we’ve developed available to other countries in hot climates, so that they too can host major sporting events."

But the Creme' D'La Creme of the World football governing body are having none of that as they have all suggested that the tournament be shifted to Winter where average temperatures in Qatar are markedly cooler in December, with highs of 24 degrees Celsius and lows of 15 degrees.

Franz Beckenbauer, a member of FIFA's executive committee, said Qatar could be allowed to host 2022 World Cup in winter. He justified his proposal on grounds that Qatar will be saving money, which otherwise they would have spent in cooling the stadiums. Beckenbauer said

"One should think about another solution. In January and February you have comfortable 25 °C (77 °F) there," he said. "Qatar won the vote and deserves a fair chance as the first host from the Middle East." If Mr Beckenbauer knows Qatar too well, he should know that 14% of Qatari households are dollar millionaires hence money cant be a problem.

My ultimate concern is if the world cup is brought to the winter months, what happens to the European calendar where December is usually the busiest month especially in the English Premier League.

However my doubt was quickly cleared by FIFA Vice President and UEFA President Michel Platini when he indicated that he was ready to rearrange the European club competitions accordingly. GBAM!


And Yesterday, the most important man in world football - FIFA President Sepp Blatter reiterated his desires for Qatar 2022 winter switch.

In his words: "The World Cup must be a festival of the people. But for it to be such a festival, you can't play football in the summer," Blatter told a conference in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

"You can cool down the stadiums but you can't cool down the whole country and you can't simply cool down the ambience of a World Cup. The players must be able to play in the best conditions to play a good World Cup."

Its been estimated that the the World Cup is going to cost Qatar approximately £138 billion ($220 billion USD). This is about 60 times the $3.5 billion that South Africa spent on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. So after dishing out these zillions of naira what advantage does the Qatari National team have?

If the Fifa winter worldcup mission is successful then what home advantage are the Arabians going to enjoy? of the 46 players that's been called up to the Qatari National football team in the past one year, only 1 player plays outside the Qatari stars league - so therefore the Al-Annabi are best suited to the extreme conditions but FIFA is taking their home advantage away from them.

Moreover the fortunate players that will partcipate in the 2022 world cup party should be able to take interesting stories back home to their family and friends, just like how most players ranted about vuvuzela in south africa, Almost all the teams that will participate in the 2018 FIFA world cup will nag about freezing conditions in Russia... What are they going to remember Qatar for?

Well i can have a Volte - Face as the 2022 draws nearer especially with medical information about the effects of the heat on players health.. Two doctors from Qatar's Aspetar sports hospital in Doha actually gave an interview in November 2010 saying that the region's climate would "affect performance levels from a health point of view" of professional athletes, specifically footballers, that "recovery times between games would be longer" than in a temperate climate and that, on the field of play, "more mistakes would be made".

Even at that, i still dont think there would be any casualty if the world cup stays in the summer. According to history, records and statistics - footballers have gone to more daring places like la Paz and all came out alive.

What i expect FIFA to do is starting Training regimes on heat acclimatization and regulations to world cup participants about a month or two before the world cup, All participating teams should build up their level of training in hot weather. Such preparation intends to improve performance and reduce the potentially fatal risk of heat stroke.. but if at that, a casualty is still registered at the Qatar 2022 summer FIFA world cup!.. then C'est La vie

Sepp Blatter and his goons should just leave Qatar alone!


For your juicy sport gists.. visit @ http://sportunes91..com/

If there is one TV channel that should be able to name the Manchester United manager correctly it would surely be the club’s own television station?

David Moyes hasn’t gotten off to the best start as Manchester United manager after defeat to the Singha All-Stars, but it seems United’s official TV channel has already written him off.

In a segment shown on the TV channel after the 1-0 defeat to the All-Stars, MUTV opted to name former striker Dwight Yorke as Manchester United manager.


Yorke is currently working for his former club as a pundit, but was given a dramatic promotion after the faux pas by the graphics department.

Wishful thinking perhaps, given the United side seemed to lack cutting edge in their first match of their Far East pre-season tour.

for sport gists, visit us @ http://sportunes91..com/2013/07/mutv-official-dwight-yorke-replaces.html

Napoli's Uruguay international striker Edinson Cavani is expected to sign for Paris Saint-Germain "in a matter of hours," Why the rush? The French Capital club will pay the Uruguayan, a sum of €350k a week. So Cavani better sign the contract before the French Champions change their minds. Here's a break down of the Star striker's proposed wages in Naira. (1 Euro selling for N200)

Per Year - N3 Billion 650 Million
Per Month - N280, 000 000 Naira
Per Week - N70,000 000 Naira
Per Day - N10,000 000 Naira
Per Hour - N416, 666 Naira
Per Minute - N7,000
Per Second - N 115

It took me 28 minutes to package this story where i have made 0 kobo, beht a certain somebody would have pocketed One Hundred and Ninety - Six thousand naira Only!!!

Just put yourself in his boots how soon are you going to sign that paper?


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