By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports and Les Tan/Red Sports
We’re now down to the last four of the World Cup with 92 players dreaming of winning the most coveted prize in world football.
So where do the players from the four semi-finalists play their football during the regular season?
If this was a game between leagues, the score would read:
German Bundesliga 28 Spanish La Liga 24
The English Premier League? Not even close. Only eight players in the remaining four teams are playing in the EPL.
The bulk of the Spanish team — 19 — are playing in La Liga, while for Germany, 22 out of their 23-man squad lace up in the Bundesliga.
For Holland, their players are spread out across the Dutch Eredivisie (8), the Bundesliga (6), the EPL (4), the Italian Serie A (2) and La Liga (1).
The Bundesliga is seen as the best league in Europe now and few can argue with that assessment based on the performance of the German national team now.
SPAIN
Playing in Spanish La Liga (19 players)
Barcelona (8): Víctor Valdes, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa, Pedro Rodriguez
Real Madrid (5 players): Iker Casillas, Raul Albiol, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso
Valencia (2): Carlos Marchena, Juan Manuel Mata
Athletic Bilbao (2): Fernando Llorente, Javi Martínez
Villarreal (1): Joan Capdevila
Sevilla (1): Jesus Navas
Playing in English Premier League (3)
Liverpool (2): Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres
Arsenal (1): Cesc Fabregas
Manchester City (1): David Silva
GERMANY
German Bundesliga (22)
Bayern Munich (7): Hans-Jorg Butt, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Muller, Mario Gomez
Werder Bremen (4): Tim Wiese, Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil, Marko Marin
Stuttgart (3): Serdar Tasci, Sami Khedira, Cacau
Hamburg (3): Dennis Aogo, Piotr Trochowski, Marcell Jansen
Bayer Leverkusen (2): Toni Kroos, Stefan Kiebling
Cologne (1): Lukas Podolski
Schalke 04 (1): Manuel Neuer
Wolfsburg (1): Arne Friedrich
English Premier League (1)
Manchester City (1): Jerome Boateng
HOLLAND
Dutch Eredivisie (8)
AJax Amsterdam (3): Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, Demy de Zeeuw
FC Utrecht (1): Michel Vorm
FC Twente (1): Sander Boschker
Feyenoord (1): Giovanni van Bronckhorst
AZ Alkmaar (1): Stijn Schaars
PSV Eindhoven (1): Ibrahim Afellay
German Bundesliga (6)
Bayern Munich (3): Edson Braafheid, Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben
Hamburg (2): Joris Mathijsen, Eljero Elia
Stuttgart (1): Khalid Boulahrouz
English Premier League (4)
Liverpool (2): Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel
Everton (1): Johnny Heitinga
Manchester City (1): Nigel de Jong
Arsenal (1): Robin Van Persie
Italian Serie A (2)
Inter Milan (2): Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Spanish La Liga (1)
Real Madrid (1): Rafael van der Vaart
Unattached
André Ooijer
URUGUAY
Spanish La Liga (4)
Villareal (1): Diego Godín
Barcelona (1): Martin Caceres
Valencia (1): Ignacio Gonzalez
Atletico Madrid (1): Diego Forlan
Italian Serie A (3)
Lazio (1): Fernando Muslera
Napoli (1): Walter Gargano
Fiorentina (1): Edinson Cavani
Portugese Liga (3)
Porto (2): Jorge Fucile, Alvaro Pereira
Benfica (1): Maximiliano Pereira
Chilean Primera Division (3)
Universidad de Chile (2): Mauricio Victorino, Alvaro Fernandez
Colo Colo (1): Andres Scotti
Uruguayan Primera Division (2)
Defensor Sporting (1): Martin Silva
Penarol (1): Egidio Arevalo Rios
Dutch Eredivisie (2)
Ajax Amsterdam (2): Nicolas Lodeiro, Luis Suarez
French League (1)
Monaco (1): Diego Perez
Swedish League (1)
AIK (1): Sebastian Eguren
Columbian League (1)
Deportivo Cali (1): Juan Castillo
Turkish League (1)
Fenerbahçe (1): Diego Lugano
Argentina League (1)
Banfield (1): Sebastian Fernandez
Brazilian League (1)
Botafogo (1): Sebastián Abreu
source: FIFA.com
all the better ones i mean, like Xavi(MOM for Germany vs Spain semi finals), Iniesta(MOM for finals), Xabi, Villa(5 goals as many as Muller had), Casillas, Ramos,Busquets, Pique,Puyol, Capdevila, Navas, Van der Vaart,Gonzalez and Forlan (golden ball).
obviously is la liga. it is whr all the quality players come from.
Quick question because I am puzzled, how is there 108 players left in the World Cup when there are 23 players per team, and times 4 of that makes 92? Where are the other 16 coming from?
Hi Philip, thanks for noticing that error! The change is made 🙂