mercoledì 18 dicembre 2013

Panini Futbol Profesional Colombiano (FPC) 2013


Futbol Profesional Colombiano 2013 is the official sticker album of the Colombian league. It is the 8th edition published by Panini since 2005. Compared to the 2012 edition, FPC 2013 includes less stickers (15 per team instead of 18) and in particular club badge stickers are not included anymore, but it has an interesting insert dedicated to the Colombian National Team, with 14 shining stickers of the best Colombian players that will participate to the next World Cup.
The 2013 season of Colombian Football started in January and ended on December 15, 2013. Atletico Nacional won both the Apertura and the Finalizacòn, defeating in the finals Santa Fé and Deportivo Calì, respectively. They celebrated the titles in their own stadium in Medellin winning 2-0 the final against Deportivo Calì on December 15. 
Teams included in the album are showed in alphabetical order: Alianza Petrolera, Deportivo Calì, Boyaca Chicò, Cùcuta, Envigado, Equidad, Huila, Itagùì, Junior, Medellin, Millionarios, Nacional, Once Caldas, Pasto, Patriotas, Quindìo, Santa Fé, and Tolima. Each team is placed on two pages and features 15 stickers: 1 team picture and 14 player portraits.



 Mondragòn (42 years old), historical goalkeeper of Colombia since 1993



The main feature of the album is the insert dedicated to the Colombian National Team (Seleccion Colombiana 2013). In the centre of the album there are two pages with 14 shining stickers of the best Colombian stars: Ospina (Nice), Zuniga (Napoli), Yepes (Atalanta), Armero (Napoli), Perea (Cruz Azul), Guarin (Inter), Cuadrado (Fiorentina), Torres (Riyadh), Valencia (Fluminense) Aguilar (Toulouse), James Rodriguez (Monaco), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Jackson Marinez (Porto).


Guarin (Inter) and Cuadrado (Fiorentina)

The FPC 2013 sticker of Radamel Falcao









A sealed packet of FPC 2013 Panini

Album Details
Full name: Futbol Profesional Colombiano 2013
Publisher: Panini
League: Colombia
Number of teams: 18
Stickers per team: 15
Special section: 14 stickers "Seleccion Colombiana 2013"

Total number of stickers: 284




domenica 15 dicembre 2013

Eredivisie Album 2009-2010 - AH


The official sticker collection of the Eredivisie season 2009/2010 was published by the local AH, for the second year in a row. The quality of the stickers has been improved significantly compared to the previous album: each player sticker includes a golden signature printed in relief. All 18 Eredivisie teams are showed in alphabetical order: ADO Den Haag, Ajax, AZ, Feyenoord, Groningen, Heerenveen, Heracles Almelo, NAC Breda, NEC, PSV, RKC Waalwijk, Roda JC, Sparta Rotterdam, Twente, Utrecht, Vitesse, VVV Venlo, and Willem II.
Each team is placed on 4 pages and has 15 stickers: 2x team squad, 1x club badge and 12x player portraits. The album has a particular shape, long and narrow, as it depicts the dressing rooms of each Eredivise club. Player stickers are placed on the corresponding seats, club badge on a towel and team photo on a frame.
As usual, in Eredivisie we find young talented players in the process of becoming international football stars. In this album of the  season 2009/2010 we can mention in particular Luis Suarez (Ajax, now at Liverpool), Ibrahim Afellay (PSV, ex Barcelona), Kevin Strootman (Sparta Rotterdam, now at Roma), Dries Mertens (Utrecht, now at Napoli), and Keisuke Honda (VVV, now at CSKA Moscow and about to sign for AC Milan). In this season Twente won its first title, with just one point more than Ajax; third place for PSV. Best scorer was indeed Luis Suarez with 35 goals!
In Ajax we can find the stickers of players that are now playing in international teams: Stekelenburg (Roma and Fulham), Van der Wiel (PSG), Verthonghen (Tottenham), Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Emanuelson (Milan), and Luis Suarez (Liverpool).


A young Luis Suarez playing for Ajax



AZ features the Finnish Moisander (now at Ajax), whereas Feyenoord a young Wijnaldum (now at PSV) and Leroy Fer (Norwich). AZ team includes a special sticker of the Eredivisie trophy 2009, as they are the title owner.




Afellay at PSV before his move to Barcelona


The "rookie" Kevin Strootman, now an appreciated midfielder of Roma

Twente became champion with the guide of the English coach Steve McLaren. The best players of the team were probably Bryan Ruiz (24 goals, second top scorer of the league) and the creative midfielder Theo Janssen.





Two raising talents in Utrecht: Dries Mertens (Napoli) and Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City) 

The club badge of Vitesse

The rookie sticker of the Japanese Honda (VVV Venlo)

At the end of the album there is a page with three extra stickers of remarkable players that could not find a place in the regular team. These three extra players were decided by a survey on the album website and they are Marko Pantelic (Ajax), Miroslav Stoch (Twente) and Darko Lazevic (PSV).


A sticker packet of the AH Eredivisie 2010 collection

Album details
Full name: Eredivisie Voetbalplaatjes Verzamelalbum 2009/2010
Publisher: AH
Competition: Eredivisie (Dutch Premier League)
Number of teams: 18
Stickers per team: 15 
Special sticker: 1 (Eredivisie 2009 trophy for title owner AZ)
Extra stickers: 3 update stickers

Total number of stickers: 274

Remarkable Players
Lex Immers (ADO), Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Luis Suarez (Ajax), Ronald Koeman (AZ coach), Moisander (AZ), Ron Vlaar, Leroy Fer, Van Bronckhorst, Wijnaldum, Tomasson, De Guzman (Feyenoord), Assaidi (Heerenveen), Bas Dost (Heracles), Lasse Schone (NEC), Isaksson, Afellay, Dzsudzsak, Toivonen (PSV), Boerrigter (RKC), Kevin Strootman (Sparta Rotterdam), Douglas, Theo Janssen, Bryan Ruiz (Twente), Dries Mertens, Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Utrecht), Keisuke Honda (VVV Venlo)


domenica 8 dicembre 2013

Topps Major League Soccer 2013


Topps signed in 2013 a multi-year partnership with the Major League Soccer. The first product is a MLS card collection released in July 2013. The Major League Soccer is a growing competition in US that features many well-know European stars (Thierry Henry, Nesta, Di Vaio, Cahill, Robbie Keane, etc...) and interesting young prospects (Agudelo, Yedlin, Rosell, etc..). The regular season started in March and ended in July, with New York Red Bulls leader of the Eastern Conference and Portland Timbers of the Western Conference. The best 5 teams of each Conference played the MLS Cup, which decided the 2013 winner. The final of the Cup between Sporting Kansas and Real Salt Lake took place on December 7, 2013, in Kansas City. Sporting Kansas City won the Cup at penalties after equalizing the match 1-1 (Collin 76' / Saborio 52').

The base set of the Topps collection includes 200 cards of the 19 MLS teams. Cards show the player in action and for each team there are 10, 11 or 12 cards. In the following, we present the list of teams with the number of cards in brackets. 

Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire (11 cards), Columbus Crew (10), DC United (10), Houston Dynamo (11), Montreal Impact (10), New England Revolution (10), New York Red Bulls (10), Philadelphia Union (10), Sporting Kansas City (11), Toronto FC (11).

Chicago Fire, 6th place in the Eastern Conference

Houston Dynamo, lost the Conference final against Kansas


Impact Montreal features 4 italians: Di Vaio (20 goals), Nesta, Ferrari, and Pisanu

New York won the regular season, but was eliminated in Conference semifinals of the play-offs. They feature Juninho (ex Lyon), Thierry Henry (ex Arsenal, Barcelona) and Tim Cahill (ex Everton).


Sporting Kansas City, the MLS Cup Winner 2013!

Toronto features experienced players like Koevermans and Earnshaw

Western Conference
Club Deportivo Chivas (11 cards), Colorado Rapids (11), FC Dallas (11), Los Angeles Galaxy (12), Portland Timbers (10), Real Salt Lake (10), San José Earthquakes (11), Seattle Sounders (10), Vancouver Whitecaps (10).

Chivas features the young prospect Agudelo, but they got the last place in the regular season.

Colorado Rapids were eliminated in the first raound of the play-offs

FC Dallas with the young Colombian prospect Fabian Castillo 

Los Angeles Galaxy features the goalkeeper Cudicini (ex Chelsea), the young american Jose Villarreal (1993), Donovan and Robbie Keane. They got the third place in the Conference season, but were out in the play-off semifinals.

Portland's star Silvestre (ex Inter and Manchester United). Portland Timbers in the same way as New York won the regualar season but they were kicked out in the Conference play-off semifinals.

Real Salt Lake's American rising star Luis Gil (1993): 34 caps and 5 goals in the regular season.

Obafemi Martins, the Nigerian experienced forward of Seattle Sounders (ex Internazionale and Newcastle).

Vancouver Whitecaps features the Scottish Kenny Miller.

Cards are numbered from 1 to 200 without following a particular order. Card number 1 is Thierry Henry.
This is the list of the 200 players included:
Thierry Henry New York Red Bulls
Robbie Keane LA Galaxy

Tim Cahill New York Red Bulls
Chris Wondolowski San Jose Earthquakes
Graham Zusi Sporting Kansas City
Dwayne De Rosario D.C. United
Alessandro Nesta Montreal Impact
John Bostock Toronto FC
Osvaldo Alonso Seattle Sounders FC
Omar Gonzalez LA Galaxy
Chris Pontius D.C. United
Will Bruin Houston Dynamo
Eddie Johnson Seattle Sounders FC
Mike Magee LA Galaxy
Juninho LA Galaxy
Kyle Beckerman Real Salt Lake
Brad Davis Houston Dynamo
Austin Berry Chicago Fire
Jimmy Nielsen Sporting Kansas City
Aurelien Collin Sporting Kansas City
Matt Besler Sporting Kansas City
Victor Bernardez San Jose Earthquakes
Nick DeLeon D.C. United
Darlington Nagbe Portland Timbers
Tally Hall Houston Dynamo
Federico Higuain Columbus Crew
Alvaro Saborio Real Salt Lake
Brian Ching Houston Dynamo
Mauro Rosales Seattle Sounders FC
Jose Villarreal LA Galaxy
Juan Agudelo Chivas USA
Kenny Cooper FC Dallas
Nick Rimando Real Salt Lake
Chris Rolfe Chicago Fire
Sean Johnson Chicago Fire
Joel Lindpere Chicago Fire
Steve Zakuani Seattle Sounders FC
Ramiro Corrales San Jose EarthquakesDrew Moor Colorado Rapids
Jairo Arrieta Columbus Crew
Chad Marshall Columbus Crew
Justin Morrow San Jose Earthquakes
Zach Loyd FC Dallas
Carlo Cudicini LA Galaxy
Patrice Bernier Montreal Impact
Davy Arnaud Montreal Impact
Heath Pearce New York Red Bulls
Jeff Parke Philadelphia Union
Michael Gspurning Seattle Sounders FC
Darren Mattocks Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Michael Farfan Philadelphia Union
Ryan Johnson Portland Timbers
Fabian Espindola New York Red Bulls
Kevin Alston New England Revolution
Dan Kennedy Chivas USA
Robert Earnshaw Toronto FC
Claudio Bieler Sporting Kansas City
Jack McInerney Philadelphia Union
Sebastien Le Toux Philadelphia Union
David Ferreira FC Dallas
Diego Valeri Portland Timbers
Deshorn Brown Colorado Rapids
Edgar Mejia Chivas USA
Joaquin Velazquez Chivas USA
Mario de Luna Chivas USA
Bobby Burling Chivas USA
Eric Avila Chivas USA
Walter Vilchez Chivas USA
Laurent Courtois Chivas USA
Oswaldo Minda Chivas USA
Tristan Bowen Chivas USA
Dilly Duka Chicago Fire
Gonzalo Segares Chicago Fire
Jalil Anibaba Chicago Fire
Jeff Larentowicz Chicago Fire
Patrick Nyarko Chicago Fire
Sherjill MacDonald Chicago Fire
Atiba Harris Colorado Rapids
Brian Mullan Colorado RapidsDiego Calderon Colorado Rapids
Dillon Powers Colorado Rapids
Hendry Thomas Colorado Rapids
Marvell Wynne Colorado Rapids
Matt Pickens Colorado Rapids
Agustin Viana Columbus Crew
Andy Gruenebaum Columbus Crew
Danny O’Rourke Columbus Crew
Dominic Oduro Columbus Crew
Glauber Columbus Crew
Josh Williams Columbus Crew
Tyson Wahl Columbus Crew
Bill Hamid D.C. United
Brandon McDonald D.C. United
Chris Korb D.C. United
Dejan Jakovic D.C. United
Lionard Pajoy D.C. United
Perry Kitchen D.C. United
James Riley D.C. United
Andrew Jacobson FC Dallas
George John FC Dallas
Jackson FC Dallas
Matt Hedges FC Dallas
Raul Fernandez FC Dallas
Fabian Castillo FC Dallas
Michel FC Dallas
Bobby Boswell Houston Dynamo
Boniek Garcia Houston Dynamo
Corey Ashe Houston Dynamo
Jermaine Taylor Houston Dynamo
Kofi Sarkodie Houston Dynamo
Ricardo Clark Houston Dynamo
A.J. DeLaGarza LA Galaxy
Jack McBean LA Galaxy
Marcelo Sarvas LA Galaxy
Sean Franklin LA Galaxy
Todd Dunivant LA Galaxy
Andrea Pisanu Montreal Impact
Felipe Martins Montreal Impact
Hassoun Camara Montreal Impact
Jeb Brovsky Montreal ImpactMarco Di Vaio Montreal Impact
Matteo Ferrari Montreal Impact
Troy Perkins Montreal Impact
A.J. Soares New England Revolution
Andrew Farrell New England Revolution
Clyde Simms New England Revolution
Jerry Bengtson New England Revolution
Jose Goncalves New England Revolution
Juan Toja New England Revolution
Lee Nguyen New England Revolution
Matt Reis New England Revolution
Saer Sene New England Revolution
Dax McCarty New York Red Bulls
Jamison Olave New York Red Bulls
Luis Robles New York Red Bulls
Brandon Barklage New York Red Bulls
Eric Alexander New York Red Bulls
Juninho New York Red Bulls
Amobi Okugo Philadelphia Union
Brian Carroll Philadelphia Union
Keon Daniel Philadelphia Union
Raymon Gaddis Philadelphia Union
Sheanon Williams Philadelphia Union
Zac MacMath Philadelphia Union
Andrew Jean-Baptiste Portland Timbers
Diego Chara Portland Timbers
Donovan Ricketts Portland Timbers
Michael Harrington Portland Timbers
Mikael Silvestre Portland Timbers
Will Johnson Portland Timbers
Jack Jewsbury Portland Timbers
Chris Schuler Real Salt Lake
Khari Stephenson Real Salt Lake
Kwame Watson-Siriboe Real Salt Lake
Luis Gil Real Salt Lake
Robbie Findley Real Salt Lake
Sebastian Velasquez Real Salt Lake
Tony Beltran Real Salt Lake
Jason Hernandez San Jose Earthquakes
Jon Busch San Jose Earthquakes
Rafael Baca San Jose EarthquakesSam Cronin San Jose Earthquakes
Ty Harden San Jose Earthquakes
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado Seattle Sounders FC
DeAndre Yedlin Seattle Sounders FC
Mario Martinez Seattle Sounders FC
Andy Rose Seattle Sounders FC
Benny Feilhaber Sporting Kansas City
Oriol Rosell Sporting Kansas City
Paulo Nagamura Sporting Kansas City
Seth Sinovic Sporting Kansas City
C.J. Sapong Sporting Kansas City
Ashtone Morgan Toronto FC
Danny Califf Toronto FC
Darren O’Dea Toronto FC
Hogan Ephraim Toronto FC
Joseph Bendik Toronto FC
Reggie Lambe Toronto FC
Richard Eckersley Toronto FC
Terry Dunfield Toronto FC
Alain Rochat Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Andy O’Brien Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Daigo Kobayashi Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Gershon Koffie Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Joe Cannon Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Jun Marques Davidson Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Kenny Miller Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Young-Pyo Lee Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Jay DeMerit Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Edson Buddle Colorado Rapids
Danny Mwanga Colorado Rapids
Logan Pause Chicago Fire
Blas Perez FC Dallas
Steven Beitashour San Jose Earthquakes
Steven Lenhart San Jose Earthquakes
Teal Bunbury Sporting Kansas City
Danny Koevermans Toronto FC
Landon Donovan LA Galaxy
Obafemi Martins Seattle Sounders FC
Giles Barnes Houston Dynamo


Collection Details
Full Name: Topps MLS 2013
Publisher: Topps
League: Major League Soccer
Number of teams: 19
Cards per teams: 10, 11 or 12
Total Number of cards: 200
Extra cards: Pure Soccer (20 cards), MLS rivalries (8), Minis (15)