domenica 26 agosto 2018

Panini Football 87 (Egypt)


In the season 1986-1987, the Egyptian club Al Ahly won the third National championship in a row and for the third time Zamalek was the runner-up. In those years Panini published six albums of the Egyptian football (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1989). Football 87 is the second last album of this series, which did not see a come back. This collection includes the 14 clubs of the  Egyptian Premier League, one section dedicated to the National team, and one to the best International players of the period.
As usual for the arabic books, the album should be browsed from right to left. The first page inlcudes the table of contents and four stickers composing the team photo of the National Team. Then each club is displaced over two pages with a total of 19 stickers: the club badge (metallic sticker), the team photo (two metallic stickers), the coach, and 15 players.






In the center of the album there are two pages with 16 metallic stickers of players and coaches of the Egypt National team in the season 1986-1987.







In the last part of the album there is space for a beautiful section dedicated to some of the best football stars in the world. Here we find 12 stickers of international stars in action. Among them Platini, Maradona, Altobelli, Lineker, and Careca. 


The back cover of the album shows the World Champion 1986: Argentina

Metallic stickers of amazing Egyptian club badges

Album details
Full name: Football 87
Publisher: Panini
League: Egyptian 
Season: 1986-1987
Number of clubs: 14
Stickers per club: 19
Other sections:
  • Egyptian squad (4 stickers)
  • National Team (16 stickers)
  • International stars (12 stickers)
Checklist: click here

Total number of stickers: 298




domenica 19 agosto 2018

Liga de Quito


Liga Rey de Copas is a sticker album dedicated to the football club Liga Deportiva Universitaria (LDU) from Quito, Ecuador. The album has been published in 2017 by the group El Comercio with the help of some sponsors to celebrate almost 100 years of history of the club. The album was released together with the set of 135 stickers about the club and 4 stickers about the sponsors. Twelve special stickers to complete the album could be found inside some commercial products.



Los primeros pasos de LIGA (3 stickers)
The Club Universitario was founded in 1918 by four football players. The club changed its name and became LDU Quito in 1930.


Evolucion del uniforme (5 stickers)
Five stickers describe the evolution of the club uniform 

La decada de los 40 y 50 (4 stickers)
This section describes the first experience abroad in 1948 and the first professional title won in 1958.


Primer titulo en el 69 (3 stickers)
In 1969, Liga conquered its first National Championship title with players like Bertochi and 'Tito' Larrea.

Bicampeonato 74-75 (4 stickers)
In 1973, the club was relegated in the second division, but then from 1974 to 1976 Liga won everything in Ecuador and reached twice the semifinals in the Copa Libertadores.


Los anos 80 y la cuarta estrella (6 stickers)
After many difficult years, finally in 1990 Liga won its fourth National championship. Here we find stickers of some of the best players of that season: Hans Ortega, Pietro Marsetti, Berrueta, Samaniego and José Moreno.



Construccion de la Casa Blanca (6 stickers)
This section is about the stadium of Liga known as "White House". It was build in 1995.

Quinto titulo en estadio proprio (6 stickers)
The fifth title won in 1998 it is the first obtained in the new stadium of the club.






















Copa Libertadores 2008 (11 stickers)
An incredible international success arrived for Liga in 2008, when they won the Copa Libertadores defeating important clubs like Estudiantes (Argentina) and Fluminense (Brazil). This is the first Copa Libertadores title ever won by an Ecuadorian club.
This section includes three of the 12 big size special stickers: the trophy, the celebration, and the team photo. The other stickers of this section are about players in action and the coach Edgardo Bauza.



Mundial de Clubes 2008 (5 stickers)
With the victory in the Copa Libertadores, the club Liga could participate in the FIFA Club World Cup 2008, held in Japan. After defeating the Mexican club Pachuca in the semifinal, they faced the Manchester United of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in the final, losing 1-0.

Recopa Sudamericana (6 stickers)
Winning the Copa Libertadores, Liga played as well the Recopa Sudamericana against Internacional (Brazil), winning both matches (1-0 and 3-0) and celebrating thus its second international title.


Copa Sudamericana 2009 (5 stickers)
2009 is another fantastic year for Liga de Quito. They won the Copa Sudamericana defeating Fluminense in the final. Here we find the stickers of the trophy, team celebration, the coach Jorge Fossati, and Edison Mendez in action (he scored three goals in the final).

Copas de la Paz y Suruga Bank (5 stickers)
In 2009 and 2010, Liga took part in other two international tournaments (Peace Cup and Suruga Championship), facing also Real Madrid. Here we find action stickers of that match, in which we can recognize Raul and Pepe. 


Recopa 2010 y decima estrella (6 stickers)
The golden age of Liga continued in 2010, with the tenth National title and the second Recopa Sudamericana.


Los subcampeonatos (10 stickers)
This section shows the teams that got the place in the Ecuadorian league, in 1977, 1981, 2008, 2011, and 2015.


Cuerpo tecnico de LIGA 2017 (5 stickers)
This section includes stickers of the club badge and team coaches for the season 2017.

Equipo de LIGA 2017 (24 stickers)
The squad of the season 2017 is included with 19 stickers of players, three stickers of the uniforms, and two stickers with a team photo.



Records de LIGA (5 stickers)
Last section of this album shows some records obtained by some historical players along the history of the club. Here we find for example the sticker of Neicer Reasco, the player with most appearances with LIGA (536 in Seria A, 117 in International cups, and 17 in Serie B).


Stickers of two legendary characters of club Liga de Quito: the coach Manuel Pellegrini and Francisco Bertochi 

Stickers of Copa Libertadores 2008 and Copa Sudamericana 2009, two remarkable International trophies won by club Liga

Album details
Full name: LIGA Rey de Copas 
Publisher: Grupo EL COMERCIO C.A.
Year: 2017
Club: Liga Deportiva Universitaria (Ecuador)
Place: Quito (Ecuador)
Sections of the album: see description above
Regular stickers: 135
Sponsor stickers: 4
Special sticker: 12

Total number of stickers: 151



lunedì 13 agosto 2018

Topps South Korean League 1997


We present here a rare and unique album. It is the sticker collection of the South Korean league released by Topps in 1997. This is a surprising and unexpected collection, as we do not register other sticker albums of football leagues in Eastern Asia and it is also of very good quality with a shiny cover in relief, thick pages and many shining stickers.
The album opens with a table of contents and a foreword including the shining sticker of the KPFL League. The language of the album is Korean.
The collection includes the 10 clubs of the Korean League. The first five clubs are shown in this order: Ulsan Hyundai Horangi, Suwon Blue Wings, Pohang Steelers, Bukeon SK, Chon Buk Hyundai. Then in the center of the album there is a review of the Korean League 1996 followed by the other five clubs: Pusan Daewoo Royals, Chunnam Dragons, Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma, Anyang LG Cheetahs, Daejeon Citizen.


Each club is displaced over four pages with a total of 22 stickers. The first page includes the shining stickers of the club badge and the home uniform. In the second page we find two shining stickers of star players in action and two stickers composing the team photo. The third and fourth pages include 16 stickers of players. Details of each player are printed on the album. 







A special section of this album is a review of the Korean League for the season 1996. It includes five shining stickers on four pages: the trophy of the league and four players in action.



Two pages are then dedicated to the upcoming World Cup 2002 organized by Japan and South Korea. In this section there are two shining stickers, including the logo of the competition 2002.  


The second part of the album includes the other five clubs with the same layout as the previous clubs. The back cover of the album shows the 10 club badges.
In the season 1997, Pusan Daewoo Royals won the KPFL league with 37 points. Second place for Chunnam Dragons (36 points) and third for Ulsan Hyundai and Pohang Steelers (30 points).





Back cover of the album

Two Bosnian players of Pohang Steelers: The goalkeeper Dragan Skrba and Radmilo Mihajlovic, former player of Bayern Munchen and Schalke 04

More foreign players of the KPFL league 1997: the Romanian Cosmin Olaroiu (now coach of Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Superleague), the Russian Denis Laktionov (2 appearances with the National team) and the Sierra Leonean player Mahmadu Bah (18 apps and 2 goals with Sierra Leone)

The shining club badge stickers of this album


Album details
Full name: Topps KPFL League 97
Publisher: Topps
League: South Korean League
Season: 1997
Number of clubs: 10
Stickers per club: 22
Other sections:
  • Introduction (1 sticker)
  • '96 Korean League Review (5 stickers)
  • World Cup 2002 (2 stickers)
Total number of stickers: 228