martedì 25 febbraio 2020

Merlin's Premier League 2000


Manchester United dominated the Premier League 1999/2000, winning with 18 points more than Arsenal. The Red Devils had a fabulous squad that season, with Giggs, Beckham, Stam, Scholes, Cole and Yorke. The latter scored 20 times in the league (3rd place). Better than him only Alan Shearer (23 goals, Newcastle) and Kevin Phillips (30 goals, Sunderland).
The official sticker collection of this millennium edition was published by Merlin and it was the 7th consecutive Merlin's album since 1994. It is a large collection including 540 stickers of the 20 Premier League clubs. The albums opens with the contents and the foreword with two shiny stickers: the Premier League logo and the trophy. Clubs are then shown in alphabetical order with 26 stickers over six pages (22 regular stickers and 4 large size stickers). In the first two pages there are club details, results and fixtures together with 5 stickers: the shiny badge, the team (large size sticker), the new signing, the key player (shiny sticker) and the top scorer. In the next two pages the squad is presented with 16 stickers of players, whereas in the last two pages the album focuses on the main players of the team, with the stickers of the star defender, the star midfielder (large size shiny sticker), the superstar, and two large size stickers with the main strikers for a comparison head to head.

















In the center of the album there are three special section. "The Kits" includes the shiny stickers of all the home kits (each kit is half sticker). "McDonald's Football Skills" is a sponsored two page section with six stickers: the shiny logo and five players in action (Seaman, Beckham, Owen, Zola, and Shearer). "The Trophy Cabinet" is a complete review of all the champions of the 20th century. Here there are the shiny stickers of the trophies: Premier League, F.A. Cup, League Cup, and Champions League. 
















Back cover of the album

Arsenal top players Henry and Ljungberg

There are four stickers of Zola in this collection, here the "top scorer" and the "McDonald's" stickers 

The portrait sticker and the large size sticker of Zola

 Didier Deschamps stickers

The fancy shiny badges of this collection 

Italians of the Premier League 1999/2000: Eranio (ex Milan) and Carbone (ex Inter) 

Liverpool stars Owen and Gerrard

Premier League badges of Manchester (winners 1999/2000) and Arsenal (2nd place)

 Manchester United idols Beckham and Giggs

Large size shiny sticker of David Beckham 

Middlesbrough fantastic midfielders Paul Ince and Paul Gascoigne

 Kevin Phillips, top scorer of the Premier League 2000 with 30 goals

"Key player" and regular stickers of  a young Frank Lampard at West Ham

Album details
Full name: F.A. Premier League 2000
Publisher: Merlin
League: English Premier League
Season: 1999/2000
Number of clubs: 20
Stickers per club: 26 (22 regular size, 4 big size)
Other sections:
  • Introduction (2 stickers)
  • The Kits (10 stickers)
  • McDonald's Football Skills (6 stickers)
  • The Trophy Cabinet (2 stickers)
Extra: Frubes "Record breakers" (12 small-size stickers)
Checklist: click here

Total number of stickers: 540


mercoledì 19 febbraio 2020

Panini Campeonato Brasileiro 1998


The 42th edition of the Brazilian championship was contested by 24 clubs. Corinthians won the championship after a three games final (first leg, second leg, and replay) against Cruzeiro. In the last game they won 2-0 with the goals of Edilson and Marcelinho Carioca. In that season, Corinthians had players like Gamarra, Rincon and Vampeta in the squad. The best scorer of the Brasileirao 1998  was Viola (Santos) with 21 goals.
The Panini sticker album of the league includes all 24 clubs, after the licence problems with the championship 1997, when eight clubs were not included. The album begins with the table of contents and the foreword by the editor. 


For each club there are 18 stickers displaced over three pages. In the two player pages there are 11 stickers of players and two stickers composing the puzzle of the star player in action. In the page with the club details and results we find five stickers: the badge (shiny sticker), the team (two stickers), the mascot and the home kit.






















At the end of the album, after the presentation of the clubs, there are the stickers of the 24 stadiums of the championship 1998. An amazing section where we can admire legendary Brazilian stadium like the Olimpico Monumental, Morumbi, and Mineirao. 



Back cover

Sao Paulo star players Rogerio Ceni and Raì

Vampeta and Gamarra won the championship 1998 with Corinthians 

Badge and mascot stickers of the winners 1998: Corinthians

Marcos Assunçao and Juan from Flamengo played later on both for AS Roma

Two young prospects of the Brasileirao '98: Juninho and Fabio Junior

Badge and mascot stickers of Cruzeiro (2nd place in the Brasileirao '98)

Marcelinho Carioca (best scorer for Corinthians in 1998) and Evair (ex Atalanta)

Botafogo star players Bebeto (World champion 1994) and Julio Cesar (ex Juventus)

Stadium stickers of Corinthians and Sao Paulo


Album details
Full name: Campeonato Brasileiro 98
Publisher: Panini
League: Brazilian (Serie A)
Season: 1998
Number of clubs: 24
Stickers per club: 18
Other sections: Stadiums (24 stickers)
Checklist: click here

Total number of stickers: 456