Mali Away 2010

Flag of Mali

First international: Mali 4-3 Central African Republic (1960)

Biggest win: Mali 11-0 Mauritania (1972)

Biggest loss: Kuwait 8-1 Mali (1997)

Most capped: Seydou Keita (73 caps)

Star player: Seydou Keita (Dalian FC)

Ahh I bring you the shirt of Mali now. Mali is probably my favourite footballing country and I will now tell you why. Before Frederic Kanoute announced his desire to play for Mali I had never heard of them but then once he did I did a bit of research on them and found out they had quite a few decent players. Although now Kanoute has retired from international football if I am correct. I have then been Mali on pretty much every Football Manager game and they were my favourite team to be on the FIFA World Cup game 2010. Soumaila Coulibaly had a rocket of a shot for them on it so if you still own it, go be Mali and play him and you'll see what I mean. Also one of Liverpool's worst players at the time is a national for the side. That player is Djimi Traore but I liked him for how bad he was at times but then he'd go and do something brilliant. Momo Sissoko who was at Liverpool for a few seasons also is from Mali and they have players like Seydou Keita of Barcelona and Mahamadou Diarra who is now at Fulham. So yeah a pretty decent squad overall. I'd suggest people to be them on Football Manager to if you have them.

Mali have reached the African Nations final once in 1972 which they lost 3-2 to Congo. In the 2010 African Cup of Nations Mali were 4-0 down to Angola with 15 minutes to go. They managed to draw the game 4-4 which was to everyone's surprise which can be seen in the video below. The country is currently in a bit of trouble with civil war breaking out and football is not at the top of everyone's lists with players not being played etc. They have qualified for the 2013 AFCON and managed to get to the semi final before being knocked out by Nigeria in the semi finals. 

This Mali shirt unfortunately is not authentic but it still looks really nice and to most normal people they would not know it is not authentic. The shirt is to commemorate the 50 years of Malian independence which is why the number 50 is on the shirt. 

Chinese Taipei Home 2012

 

First international: Republic of China 3-2 South Vietnam (1954)

Biggest win: Chinese Taipei 10-0 Guam (2007)

Biggest loss: Kuwait 10-0 Chinese Taipei (2006)

Star player: Xavier (Guizou Renhe)

I'm being lazy so if you go to this link then you can find out a lot more about the wonderful Chinese Taipei. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Taipei_national_football_team

Philippines Home 2012

 

 

 

Flag of Philippines

First international: Philippines 2-1 China (1913)

Biggest win: Japan 2-15 Philippines (1917)

Biggest loss: Japan 15-0 Philippines (1967)

Star player: Neil Etheridge (Fulham FC)

When most people think about Filipino sport they will most likely think about the boxer Manny Pacquiao. Football is not on the same scale as the Filipino's love for Manny Pacquiao and this is reflected with their highest ever FIFA ranking only being 143 in the world. 

If you would like to know a bit more about the team then click on this link. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_national_football_team

CSKA Moscow Home 2011

 

This shirt came from Moscow itself thanks to someone I managed to find on Facebook. The shirt also came with some mini card with a player on but because the name is in Russian I am not really sure who that player is. If it's not Dzagoev then I am not going to know them. The shirt is a nice design though and fits nicely.

If you want to know more about the club then go to this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_CSKA_Moscow

Zanzibar Home 2011

 

 

First international: Zanzibar 3-2 Kenya (1949)

Biggest win: Zanzibar 6-0 Raetia (2012)

Biggest loss: Kenya 10-0 Zanzibar (1961)

I do not know much about the Zanzibar football team so let me just paste you what Wikipedia says as I am being lazy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_national_football_team

Gibraltar Away 2010

 

 

First international: Sevilla 2-0 Gibraltar (1923)

Biggest win: Gibraltar 19-0 Sark (2003)

Biggest loss: Greenland 5-0 Gibraltar (1993)

Most capped: Lee Casciaro

Top scorer: Lee Casciaro  


Gibraltar are currently in the process of applying to FIFA so they can compete in the World Cup qualification like all the other 209 FIFA nations. They have beaten Faroe Islands 3-0 before so they are better than you would think. Keep an eye in the future to see if they get accepted by FIFA which hopefully will be soon. In the summer for pre-season friendlies they managed to beat Notts County and Portsmouth.

Moldova Home 2011

 

 

First international: Moldova 2-4 Georgia (1991)

Biggest win: Moldova 5-0 Pakistan (1992)

Biggest loss: Sweden 6-0 Moldova (2001)

Most capped: Radu Rebeja (74 caps)

Top scorer: Serghei Clescenco (11 goals)

Star player: Alexandru Gatcan (Rostov FC)

Moldova was formed after the break up of the Soviet Union and then played their first international match in 1991 which they lost to Georgia. They have not been a dominant footballing nation over the last 21 years having not qualified for any major tournamentss but still have a few interesting facts about them. 

To start with, probably the most famous footballer David Beckham started his international career against Moldova. After England then beat the Moldovans 4-0 it inspired a British writer and comedian called Tony Hawks (no, not the skateboarder) to travel to Moldova and play the starting eleven at a game of tennis. You can read a bit more about the book and film called "Playing the Moldovans at tennis" here.

Moldovan football was also at the heart of a hoax once before to. The Times newspaper published a list of the top 50 youngsters in world football and at number 30 was a Moldovan prodigy called Masal Bugduv. This guy was reported to be moving to Arsenal at the age of 16 before it was all revealed that he was not even a real person. You can also read a bit more about that story here.