If you are looking for footballers to follow on Twitter then you will enjoy this compilation of some of the most active Tweeters from Jordan, the man behind the Footballers on Twitter website. You can find out more about the site by clicking on the image below and you can also connect on Twitter @findafootballer.

Please click on the images to connect on Twitter!

1. Rio Ferdinand

One of the original footballers on Twitter, regularly converses with fans, celebrities and other footballers.

2. Jack Wilshere

Although he only made his breakthrough into the Arsenal team last season, Jack Wilshere has already accumulated a large number of followers.

3. Darren Bent

Bent was one of the first footballers to use Twitter to try and engineer a transfer, when he left Tottenham Hotspur for Sunderland in 2009.

4. Michael Owen

Although his tweets aren’t the most exciting, Owen is very active and has had some very interesting arguments with Piers Morgan.

5. Wayne Rooney

Rooney famously used Twitter to post images of his hair transplant earlier this year. He is one of the most active footballers on twitter.

6. Joey Barton

A controversial figure on and off the pitch, Joey Barton uses Twitter to voice his opinions on a range of topics.

7. Rafael van der Vaart

Van der Vaart regularly tweets pictures from his social life and training, making him one of the most interesting footballers to follow.

8. Cesc Fabregas

Cesc tweets in Spanish and English, and promises to be an interesting footballer to follow as his transfer to Barcelona rumbles on.

9. Dirk Kuyt

Kuyt uses Twitter to keep fans updated on his progress throughout the season, meaning he’s a must-follow for Liverpool fans.

10. Wesley Sneijder

Sneijder uses Twitter to hold competitions and chat to other footballers.

Many thanks to Jordan for sharing his compilation with us. Please do let us have your comments and any other suggestions of footballers who you feel might have been included.

Thank you for visiting The Top 10 Blog. If you like what you see I hope you will share and +1, if you would like to see more then you can Subscribe, Follow, Like and add me to your Circles at the top of the sidebar.

*Image credit

Golden Football – kanate / FreeDigitalPhotos.net (in Excerpt)

Who have been the best England World Cup players?  This has always been a difficult question to answer but now we may have the definitive answer from Opta.  Their experts have analysed the stats from all the World Cup tournaments since 1966 and have come up with the best players in each position together with a Second XL.

Have a look and see how they compare with my earlier assessment of the best England Footballers.

(Source of information Opta Index and Mail on Sunday Live Magazine, numbers not actual playing numbers)

1. Gordon Banks – 9 appearances at 2 World Cups in 1966 and 1970, a career cut short by a tragic accident.

2 . George Cohen – 6 appearances in 1966.

3. Ashley Cole - 10 appearances in 2002 and 2006, the only member of the 2010 squad to make the team!

4. Mark Wright – 6 appearances in 1990 and not someone I would have thought of, but the stats cannot lie!

5. Bobby Moore – 10 appearances in 1966 and 1970, England World Cup winning captain who just had to be there. (I know he wore no 6)

6.Martin Peters – 9 appearances in 1966 and 1970.  Stylish West Ham midfielder.

7 David Beckham – 13 appearances 1998, 2002, 2006, I suppose he just had to be there given his longevity, sadly not to be there this year.

8. Alan Ball – 8 appearances in 1966 and 1970, industrious midfielder and another World Cup winner.

9 Bobby Charlton – 10 appearances in 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970.  Great scorer of stylish goals and a Geordie lad to boot.

10. Gary Lineker – 12 appearances in 86 and 90, one of England’s most consistent scorers.

11 Geoff Hurst – 6 appearances in 66 and 70, another West Ham man and another World Cup winner.

The Subs bench

Peter Shilton, Kenny Samson, Jackie Charlton, Terry Butcher, Gary Stevens, Paul Scholes, Paul Gascoine, Glenn Hoddle, Bryan Robson, Michael Owen, Roger Hunt.

Interesting stuff.

Visit the website today and try the demo version.

Top 10 World Cup Injury Disappointments

The World Cup is approaching and we are seeing the usual crop of injuries threatening the appearance in South Africa of some of the worlds best players.  So what a good time to have a look back at some of the cruel World Cup injury disappointments of the past.

It’s also interesting in some cases to reflect on who benefited from their unexpected moment in the spotlight.

So lets start with 2010 and work back in time.

South Africa 2010  – David Beckham

Probably would not have been in the starting line up for England, but may have had the chance to play an interesting cameo role.  I know there are other candidates who could be included, (Sorry Michael Ballack) but Mr Beckham has previous when it comes to World Cup injuries and this was his last chance.  Who had heard of metatarsals before Beckham came on the scene!

Will apparently be on the England coaching staff, you just can’t keep a good man down.

Germany 2006  – Michael Owen

Had severe injury problems before the tournament and was probably, with hindsight, brought back too early.  Pulled up with a severe anterior cruciate injury and that was the end of that.

Korea and Japan 2002   – Santiago Canizares

After years of playing second fiddle to  Zubizarreta the Valencia shot-stopper was given the number one shirt for 2002. Then he encountered a bottle of aftershave, which, in uncharacteristic style, he dropped against his bathroom sink, with a shard of glass severing a tendon in his big toe. He was rushed to hospital and missed the entire tournament, giving rookie keeper Iker Casillas a chance to make a name for himself with two saves in the penalty shoot-out against the Republic of Ireland in the second round.

United States 1994   – Marco Van Basten

The Dutch striker put himself through hell to try to play a part in Holland’s 1994 World Cup in America. Having last played  a year earlier in the Champions League final, van Basten underwent many operations to try to be ready in time to be included in Johan Cruyffs squad. By March of 1994 he had given up the ghost on medical advice, saying: “I know that I will never play soccer again without pain but I also know the day of my comeback is getting nearer.” Sadly he was wrong and quit the game for good in 1995.

Italia 1990  – Bryan Robson

Bryan Robson won 90 caps for England but he would have had so many more were it not for injury.  Captain Marvel hit top form in the qualifying campaign for Italia ’90, leading his country for the 50th time in their 5-0 victory over Albania and scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against Yugoslavia.

And there seemed no fitness concerns as he came through England’s opening Group F game with the Republic of Ireland, which ended in a 1-1 draw.  But he had been carrying Achilles tendon and toe injuries and they flared up against the Netherlands, forcing boss Bobby Robson into replacing him with David Platt after 64 minutes.

Platt went on to become England’s stand-out performer in their run to the semi-finals and, but for three appearances in 1991, Robson’s international career was over.

Mexico 1986   – Kenny Dalglish

At the age of 35, ‘King Kenny’ was still Scotland’s top player and had just guided Liverpool to a double in his first season as Player/Manager.  It was something of a surprise that he withdrew on the eve of the tournament due to a ligament injury.  Sir Alex was manager at the time and according to reports, was not best pleased.

Spain 1982   -  Kevin Keegan

Keegans chance to appear at a World Cup arrived at last in 1982 after 2 previous failures to qualify.  He suffered a chronic back injury shortly before the tournament and was only able to play 26 minutes against Spain, missing a crucial headed chance in that time.

Spain 1982   – Roberto Bettega

Italy may have won in style back in Espana 1982 but they did so without one of their talismanic players – Roberto Bettega. An outstanding forward with Juventus, he picked up a knee ligament injury in a European match – ruling him out of the tournament where the once disgraced Paolo Rossi grabbed all the headlines and the Azzurri won a third World Cup.

England 1966   – Jimmy Greaves

Greaves was first choice striker as the tournament started but suffered an injury against France, he was replaced by a young Geoff Hurst, the rest is history!

Chile 1962  – Alfredo Di Stefano

Perhaps the greatest player to never play in a World Cup finals, Di Stefano represented three different countries but his best chance came in 1962 with his adopted Spain. The Real Madrid legend helped the team to qualify for the tournament but his last shot at glory was ruled out as he picked up a muscular injury during preparations, making him a reluctant spectator once again.

Why not use this as a flimsy excuse to see the great Di Stefano featuring in the amazing 1960 European Cup Final.

I am sure you will have your own unlucky players who have missed out so let me know who they are.

There have been some amazing results over the years where the supposed smaller team has turned over one of the ‘giants’ of the game.

On FA Cup Quarter final day I thought it would be a good time to review the most memorable.

1) Hereford United v Newcastle United 5th Feb 1972

This one is really painful so has to be my no 1!  I was at St James Park for the 3rd Round tie on the 24th of January.  The match was keenly awaited following 2 postponements and finished with an amazing 2-2 scoreline.  We had assumed that the then top tier team would easily see of the Southern League part timers but it was not to be.

The replay was 3 times postponed and eventually took place on 4th Round day on a Quagmire of a pitch.  I can’t bear to go into too much detail but Ronnie Redford’s superb goal is forever etched on my mind.

2) Yeovil Town v Sunderland 1949

Sorry, had to include this one to cheer myself up.  A fantastic 2-1 win after extra time. Yeovil went on to play Manchester United in the next round in front of 81,000 fans, they lost 8-0.

3) Sutton United v Coventry City 1989

Coventry were 6th in the top division and had won the cup 2 years before but were brought down to earth by non league Sutton by a 2-1 scoreline.  This was the last time that a top flight club has been knocked out of the cup by a non league team.

4) Stoke City v Blyth Spartans 1978

Stoke had recently been relegated but had quality players in their side such as Howard Kendall and Garth Crooks.  Blyth from the Northern League, won 2-1 and went on to lose to Wrexham in the 5th Round after a replay at St James Park, which was watched by more than 42,000.

5) Leeds United v Sunderland 1973

This wouldn’t be a giant killing these days but at that time Leeds were the dominant force in the English game while Sunderland were languishing in the second tier.  Sunderland had an amazing run to the final but were huge underdogs and it was a major surprise when they lifted the cup 1-0.  Memorable for the goal, Jim Montgomery’s wonder save and Bob Stokoe’s celebrations.

6 Bournemouth v Manchester United 1984

The first of 3 cup shocks for United engineered by Harry Redknapp, doesn’t. it feel like he has been around for ever?  Manchester may not have been quite the force they are now however they were FA Cup holders and Bournrmouth were in the 3rd tier at that time.  A fairly comprehensive 2-0 win to the minnows.

7) Barnsley v Chelsea 2008

Chelsea’s team had all their stars including Micheal Ballack and John Terry but Barnsley, fresh from their victory at Liverpool in the previous round, won 1-0 to move into the semi finals.

8) Wrexham v Arsenal 1992

The season prior to this Arsenal were champions and Wrexham were bottom of the entire league so who would have thought that the Welshmen would run out 2-1 winners?  A Mickey Thomas stunning free kick contributed to a great win which turned around Wrexhams fortunes.

9) Liverpool v Wimbledon 1988

‘The Wombles’ weren’t exactly the most fashionable of teams having risen up the leagues in spectacular fashion with an uncompromising style.  They were overwhelming underdogs against a strong Liverpool side but won 1-0 with a goal from Lawrie Sanchez.  The Crazy Gang were worthy winners soaking up a lot of pressure with a penalty save from Dave Beasant.

10) Walsall v Arsenal 1933

Division 3 South Walsall faced a hopeless situation when they drew first league leaders Arsenal for their 3^rd round FA Cup playoff. At the time, the professional Arsenal team was worth thousands of pounds, whereas little Walsall’s team cost only £70. However, Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman made one fatal error. Believing the result was a foregone conclusion, he rested three of his top players. Walsall took their chance and scored two unanswered goals, to hand Arsenal a humiliating defeat.