La U moves above Spanish giants Real Madrid to sit behind Barcelona in IFFHS rankings.
Universidad de Chile is now second in the world soccer rankings compiled by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The team’s advancement comes after its recent success in the Apertura playoffs and Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.
Johnny “Superboy” Herrera has been instrumental to La U’s success this season. Photo courtesy of Johnny Herrera/Facebook
La U has advanced to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s premier international club soccer tournament, where it is set to meet Argentinian team Boca Juniors, currently sitting at 11th in the IFFHS rankings.
The IFFHS, created in the 1980’s in Germany by Dr. Alfredo Pöge, receives logistical information from FIFA, but works independently in its methodologies and ranking system.
While FIFA does not provide a world ranking for club soccer, continental soccer bodies are at odds with the IFFHS rankings.
The South American Soccer Federation (CONMEBOL), for example, ranks Ecuadorian Liga de Quito and Brazilian Internacional as first and second above third-placed La U in the pan-South America rankings. In comparison, the IFFHS ranks Quito and Internacional in 54th and 36th place respectively.
The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur refuses to publish stories involving IFFHS statistics, and both the organization and Dr. Alfredo Pöge have been mocked in an article by German publication die Tageszeitung.
The article claimed the entire IFFHS operation to be run out of a “nondescript row-house in Bonn Hardtberg,” and also included a cutting analysis from Cologne University professor and soccer historian Karl Lennartz, who referred to the IFFHS as a “one man show.”
“It’s probably only Pöge,” Lennartz told the publication. “The IFFHS is totally obscure.”
By Angus McNeice (mcneice@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2012- The Santiago Times
Universidad de Chile is now second in the world soccer rankings compiled by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The team’s advancement comes after its recent success in the Apertura playoffs and Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.
Johnny “Superboy” Herrera has been instrumental to La U’s success this season. Photo courtesy of Johnny Herrera/Facebook
La U has advanced to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s premier international club soccer tournament, where it is set to meet Argentinian team Boca Juniors, currently sitting at 11th in the IFFHS rankings.
The IFFHS, created in the 1980’s in Germany by Dr. Alfredo Pöge, receives logistical information from FIFA, but works independently in its methodologies and ranking system.
While FIFA does not provide a world ranking for club soccer, continental soccer bodies are at odds with the IFFHS rankings.
The South American Soccer Federation (CONMEBOL), for example, ranks Ecuadorian Liga de Quito and Brazilian Internacional as first and second above third-placed La U in the pan-South America rankings. In comparison, the IFFHS ranks Quito and Internacional in 54th and 36th place respectively.
The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur refuses to publish stories involving IFFHS statistics, and both the organization and Dr. Alfredo Pöge have been mocked in an article by German publication die Tageszeitung.
The article claimed the entire IFFHS operation to be run out of a “nondescript row-house in Bonn Hardtberg,” and also included a cutting analysis from Cologne University professor and soccer historian Karl Lennartz, who referred to the IFFHS as a “one man show.”
“It’s probably only Pöge,” Lennartz told the publication. “The IFFHS is totally obscure.”
By Angus McNeice (mcneice@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2012- The Santiago Times
About the writer
Angus McNeice
British born, Angus grew up in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. He studied English at Stanford University, and graduated in 2007 before going on to work as a political speechwriter in the UK Parliament. He completed post graduate study in journalism at the London School of Journalism in 2011 and moved to Chile in March 2012 because he'd never been to South America. Angus supports the Aston Villa football club and claims he "bleeds claret and blue.”
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