soccer-europe.com rss feed 15 September 2007 : 2007-2008 Top 99 Strikers in Europe by Tim Leidecker

  LEAGUE %   EUROPE %   INTERNATIONAL %   TOTAL %
  1 Ronaldo 172 239 0.72   36 72 0.50   62 97 0.64   270 408 0.66
  2 Van Nistelrooy 120 187 0.64   53 69 0.77   28 54 0.52   201 310 0.65
  3 Trezeguet 147 244 0.60   36 65 0.55   34 69 0.49   217 378 0.57
  4 Vieri 160 260 0.62   30 69 0.43   23 49 0.47   213 378 0.56
  5 Toni 101 177 0.57   0 0 0.00   12 27 0.44   113 204 0.55
  6 Shevchenko 131 238 0.55   58 111 0.52   33 73 0.45   222 422 0.53
   7 Adriano 74 159 0.47   19 32 0.59   25 37 0.68   118 228 0.52
  8 Drogba 80 171 0.47   23 44 0.52   28 40 0.70   131 255 0.51
  9 Pauleta 166 331 0.50   19 37 0.51   47 88 0.53   232 456 0.51
  10 Crespo 151 294 0.51   36 77 0.47   32 62 0.52   219 433 0.51
  11 Frei 63 132 0.48   8 18 0.44   32 56 0.57   103 206 0.50
  12 Henry 197 375 0.53   50 109 0.46   39 92 0.42   286 576 0.50
  13 Eto'o 115 225 0.51   18 39 0.46   33 73 0.45   166 337 0.49
  14 Owen 138 266 0.52   22 54 0.41   37 82 0.45   197 402 0.49
  15 Berbatov 81 187 0.43   21 41 0.51   35 58 0.60   137 286 0.48
  16 Villa 72 147 0.49   8 21 0.38   10 21 0.48   90 189 0.48
  17 F Inzaghi 27 286 0.09   51 87 0.59   24 55 0.44   202 428 0.47
  18 S Arveladze 0 0 0.00   33 65 0.51   26 60 0.43   59 125 0.47
  19 Raul 188 446 0.42   56 110 0.51   44 102 0.43   266 565 0.47
  20 S John 9 62 0.15   0 0 0.00   67 100 0.67   76 162 0.47
  21 Koller 67 170 0.39   25 58 0.43   48 78 0.62   140 306 0.46
  22 Nonda 99 219 0.45   7 24 0.29   9 12 0.75   115 255 0.45
  23 Montella 139 273 0.51   10 46 0.22   3 20 0.15   152 339 0.45
  24 Morientes 135 311 0.43   38 91 0.42   27 47 0.57   200 449 0.45
  25 Klose 97 209 0.46   11 44 0.25   33 69 0.48   141 322 0.44
  26 Chevanton 54 125 0.43   9 16 0.56   7 21 0.33   70 162 0.43
  27 Podolski 26 73 0.36   1 7 0.14   22 38 0.58   49 118 0.42
  28 D Cisse 91 197 0.46   10 35 0.29   9 35 0.26   110 267 0.41
  29 F Torres 75 174 0.43   0 0 0.00   14 42 0.33   89 216 0.41
  30 Tristan 97 225 0.43   21 60 0.35   4 15 0.27   122 300 0.41
  31 Kuranyi 65 163 0.40   13 36 0.36   18 40 0.45   96 239 0.40
  32 Tamudo 113 283 0.40   5 14 0.36   4 9 0.44   122 306 0.40
  33 Del Piero 134 331 0.40   43 106 0.41   26 81 0.32   203 518 0.39
  34 Pizarro 100 230 0.43   22 65 0.34   13 50 0.26   135 345 0.39
  35 Chiesa 137 378 0.36   24 42 0.57   7 17 0.41   168 437 0.38
  36 Di Vaio 93 239 0.39   23 54 0.43   2 14 0.14   118 307 0.38
  37 Keane 90 244 0.37   9 18 0.50   29 72 0.40   128 334 0.38
  38 Martins 39 121 0.32   17 38 0.45   11 17 0.65   67 176 0.38
  39 Suazo 44 108 0.41   0 0 0.00   8 29 0.28   52 137 0.38
  40 Gilardino 87 216 0.40   6 34 0.18   9 23 0.39   102 273 0.37
  41 R Oliveira 38 93 0.41   4 17 0.24   4 13 0.31   46 123 0.37
  42 Viduka 85 202 0.42   18 53 0.34   6 38 0.16   109 293 0.37
  43 Saviola 66 181 0.36   23 52 0.44   11 37 0.30   100 270 0.37
  44 Totti 151 369 0.41   20 58 0.34   9 58 0.16   180 485 0.37
  45 Mutu 62 190 0.33   13 29 0.45   24 54 0.44   99 273 0.36
  46 Solskjaer 91 235 0.39   23 83 0.28   23 67 0.34   137 385 0.36
  47 McCarthy 29 101 0.29   24 65 0.37   28 62 0.45   81 228 0.36
  48 Ibrahimovic 38 97 0.39   12 53 0.23   18 44 0.41   68 194 0.35
  49 Yakubu 53 138 0.38   2 14 0.14   5 19 0.26   60 171 0.35
  50 Rocchi 62 175 0.35   2 5 0.40   0 3 0.00   64 183 0.35
  51 Nihat 58 142 0.41   1 15 0.07   12 47 0.26   71 204 0.35
  52 Salva 80 228 0.35   2 4 0.50   0 4 0.00   82 236 0.35
  53 Tomasson 37 139 0.27   16 64 0.25   46 90 0.51   99 293 0.34
  54 J Cruz 61 172 0.35   16 48 0.33   3 17 0.18   80 237 0.34
  55 Rooney 56 167 0.34   8 23 0.35   12 38 0.32   76 228 0.33
  56 Kanoute 79 248 0.32   12 32 0.38   8 18 0.44   99 298 0.33
  57 Forlan 61 169 0.36   6 35 0.17   12 36 0.33   79 240 0.33
  58 Romeo 41 119 0.34   2 10 0.20   0 4 0.00   43 133 0.32
  59 Klasnic 42 135 0.31   9 22 0.41   8 26 0.31   59 183 0.32
  60 Baros 32 122 0.26   4 29 0.14   31 57 0.54   67 208 0.32
  61 Santos 37 142 0.26   4 13 0.31   18 28 0.64   59 183 0.32
  62 Ewerthon 65 184 0.35   4 25 0.16   0 6 0.00   69 215 0.32
  63 Yorke 134 399 0.34   12 50 0.24   16 58 0.28   162 507 0.32
  64 Anelka 90 277 0.32   13 42 0.31   10 38 0.26   113 357 0.32
  65 Kallon 52 171 0.30   10 27 0.37   9 26 0.35   71 224 0.32
  66 Cousin 37 133 0.28   9 17 0.53   6 14 0.43   52 164 0.32
  67 Pandiani 60 202 0.30   24 60 0.40   0 4 0.00   84 266 0.32
  68 Iaquinta 58 176 0.33   6 12 0.50   1 19 0.05   65 207 0.31
  69 S Inzaghi 42 155 0.27   19 39 0.49   0 3 0.00   61 197 0.31
  70 Bellamy 54 181 0.30   13 33 0.39   13 46 0.28   80 260 0.31
  71 Vittek 25 78 0.32   1 8 0.13   15 47 0.32   41 133 0.31
  72 Van Persie 22 72 0.31   5 21 0.24   7 19 0.37   34 112 0.30
  73 Mido 25 86 0.29   2 19 0.11   18 44 0.41   45 149 0.30
  74 Crouch 33 133 0.25   8 24 0.33   12 19 0.63   53 176 0.30
  75 E Mpenza 37 125 0.30   3 11 0.27   17 54 0.31   57 190 0.30
  76 Niang 51 168 0.30   3 14 0.21   5 15 0.33   9 197 0.05
  77 Dindane 17 62 0.27   13 45 0.29   14 40 0.35   44 147 0.30
  78 Miccoli 29 94 0.31   5 17 0.29   2 10 0.20   36 121 0.30
  79 Barbarez 91 301 0.30   8 41 0.20   17 49 0.35   116 391 0.30
  80 Wiltord 120 384 0.31   20 86 0.23   26 92 0.28   166 562 0.30
  81 Maccarone 29 108 0.27   7 12 0.58   0 2 0.00   36 122 0.30
  82 Laslandes 125 400 0.31   7 53 0.13   3 7 0.43   135 460 0.29
  83 H Camara 51 155 0.33   0 8 0.00   10 46 0.22   61 209 0.29
  84 Gudjohnsen 59 210 0.28   11 44 0.25   17 46 0.37   87 300 0.29
  85 L Garcia 42 147 0.29   7 21 0.33   0 2 0.00   49 170 0.29
  86 Forssell 32 112 0.29   0 8 0.00   16 47 0.34   48 167 0.29
  87 Defoe 57 194 0.29   3 4 0.75   3 24 0.13   63 222 0.28
  88 Smolarek 25 79 0.32   0 15 0.00   8 23 0.35   33 117 0.28
  89 Vucinic 31 108 0.29   1 6 0.17   1 3 0.33   33 117 0.28
  90 Utaka 46 165 0.28   4 20 0.20   6 17 0.35   56 202 0.28
  91 McBride 32 130 0.25   0 0 0.00   30 95 0.32   62 225 0.28
  92 Di Natale 44 159 0.28   4 12 0.33   2 10 0.20   50 181 0.28
  93 Recoba 62 193 0.32   13 54 0.24   11 66 0.17   86 313 0.27
  94 S Kalou 30 118 0.25   12 28 0.43   12 51 0.24   54 197 0.27
  95 Carew 38 150 0.25   23 73 0.32   17 63 0.27   78 286 0.27
  96 Cassano 46 178 0.26   10 28 0.36   3 10 0.30   59 216 0.27
  97 Saha 55 200 0.28   4 20 0.20   4 18 0.22   63 238 0.26
  98 Adebayor 32 130 0.25   5 34 0.15   16 37 0.43   53 201 0.26
  99 Charisteas 18 66 0.27   4 19 0.21   16 59 0.27   38 144 0.26
                                   

Key

* League = League Goals/Games/Ratio
* Europe = European Cup Goals/Games/Ratio
* International = International Goals/Games/Ratio

Qualification Criteria

Only players from the 'Top 5' leagues, i.e. La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga were taken into consideration

Players must have played in at least 100 competitive games at the highest level ('Top 5' leagues, European Cup and/or international matches)

Players must have won full caps for their respective countries

Why Did I Weight The Goals The Way I did?

Even though the level of play in the Champions League and (top) international matches is higher than in the average league game, it is in my opinion the everyday work that is league play which seperates the wheat from the chaff. To score goals against the best defenders in Europe is difficult but maintaining a .500 or even higher league scoringratio over a full season, let alone a whole career, is even harder if you ask me. This is why I rated 'Top 5' league goals, European Cup goals and international match goals equally and added them up to a combined total.

Why This List Is Far From Perfect

First of all the 'weight' of an individual goal is not the same all the time. A game winner or even an equalizer 'counts' a lot more than the odd goal in a 5-0 thrashing as far as the impact on the final result is concerned. A lot of players have made a name for themselves for scoring heavily against minnows or coming up big in games that have already been won but tend to choke in pressure situations. Those 'black sheep' unfortunately cannot be unmasked and exposed using this criteria.

For more information on the Marin-Based Value-Weighting visit :

http://www.soccer-europe.com/Data/Goals/Weight.html

http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/paserman-howmuchgoals.html

Additionally it is very unfortunate that even the well-respected sources that I used for compiling this data (kicker, Marca) do not realize the importance to distinguish between the different European Cups, i.e. Champions League, UEFA Cup and the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup. It is of course a huge difference whether you are facing Milan, Bayern or Real Madrid in the Champions League or Groclin Grodzisk, Kamen Ingrad Velika or Publikum Celje in the UEFA Cup (no offense to the supporters of these fine teams!). This is why the power of statement for the European Cup ratios is a little watered down.

Finally, the opposition attackers have to face in World Cup/European Championship qualification is of very varying quality as well. As an example: While former World Champions Brazil had to go through a treadmill of a qualification group facing top opposition in form of Argentina (#3 in the World), Uruguay (#18), Colombia (#25), Paraguay (#30) and Ecuador (#34), among other rather difficult to play teams, to only make it to Germany 2006, former World Champions England as an example for an European qualifier, only had one semi-competitive opponent in Poland (#23), the rest of their games were better training games against the likes of Austria (#74), Wales (#79), Northern Ireland (#114) and Azerbaijan (#116).

Without wanting to take anything away from their abilities, but this - at least to a degree - explains why European star forwards like Van Nistelrooy, Trezeguet and Vieri have a better international scoring record compared with their South American counterparts Pizarro, Saviola and Chevanton.

Tim Leidecker