Last week, I complicated it. Over-complicated? Depends on how you look at this Golden Shoe, league modifier business. Regardless, I’m keeping it simple this week.
With the help of the folks at World Soccer, here’s where things stand after this weekend’s action. With two goals at Osasuna, Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a two-point, one-goal lead on Lionel Messi. After that, there’s a gap you’d need one of those Indiana Jones rope bridges to cross, and everybody knows those always snap (it even snapped on South Park).
Remember the rules? Goals are multiplied by two for players in Europe’s “top five” leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France).1 Players from the next 15 leagues get their goals multiplied by 1.5.
The other half of UEFA? Tough luck, minnows! Your goals only count one!
| Rank | Player | Team | League | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Spain | 37 | 74 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Spain | 36 | 72 |
| 3 | Robin van Persie | Arsenal | England | 26 | 52 |
| 4 | Burak Yilmaz | Trabzonspor | Turkey | 32 | 48 |
| 5 | Aleksandrs Cekulajevs | Trans Narva | Estonia | 46 | 46 |
| 5 | Mario Gomez | Bayern Munich | Germany | 23 | 46 |
| 5 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | Schalke | Germany | 23 | 46 |
| 8 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Milan | Italy | 22 | 44 |
| 9 | Seydou Doumbia | CSKA | Russia | 27 | 40.5 |
| 10 | Radamel Falcao | Atlético Madrid | Spain | 20 | 40 |
| 10 | Gonzalo Higuain | Real Madrid | Spain | 20 | 40 |
| 10 | Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | England | 20 | 40 |
Who is Aleksandrs Cekulajevs? A Latvian striker, Cekulajevs struggled at his one venture into mid-level Europe, eventually leaving the Czech Republic’s Nachod-Destne for Iceland after spending the first part of his career in Riga. Last year, he moved to Estonia where he has posted these acceptable results.
1 – Portugal is set to pass France for fifth in next year’s coefficient. Will their players get 2x? Will France’s players be knocked down to 1.5x? It’s really one of the biggest controversies in world soccer history. Stay tuned.
