England’s World Cup campaign may have whimpered to a premature end this summer but the stars of City and United have so far ensured Manchester leads the way in terms of Premier League goals in Brazil.
Eight different players from Manchester’s big two have netted a combined ten goals as the competition enters the quarter-final stage – add one more goal from Wigan’s Jean Beausejour and Greater Manchester is comfortably the country’s most dominant region.
United’s Robin van Persie, with a double against Spain followed by one against Australia, Marouane Fellaini, Nani, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Javier Hernandez are joined by City’s Fernandinho and Edin Dzeko in those who have notched at this summer’s tournament.
FIFA rules mean that, for the purposes of the World Cup, players are officially registered to the club who they last played a competitive game for.
And not even the capital’s clubs can compete, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace mustering a total of eight goals between them.
Chelsea have goalscorers in the form of Oscar, Andre Schurrle and Fernando Torres, Arsenal are represented by Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil, Spurs by Jan Vertonghen while Crystal Palace have Mile Jedinak and West Ham are represented by loanee wing-back Pablo Armero.
Elsewhere, Merseyside boasts four goals from three different sources and Wales have Swansea’s Wilfried Bony, who netted twice before the Ivory Coast were eliminated at the group stages.
Things are looking positive for Manchester, too, as City and United still have representatives in five of the last eight countries in contention for this year’s world crown.
The Netherlands and new Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has also revealed that he will join the club’s pre-season tour to America – even if his Dutch side win the World Cup.
His side’s late victory over Mexico set-up a clash against Costa Rica in the quarter-finals and should they win, Van Gaal will be tied to international commitments until at least July 13.
United are due to jet out to the States just five days later for a five-match pre-season tour and Van Gaal has assured fans and players he will be ready to hit the ground running in his new role.
Main image courtesy of Jason Cairnduff/Action Images, with thanks.
