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Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK
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Rio Ferdinand the most searched for footballer in the UK; Cristiano Ronaldo the most popular around the world
June 11, 2010
Last week 1 in every 155 search terms typed into a search engine in the UK were World Cup related. However, this number refers only to terms containing variations on the phrase ‘world cup’; there are obviously lots of other types of search taking place as a result of events in south Africa not least a many related to the footballers actually playing in the tournament.
Injured England captain Rio Ferdinand was the most searched for footballer in the UK during the week ending 05/06/10, and he was joined in the top 10 at number 3 by Theo Walcott, another England star who won’t be playing in South Africa. Joe Cole, a potential Premier League transfer target over the summer and for some a surprise addition to the England squad, was the second most searched for player. Here is the full top 10 list:
1. Rio Ferdinand
2. Joe Cole
3. Theo Walcott
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Wayne Rooney
6. Steven Gerrard
7. Fernando Torres
8. Frank Lampard
9. John Terry
10. Emile Heskey
Former Manchester United winger and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was in the fourth place in the UK, but was the most searched for player in all of the other countries studied: France, USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. The lists of the most searched players in different countries in the tables below reveal the global popularity of the football’s biggest stars. People all over the world are searching for Cristiano Ronaldo, while Spanish players are also extremely popular – Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas and David Villa appear high up on many of the lists. Spanish, Mexican and Portuguese players are the most searched for in the USA, illustrating the popularity of ‘soccer’ amongst the Hispanic population in that country. However, of all the countries that we studied, only in England and Brazil were the top 10s dominated by domestic players.
France::
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. David Villa
3. Lionel Messi
4. Deco
5. Fernando Torres
6. Yoann Gourcuff
7. Ronaldinho
8. Thierry Henry
9. Cesc Fabregas
10. Djibril Cissé
USA:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Ronaldinho
3. Landon Donovan
4. Lionel Messi
5. Carlos Vela
6. Giovani dos Santos
7. Jonathan dos Santos
8. Cesc Fabregas
9. Cuauhtemoc Blanco
10. Wayne Rooney
Brazil:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Grafite
3. Robinho
4. Messi
5. Ronaldinho
6. Nilmar
7. Fernando Torres
8. Kaka
9. Daniel Alves
10. Deco
Australia:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Tim Cahill
3. Hary Kewell
4. Fernando Torres
5. Ronaldinho
6. Joe Cole
7. Cesc Fabregas
8. Mark Schwarzer
9. Rio Ferdinand
10. Kaka
New Zealand:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Wayne Rooney
3. Lionel Messi
4. Ronaldinho
5. Kaka
6. Fernando Torres
7. Winston Reid
8. Ryan Nelsen
9. Bastian Schweinsteiger
10. David Villa
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Posted by Robin Goad at 10:16 AM
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In Categories Celebrities | Football | France | Search | Sport | World Cup 2010
