ESM Golden Shoe: Ailton on the up

Ailton scored the second goal in SV Werder Bremen's 2-0 German 1. Bundesliga win against VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach to climb into the top five in the ESM Golden Shoe rankings.

In-form Kezman
The Brazilian's strike, worth two points, moved him above Harald Brattbakk of Rosenborg BK, and to within sight of Henrik Larsson, the leading challenger from the European leagues which will conclude in 2003. The Celtic FC forward had a blank weekend and is in danger of losing third place to Mateja Kezman, who scored his 18th goal in 16 Dutch first division matches as PSV Eindhoven went top with a 4-2 win at AFC Ajax.

Sonck on target
With many leagues now on their winter break, there was little movement lower down the rankings. However, KRC Genk’s Wesley Sonck was on target against K. Sint Truidense VV to edge closer to the leaders, while AS Roma talisman Francesco Totti climbed into the top 25 with his goal against Reggina Calcio in a game in which he was later taken off with a suspected knee injury.

Last updated: 15 December 2002

Only the leading five countries (Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England) on the UEFA Ranking have 2 as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between the clubs from those countries and those from the other countries.

A player cannot first play in a summer league (e.g. Norway) and then in a winter league (e.g. Spain) and combine the points total for each season.

Figures from Voetbal International