FERNANDO TORRES, FAVOURITE FOOTBALLER AMONG MALAYSIAN FANS

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Liverpool and Spain striker Fernando Torres has been voted Malaysia's favourite footballer, according to the latest
Barclays Global Fans Survey among Malaysian fans which was released
Thursday.

Barclays Global Fans Survey which analysed the opinions of 32,000 fans
across 185 countries including Malaysia, reveals that Malaysian fans have
voted Torres, also known as 'El Nino' as their favourite player (44 per cent),
ahead of Manchester United and Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo (43 per cent)
and Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard (35 per cent).

However, the all-time favourite player among Malaysian fans is Manchester
United legend and former striker Eric Cantona (37 per cent), beating former
Arsenal and current Barcelona striker Thierry Henry (30 per cent) and former
Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, who is currently playing for the Los
Angeles Galaxy.

The survey conducted by Barclays, the official title sponsor of the
English Premier League, also reveals that the style of football (22 per cent)
and competitiveness (21 per cent) are the most appealing aspects of the English
game, according to the average Malaysian fan.

Malaysian fans also voted Sir Alex Ferguson as their favourite Barclays
Premier League manager (37 per cent), Old Trafford as their favourite
stadium, and Manchester United as the most popular club (38 per cent), followed
by Liverpool (28 per cent).

part from that, Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi is the
player Malaysian fans would most like to see in action in the Barclays English
Premier League (60 per cent).

The survey also reveals that an average Malaysian fan spends more than five
hours a week following the EPL matches (43 per cent) and television is the
favoured medium for following live matches (88 per cent), while 24 per cent
prefer to use the Internet for watching short highlights.

But the outstanding finding, according to the survey, is that football (91
per cent) is the top topic of conversation among friends, ahead of sports in
general (40 per cent) and politics (39 per cent), while football (45 per cent)
takes second place to family matters (56 per cent) as the most important
activity in the lives of fans.

The analysis was done as part of the ongoing research by Barclays
to better understand the attitudes and lifestyles of football fans around the
world.

-- BERNAMA