Football briefs: The generosity and literature edition
Estonia's failure to beat San Marino has freed it from the status of "world's worst team” as the 0-0 draw in November broke San Marino's string of 61-losing games and catapulted it up to 180th place in the FIFA rankings.
San Marino, politically part of Italy, has been the worst - or joint-worst - team in world football for at least the past three years, and was that high up on the world rankings the last time in 2005.
Estonia also rose in the ranks, despite that 0-0 draw, as it beat Norway and Jordan, both usually better than Estonia. Estonia is now 83rd, raising five places.
The Faroe Islands, population 50,000, passed Estonia to land in the 82nd spot after defeating 2004 European Champion Greece on the road.
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Mart Poom, Estonia's most famous footballer of all time, will release a autobiography next week. The 511-page book is titled “Mart Poom. My Story” and was co-written with sports journalist Indrek Schwede.
The book will currently be only available in Estonian, however.
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Nõmme Kalju, fourth in the league this season, has already began to build up its squad by welcoming back the league's 2013 top scorer, Vladimir Voskoboinikov.
Voskoboinikov, who has played for the national team 36 times, spent a season in Qingdao, China, where he scored six goals in 22 games. He also made four assists and earned four red cards.
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The 20th annual end of the year football tournament in Tallinn will begin on December 17, organizers announced.
The top teams will join the competition on December 29 and the final round will be held the next day. The tournament usually attracts thousands of spectators over the two weeks of competition.