Does US Soccer Deserve Higher FIFA ranking?

FIFA have released their rankings ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In a strange twist, the US national team has advanced one place to No. 7 for the month of January.

Brazil continues to maintain the top spot it has held since July 2002, followed by the Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Argentina. France and Spain are tied for fifth. Mexico is tied for seventh with the US. England remained ninth, and Portugal is number 10.

From 11 to 20, Turkey, followed by Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Greece, Germany, Uruguay, Iran, and Croatia.

Only Turkey, Denmark, Greece, and Uruguay failed to qualify for the 32-nation World Cup, which begins in June 9 in Germany.

Despite their high rankings, the US failed to be ranked for the World Cup competition first group because of their past WC record. For the preliminary stages, it has to play Czech Republic, Italy, and Ghana in order to get to the Round of 16. It is already certain that most bookies and pundits have predicted that the US will likely fall out in this round, or definitely out of the Quarterfinals.

For American expats living in Europe, the chances for the US national football (soccer) team this year are just slim. Their performance in Europe has not been good. Brazil is the favorite to win a record sixth World Cup title. Only the women's world cup team has a better chance in the competition than their male counterparts.

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Posted by: gonesail
Posted on: November 3, 2007 02:52 AM

Well, with all respect to US soccer I think that there is a learning curve in everything. Therefore we would like to se US team playing even better at next WORLD CUP.

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