FIFA rankings.

Discussion in 'Politics' started by SouthAmerica, Nov 23, 2006.

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    Soccer

    “Brazil and Italy remain top two in latest FIFA rankings”
    Nov 22, 2006, 19:23 GMT


    Zurich, Switzerland - The FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings for the month of November were released on Wednesday, with Brazil holding a 28-point edge over second-place Italy.

    The defending World Cup champions pulled level with mighty Brazil after their draw against Turkey. However, the South American powerhouse picked up the 28- point difference with a win over Switzerland in a friendly at the end of the month.

    The rest of the top 10 saw minimal changes from last month. Argentina now owns the third spot in the rankings, swapping positions with France, who are currently fourth.

    England, Germany and the Netherlands remain five, six and seven respectively, while Portugal moved up one spot into eighth. Nigeria earned 103 points in the past month, moving up two spots into the ninth position.

    The Czech Republic dropped 63 points and now occupy the 10th position at the expense of Spain, who fell out of the top 10 and into 12th after losing 44 points.

    Croatia climbed four spots from last month to 15th after securing 66 points, but Russia made the most impressive move up the standings, improving 10 slots to 23rd, its highest position since early 2003, on the strength of a good run of play in EURO 2008 qualifying.

    Romania moved into the top 20 as it jumped four spots in the rankings with 42 points earned in the last month.

    Poland also enjoyed a good month, moving from 27 to the 22nd spot with 55 points earned.

    Uruguay suffered the biggest drop, moving down 12 spots to No. 29.

    Speaking of dropping, the United States continued to fall in the rankings despite earning five points. The Stars and Stripes currently sit in 31st, two points ahead of Tunisia, and 10 points back of Ecuador.

    Uzbekistan and Cuba are in the highest positions they have ever occupied since the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings were introduced. Both countries moved up considerably based on success in continental qualifying matches.

    Uzbekistan moved up 14 spots and into 45th, while Cuba jumped 22 spots to take over the 46th position.

    Points are accumulated based on the results of a team's matches over the past four years, the importance of each match, the strength of the opponent, the strength of the region and the number of matches per year that each team plays.



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    SouthAmerica: This is very interesting: Guess what a Chinese newspaper thought was important about the latest FIFA rankings?

    And they had to highlight it as if this information had a priority above everything else regarding the latest FIFA rankings.

    I never paid much attention to the USA soccer FIFA rankings, and I was surprised to see the USA ranked so high right before the latest world cup.
    But it seems to me that the USA soccer FIFA ranking is very important for the Chinese.

    When a Brazilian checks the FIFA rankings we like to check the rankings of our major competitors such as Italy, Argentina, Germany, France, and Uruguay. The rest of the rankings we check only as a curiosity.




    China View - CN
    Published: November 23, 2006


    BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- After going up, up, up, the U.S. men's soccer team is going down, down, down. All the way from a No. 5 ranking in the world prior to the World Cup in May to its current ranking of 31.

    It's the first time the American squad has not been in FIFA top 30 rankings in more than seven years. The last time the U.S. was not in the top 30 was June of 1999, when it was also No. 31.

    Brazil remained No. 1, while Nigeria moved up to ninth and Russia jumped 10 places for its highest position in more than three years.

    Brazil has 1,588 points, with World Cup champion Italy second with 1,560. Brazil has been ranked No. 1 since July of 2002.

    Italy's 1-1 draw with Turkey in a Nov. 15 friendly in Turkey would have been enough to pull even with Brazil in ranking points. But the Brazilians increased their lead at the top by beating Switzerland 2-1 in a friendly the same night.

    Argentina moved up to No. 3 with 1,551 points, swapping places with France (1,523).

    England, Germany and the Netherlands remain at Nos. 5, 6 and 7, with Nigeria moving up two places from 11th and the Czech Republic falling two places to 10th.

    Spain fell two places to 12th.

    Russia is at No. 23 — its highest position since early 2003.


    Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/23/content_5366400.htm


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  2. Soccer news, is in politics and religion?

    Ooops, i mean't football.

    This is a sport, right, where people kick around a round ball, into nets, without being to specific, to score goals and things..............whats up with that?

    Nevermind, i have to catch up on the ashes coverage.
     
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    Acronym: Soccer news, is in politics and religion?


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    November 24, 2006

    SouthAmerica: Reply to acronym


    It is very clear to me that this is a political statement.

    “BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- After going up, up, up, the U.S. men's soccer team is going down, down, down. All the way from a No. 5 ranking in the world prior to the World Cup in May to its current ranking of 31.

    It's the first time the American squad has not been in FIFA top 30 rankings in more than seven years. The last time the U.S. was not in the top 30 was June of 1999, when it was also No. 31.”


    Why the above is a political statement?

    When people from Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Germany, and the other traditional soccer countries check the FIFA rankings – they are concerned about the ranking of their country compared with the other major soccer powers.

    Nobody on that elite group would make a comment about the FIFA ranking of the USA national soccer team.

    But from the perspective of China it seems that the FIFA ranking of the USA soccer team it is a big deal.

    Here is an example of the latest rankings.

    USA = FIFA ranking # 31

    Japan = FIFA ranking # 47

    South Korea = FIFA ranking # 51

    China = FIFA ranking # 84

    North Korea = FIFA ranking # 110

    India = FIFA ranking # 148

    Taiwan = FIFA ranking # 163


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    Why these countries with such a large population are so low in the FIFA soccer rankings?

    I wonder why India a country ruled by the British for so long is so low in the world soccer rankings?

    Why the Indians did not learn how to play soccer with the British during all that time?

    What is China’s excuse to be so low in the FIFA rankings, since many communist countries did play competitive world-class soccer over the years?


    China: FIFA ranking # 84

    Population: Over 1.3 billion people.

    Chinese Football Association (CFA) –
    Foundation year 1924
    - Affiliated since 1931



    India: FIFA ranking # 148

    Population: over 1 billion people

    All India Football Federation (AIFF) –
    Foundation year 1937
    - Affiliated since 1948



    Portugal: FIFA ranking # 8

    Population: 10 million people

    Federaçao Portuguesa de Futebol (FPF) –
    Foundation year 1914
    - Affiliated since 1923


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    March 14, 2007

    SouthAmerica: The latest FIFA rankings it is not good news for Brazil.

    Italy lasted only one month as the number one team in the world according to the FIFA ranking system.

    Here is the latest FIFA ranking as of 03/14/07.

    I noticed that in the FIFA rankings the countries ranked from 1 to 6 includes almost all the countries that have won at least one World Cup - and the only country missing in that list it is Uruguay.



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    A Folha de Sao Paulo - 14/03/2007
    “Argentina assume liderança do ranking da Fifa; Brasil cai para 3º”

    A Argentina assumiu nesta quarta-feira, pela primeira vez na história, a liderança do ranking mensal da Fifa, criado em agosto de 1993.

    O time do técnico Alfio Basile subiu duas posições após vencer a França em amistoso disputado em fevereiro, a sua primeira vitória após a eliminação nas quartas-de-final da Copa do Mundo.

    Agora, os argentinos aparecem com 1.616 pontos, contra 1.592 da Itália, atual campeã mundial, que ficou apenas um mês na ponta da lista --antes o Brasil ocupou a primeira posição por mais de quatro anos seguidos.

    Além da vitória sobre os franceses em Paris, a Argentina se beneficiou da retirada automática de pontos de seus adversários diretos.

    Derrotado por Portugal em seu último amistoso, o Brasil perdeu uma posição e agora está no terceiro posto, seguido pela França, algoz do país na Copa-06.

    Confira os 20 primeiros colocados

    1. Argentina - 1.616 pontos (+2)
    2. Itália - 1.592 (-1)
    3. Brasil - 1.557 (-1)
    4. França - 1.515
    5. Alemanha - 1.390
    6. Inglaterra - 1.339
    7. Holanda - 1.313
    8. Portugal - 1.288
    9. República Tcheca - 1.195
    10. Espanha - 1.161
    11. Ucrânia - 1.037
    12. Croácia - 982
    13. Grécia - 961
    14. Romênia - 919 (+1)
    15. Suécia - 914 (+1)
    16. Escócia - 911 (+4)
    17. Suíça - 906 (-3)
    18. Camarões - 893 (-1)
    19. Gana - 881 (+3)
    20. Costa do Marfim - 875 (+1)

    Com France Presse


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    FIFA Ranking as of July 18, 2007


    Country Ranking----Team Pts

    1 - Brazil---------------1500
    2 - Argentina-----------1476
    3 - Italy----------------1368
    4 - France--------------1357
    5 - Germany------------1311
    6 - Netherlands---------1195
    7 - Croatia--------------1192
    8 - Portugal-------------1146
    9 - Spain----------------1144
    10 - Mexico--------------1142
    11 - Czech Republic------1117
    12 - England-------------1097
    13 - Romania-------------1068
    14 - USA-----------------1036
    15 - Cameroon-------------979
    16 - Greece----------------978
    17 - Serbia-----------------973
    17 - Ukraine----------------973
    19 - Uruguay---------------949
    20 - Sweden----------------918


    Source: FIFA Rankings
    http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html


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