Posted on 07/07/2004 2:55:53 PM PDT by Michael2001
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- The United States advanced to an all-time high No. 7 in FIFA's rankings Wednesday while Greece jumped 21 spots to No. 14 after its dazzling run to the European Championship title.
Brazil remained No. 1 for the 25th straight month, and France and Spain stayed at second and third.
The United States twice had climbed as high as eighth -- in September 2002 and again in May. The Americans beat Grenada in a home-and-home series in June to reach the semifinals of World Cup qualifying in its region of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Greece was ranked as low as 59th as recently as March 2002. It climbed ``possibly the greatest ever number of places in the upper reaches of the ranking,'' soccer's governing body said.
Its 1-0 victory over Portugal on Sunday in the Euro 2004 final gave Greece its first major title.
The rankings are a computer calculation of the relative strength of national teams based on results the previous eight years.
The Czech Republic, which lost to Greece in the Euro 2004 semifinals, advanced seven spots to fourth. Germany, which did not win a game at Euro 2004, dropped to 12th, tied with Portugal.
The Netherlands, which reached the Euro semis, remained fifth while Mexico dropped two places to sixth.
England, beaten by Portugal in the Euro quarters, returned to the top 10 after a two-month absence. The English moved up five places to eighth and were followed by Italy and Turkey.
Argentina, which had gone winless in three games before a 2-1 victory over Peru on July 1, dropped six places to 11th.
Soccer is a communist sport.
What makes you say that?
You should read the article in Slate about why Soccer is the most capitalistic sport and the NFL and NFL the most socialistic.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2103170
To those who enjoy this sport, I wish them well. The fact that the rest of the world enjoys it doesn't really speak well for them IMO.
I find soccer as boring as watching NASCAR. Take away the beer and buffet line and I wonder how much people really care about NASCAR. Watching cars go around making long left turns on a one way track, for 400 miles is just the epitome of boring to me.
As for soccer, I watched my kids play it briefly, but can't understand for the life of me how someone can watch it and enjoy it. There's a shot on goal maybe every 5 minutes. And then it's usually kind of weak.
The best moment in any soccer match is the post game brawl between thugs on both sides.
I love having a couple of former South Carolina Gamecocks on that U.S. team. We are still a decade or so away from winning it all in soccer - but we will get it done sooner or later.
England? Probably not, but maybe. Argentina? Maybe so. I haven't kept my eye on the S. American teams lately. Is there still really beautiful futbol coming out of there (Argentina)? I haven't been watching them lately, mostly just EPL.
I think P.J. O'Rouke did a column on "Soccer: The Communist Sport." I could be wrong though.
To each his own. For the life of me, I can't understand how anyone could stay awake through an entire baseball game. Soccer is the beautiful sport, and if you can't see it's beauty, then I doubt it could be explained to you. You either see it and love it...or you don't. No biggie.
Who might that be?
BTW, welcome to Free Republic!
Maybe it is not the sport that is boring ?
Shouldn't this say a home-and-away series? Or were both games played on the same field?
The beauty of Soccer is not only in the scoring, but in the way the game unfolds, the passing, the creativity as a team and as individual players. Watching a tremendous pass being stopped and controlled by a player while setting up for a shot or pass is a thing of beauty, as is a tremendous defensive tackle, as is a beautiful shot on goal, and/or save.
It surprises me that the US can be ranked higher than some of the European teams, but we have made HUGE strides.
You explained it very well, much better than I ever could!
Bravo Signor Fly:
Since the 1994 World Cup I have abandoned all sports for soccer, Calcio in particular. I do not believe for a minute that the US is the seventh best team in the world. In fact, I think there are only two teams outside of Europe (Brazil and Argentina) that belong in the top 20.
As a long-time American soccer fan, I'm going to divulge into this topic here.
First off.. Soccer, is the greatest sporting event anybody can possibly watch LIVE.
If you don't have a team to passionately cheer for, Soccer is the most boring sport to watch on TV.
If you've never been to a USA Men's National team World Cup Qualifying match.. You are missing out on one of the greatest spectacles you could possible see in your life.
I am not even remotely joking.
Most American sports are made for TV.. If you don't have front row seats where you can heckle the other players, Football and Baseball can be tremendous bores when watching in person.. TV can make nearly any football or baseball game exciting..
If you do anything in your lifetime.. attend a World Cup Qualifyer either this year or next (there will be a bunch of them, just keep an eye on the schedule at ussoccer.com).
Trust me on this guys. You will NEVER experience anything quite like it..
Ice hockey is another sport thats much better live than on TV. I saw a couple of college games and one LA Kings game. Its a great experience.
The way soccer players seem to fake being in pain writhering on the field than a few minutes later running around turns Americans off. You would never see that type of acting in the real football.
Scoring is icing on the cake.
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