Does the US men team deserve 9th ranking??

[Bauvafa]

I would very much like to know what you think about the US men team being ranked 9th in the world, ahead of some major powers.

anothe word, is FIFA smoking something or is the US NT one of the best (top 10) in the world.

please share your thoughts and try to be objective.

thanx

[Donovan2184]

well to be honest........I had always thought that the US team deserved a top ten spot......and for the last 11 months i have been so happy that they have held on to one........now all of a sudden I feel, after the confederations cup that im not so sure they deserve that spot and they move up one.....and are now ahead of Mexico.....so im a little confused.......but I guess fifa took into account that we fielded an extremely weak team(although I understand we werent the only ones)......either way im pleased (with the 9 spot) and i feel that maybe we just have an awful curse when playing in france.....and i am confident that we will rebound nicely for the gold cup and next years WC qualifiers...........i honestly think it was just a one time slip up

[boofdog18]

no

[blkbrnrvr]

I may be somewhat partial, but I think that when we have our best 11 on the pitch, we can be at a top 10 level, but it has been awhile since we've actually fielded that team. With the group we've been using over the last few matches, it's may be more accurate to say it's at best a top 20 side, though not anywhere near a top 10.
bottom line-
best 11; top 10? yes
w/o; top 10? no

[TofuSoccer]

FIFA isn't smoking anything, it's their computers. The whole ranking system is based on some shady point system that takes into account importance of match, difficulty of opponent, etc. While it's supposed to be impartial, it always comes up with some weird results and places too much importance on history IMHO. There's no human judgement involved. I think FIFA would do better to poll coaches, players and reporters as with college football. That said, while we might not deserve a top ten slot after the CC, I'm not complaining.

[anticheese]

Rankings are about as useful as a spare set of gloves in Florida. For the most part a team is only as good as their last result. No matter who you are, you have to keep playing and proving yourself on a constant basis.

[Fender playa]

hell no..there definaitly in the top 25....but not top ten...

[Scoey]

I think we are among the top 20 in the world, but certainly not the top 10.

[Nobby]

The Confederations Cup, if anything, was an affirmation of the FIFA rankings as far as USA is concerned. #9 USA lost to #1 Brazil and #7 Turkey and drew against #16 Cameroon. USA lost to teams with European based players in Europe. Recall that USA finished third in the 1999 Confederations Cup played in Mexico and eighth in the 2002 World Cup played in Asia. When USA finished 32nd way back in 1998 WC, they lost to two European teams in Europe and had a bad game against Iran. The #9 ranking is reasonable given these results.

[PuraVida10]

I most definetly think USA is not top ten material...in the top 25 i think would be more reasonable...

[Bauser]

I would say the US is around Top 20, but it's very tight around there. Being in the Concacaf clearly helps them to achieve a fictionally high ranking. Mexico is up there too as we see. They rarely play competitive matches against the best national sides, but gain a lot of cheap points in the long World Cup qualifiers against Concacaf minnows plus the Gold Cup. They have probably taken advantage of intercontinental opponents on holiday-mode with B-squads during off-season as well. But by the current FIFA point system you could say they have fair and square achieved their Top 10 spot.

[Leto]

I don't know if 9th is the right ranking exactly, but they're in and around the top 15, 20, 25. They're not on the same plane as the "superpowers", (Holland, France, Argentina, etc), but they're in the next tier of nations. Roughly comparable, IMO, to the likes of Ireland and Cameroon.

[striker]

The US is not the 9th best team in the world at this moment. However, based on the criteria used to calculate FIFA ranking, the US team as well as every team that is ranked deserve its ranking.

[Scarface]

No
Maybe Top 20

[Chachi King]

Yeah they deserve the 9th ranking, based on stats and formulas and such.

It doesn't mean people have to give the FIFA Rankings legitimacy though.

[jlmatthews]

Originally posted by Scoey
I think we are among the top 20 in the world, but certainly not the top 10.

I'd agree with this....

[Pigs]

Well FIFA set out a criteria and I think the US has won enough to be ranked 9th according the FIFA criteria. So yes they do deserve the 9th spot.

But then again we all know that FIFA criteria and rankings are a complete joke anyway. England have won their last five games in a row but have dropped down the table below Turkey, who England actually beat 2-1.

USA are in the Top 20 though.

[Pigs]

What I'm I talking about? England beat them 2-0. Turkey have never scored against England in their entire history.

[Excape Goat]

Who cares???? The ranking means nothing if you do not win the big games in big tournaments.

[Crazy_Yank]

We're not a top tier nation, so no, I don't think we're the 9th best team in the world. Top 20 for sure. As the confederations cup showed we don't have a lot of depth compared to the best teams. Our first 11 is capable of beating anyone, but their backups are not.