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| Wednesday, August 14, 2002 22:08 EST |
U.S. in top 10 in world soccer rankings
[Associated Press]
ZURICH, Switzerland -- The United States broke into the top
10 of the FIFA world rankings for the first time, tying Italy for
ninth in the August ratings released Wednesday.
The United States began the year 24th and moved up two spots to
11th last month after advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals,
where it lost 1-0 to Germany. Before July, the only time the
Americans were ranked as high as 11th was May 1998, just before the
U.S. team finished last at the World Cup in France.
``There's no question that this recognition is representative of
the outstanding effort of our team in 2002, where we were able to
get the results on the field in winning the Gold Cup and advancing
to the final eight at the World Cup,'' coach Bruce Arena said.
``Hopefully, this will serve as another sign of the respect
we've been able to bring to U.S. soccer and the American players
playing both in Europe and Major League Soccer.''
World Cup winner Brazil remained No. 1 after reclaiming the top
spot last month. Brazil held the top ranking from July 1994 -- the
month after it won its fourth World Cup -- until France assumed the
top spot in May 2001.
Argentina was second, followed by Spain, which moved up a spot,
and France, which had been tied for second in July. Germany
remained fifth and Mexico sixth, with England moving up to tie
Portugal for seventh.
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