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United States Climbs In FIFA Rankings


The United States mens soccer team, fresh off three straight first-round shutout victories in the Concacaf Gold Cup, is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak under the teams new coach, Bob Bradley.

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Though the Americans have not faced the same international competition they did last summer at the World Cup, FIFA has taken notice. The United States moved up 13 places to No. 16 in the monthly ranking of the worlds soccer teams.

The U.S. team, on the heels of its first-round elimination from last summers World Cup in Germany, had plummeted to No. 31 in the FIFA rankings last November after rising to an eye-popping No. 4 in April 2006, only two months before the start of the World Cup. Bruce Arena, the United States national team coach at the time, scoffed at the lofty status bestowed on his team by FIFA, but was concerned that it artificially raised expectations before the World Cup.

The current ranking included the first two Gold Cup games, victories over Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago, but not Tuesdays emphatic 4-0 victory over El Salvador. The United States will play in the Gold Cup quarterfinal on Saturday against an opponent to be determined tonight.

Mexico, the Americans perennial rival in the Concacaf region, dropped six places to 26th while another regional team, Costa Rica, moved up six slots to No. 46. And neighbor Canada moved up a hefty 38 spots to No. 56

Italy, the defending world champion, remained in the No. 1 spot for the third straight month while World Cup runner-up France moved up four spots to No. 2, followed by Brazil, Germany and Argentina. England remained No. 8 while Scotland fell nine places to No. 23.

The biggest improvement in the rankings belonged to Armenia, which jumped 48 spots to No. 80 after it defeated Poland in a Euro 2008 qualifier on June 6. New Zealand was among the biggest losers, dropping 27 places to No. 154, sandwiched between Myanmar at No. 153 and Grenada at No. 155.

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