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USMNT remain at No. 14 in first FIFA Rankings of 2014

USA team group

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

There was no movement within the top 25 as FIFA released the first World Rankings in 2014.

The U.S. Men’s National Team remained at No. 14 for the second consecutive month with 1,019 points. The biggest movers in the top 100 were Egypt (up 10 places to No. 31) and Saudi Arabia (up 14 places to No. 73), which took advantage of the devaluation of older matches to jump higher in the rankings.

The top five in the world remains Spain in first followed by Germany, Argentina, Colombia, and Portugal. Upcoming World Cup hosts Brazil are in 10th place. In CONCACAF, Mexico remains at No. 21, Costa Rica dropped one place to No. 32, and Panama moved up two places to No. 36.

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What do you think of this news? Do you expect any movement in the top 25 by February? Do you feel the USMNT is the 14th best soccer nation in the world?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I like how there is no mention of the lost today against São Paulo by the USMNT.

    Seriously, not on here, not on MLS on Facebook, not on Bleacherreport.com, etc.

    A little embarrassed are we people?? 😉

    It’s just a scrimmage and all BUT it is important to point out how the MLS boys can’t handle the decent competition. Doesn’t bode well for the Nats in anyway shape or form.

    Reply
    • Calm down, man. It’s a scrimmage. Do you know what scrimmage means? It means scrimmage, man. You scrimmage. Embarrassed about what? IT’S A SCRIMMAGE!!!!!!!! It is not a friendly. It’s a scrimmage!!!!!!

      Reply
      • Yet, if they had won, you would be going on and on about beating São Paulo, one of the most storied teams in Brazil with a former World Cup striker, etc.

        Get over it guys. It’s an important reminder how AWFUL the MLS truly is compared to other leagues.

        You may not like it, which is fine, but that is the reality.

  2. Portugal are ranked so high because they needed the home and home playoffs to make the WC. More FIFA matches = more FIFA points. Hence, the pointlessness of the FIFA rankings.

    Reply
  3. USA first practice match in Brazil had good action today with Sao Paulo pre-season squad prevailing 2-1. 24 US players saw action with Wondo scoring our goal. Fabiano and Jadson scored for SP.

    Reply
    • any idea what the lineups were, at least to start? sounds like a ton of subs but still curious. either way, that’s a bit of a bummer. isn’t it SP’s U-23 team?

      Reply
    • The US National team lost to São Paulo and you think that is a good thing? Or was it just the action of the game that was good?

      The USMNT should not be losing to clubs unless the are Real Madrid or Liverpool (i.e. top clubs).

      São Paulo had a up and down year last year. Our boys should have won that.

      Reply
      • Clubs have more sophisticated teamwork and practice-honed chemistry. No surprise one could beat a B version of the USMNT.

      • This is practice. Lots of different guys in the rotation. Sao Paulo played with top guys but admittedly this is one of their first pre-season practices.

      • Exactly! They may have more chemistry as a team but it was one of the first of the season.

        The reality is that some of the best players in the MLS couldn’t beat a rather weak São Paulo side that wasn’t even in shape.

    • I’m confused too. I thought that Bradley’s move to Toronto would have dropped the US 5 places at least. I’ve been reading comments on SBI which tell me that the USMNT was dooooooomed to failure since Bradley moved to Toronto.

      Reply
      • Agreed. Ridiculous to make such statements. The USMNT is stacked in the midfield and even if MB’s form drops like a ton of bricks in Toronto, plenty of options to fill the void and some of those options could end up improving team chemistry and making the team better without MB than with him. Not saying that definitely would happen, but is certainly a possibility. A lot of fans think an MB/JJ midfield does not work well and it could be that JJ pairing up with someone else and MB starting on the bench would translate into a better defensive central midfield.

      • There is literally zero chance of a healthy mb not starting every game in brazil.

        What evidence do we have that JK would bench an america-based player for a european-based one?

        If anything, the opposite is true. In his tenure, JK has elevated MLS team leaders (evans, beckerman) over european bench warmers (parkhurst, edu).

      • Klinsmann in Brazil will start the 11 players that HE thinks have the best chance of leading the USMNT to victory. If between now and then the form drops sharply of previous starters like mikey-cakes or clint-cakes or landy-cakes or stud Geoff Cameron or stud Jozy Altidore or stud Tim Howard or any of the other studs with the fire in their bellies to strive for the highest levels in Europe, then I have no doubt that Klinsmann will drop them from the starting line-up like a ton of bricks. In fact, I would bet $10 million, which is the bonus payment Klinsmann will receive of the USMNT fins the WC, that no single player, not even mikey-cakes, is at this time assured a starting position in Brazil and to assume this is wrong, wrong and wrong. Lot of players in the USMNT pool aching to play in Brazil who would love to swipe the spot of any starter who feels he is entitled to a guaranteed spot.

      • I guess anything “could” happen, but your casual dismissal of Bradley and his importance to that very team chemistry just doesn’t jibe with his performances to date. I’m not saying that he is the USMNT’s Cristiano Ronaldo, but I think the team would miss him way more than you suggest.

      • + a really big number.

        Bradley, if healthy, will play every minute. I’d say that’s true of Howard, Donovan and F. Johnson as well, but Bradley is the hardest to replace.

      • First, I think the original posters were making jokes about the criticism of MB90 returing to MLS.

        Second, it appears that Biff thinks this summer, JJ, who will have played in Kuwait, Qatar or the English Championship with Blackburn, will be in better form than MB90 after his Spring with Toronto.I disagree Biff.

        But, I do agree that JK will make an independent decision on his starting 11 that not all of us here at SBI will like, approve or even believe in some circumstances.

  4. Another view of a “Group of Death” – if you are able to advance, there are already two good teams from your group that have been eliminated. Maybe you get a slightly less fearsome opponent in the knockout stages.

    Reply
    • If we advance as the runner-up from our group, we would play Belgium in Salvador on July 1. If we were to pull out a miraculous win in that game, we would play Argentina in Brasilia on July 5. I don’t think I need to project any further than that…

      Reply
      • Keep your chin up. Italy failed to progress out of their group and Switzerland shutout Spain in South Africa. Anything and everything is possible. The World Cup isn’t for chumps, it’s for the world’s best.

  5. Everyone loves a good list to debate. Pretty useless in the grand scheme. The World Cup is a tough test, so anyone who is still bummed that our road through won’t be “easy” is just being silly.

    Reply
  6. I want the USA to win of course, but I always go for Germany after the US. Now its going to be tough with them in the same group!

    Deep down though, I feel like this is Argentina’s year.

    Reply

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