The 2010 World Cup

[Queso]

The new FIFA world rankings for after the tournament have now been released. Spain understandably reclaim the top spot they lost to Brazil back in April. Interesting how crappy old England still manage to make the top 10

FIFA Website

 

[Fizzoid]

The new FIFA world rankings for after the tournament have now been released. Spain understandably reclaim the top spot. Interesting how crappy old England still manage to make the top 10

FIFA Website

Well, we lost the same number of games as Spain and to a higher ranking team, so why not

 

[Queso]

Well, we lost the same number of games as Spain and to a higher ranking team, so why not

We lost one more game than Spain, unless our usual losing to Germany no longer counts

 

[Troon]

The new FIFA world rankings for after the tournament have now been released. Spain understandably reclaim the top spot they lost to Brazil back in April. Interesting how crappy old England still manage to make the top 10

FIFA Website

No one really takes those ranking too seriously TBH

 

[Fizzoid]

We lost one more game than Spain, unless our usual losing to Germany no longer counts

Apart from Germany, who else did we loose to?

 

[Queso]

Apart from Germany, who else did we loose to?

Well, erm....crappy old England....overpaid rubbish...Crapello....

 

[OllyW]

We lost one more game than Spain, unless our usual losing to Germany no longer counts

Spain lost their first match against the Swiss so we both lost 1 match.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I think the reason why we've stayed in the top ten (and indeed moved up a spot) is due to Italy and France tumbling down the rankings so spectacularly – at least we managed to contrive our way out of the group and into the knock-out phases.

It goes without saying though that FIFA's ranking system is fundamentally flawed and shouldn't be taken too seriously. However, it is part of the system used to seed teams for stuff like qualification groups so the higher you're ranked the better.

 

[Queso]

Spain lost their first match against the Swiss so we both lost 1 match.

For some reason I got it into my head we lost against Algeria.

Which we nearly did, because we're total rubbish....and stuff....


Or maybe I'm just an idiot

 

[Fizzoid]

Well, not beating Algeria certainly felt like a loss, that's for sure!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Or maybe I'm just an idiot

Not for us to say, but we'll see if your position alters when the next set of MacRumors Buffoonery Rankings™ are published.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

USA went into the tournament ranked 14th, was ranked 12/32 in the tournament and came out ranked joint 13th. So we did about as well as could be expected. Which is both satisfying and a little depressing, since we were so close to a quarterfinal.

I think Jaffa's got it re: England staying so high in the rankings - Italy and France were in a total freefall, while England played badly but at least made it out of the group stage.

 

[Troon]

I think the reason why we've stayed in the top ten (and indeed moved up a spot) is due to Italy and France tumbling down the rankings so spectacularly – at least we managed to contrive our way out of the group and into the knock-out phases.

It goes without saying though that FIFA's ranking system is fundamentally flawed and shouldn't be taken too seriously. However, it is part of the system used to seed teams for stuff like qualification groups so the higher you're ranked the better.

Aye that makes sense. I always go with the attitude of “You’re only as good as your next game"

 

[theITGuy]

It goes without saying though that FIFA's ranking system is fundamentally flawed and shouldn't be taken too seriously. However, it is part of the system used to seed teams for stuff like qualification groups so the higher you're ranked the better.

Agreed. But i've always said that those FIFA rankings are at their most accurate right after the WC...with a top 5 of Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Argentina it's hard to complain too much...Italy at #11 is probably generous they are atrocious lately...

-J.-

 

[Don't panic]

Even better trivia question - Q. Which was the only team never to have been defeated in a WC campaign, yet never even made it to the finals?

A. Australia - 1998.

Drew 2-2 at home after drawing 1-1 in Tehran, so Iran went to France instead on the away goals rule (Australia threw away a 2-0 lead in the last 10 minutes!). Venables was the Australian manager during that campaign, so I think he holds the WC managers record as well of never having lost a game either.

Venables for the England job.

PS. Australia also holds the record for the highest score ever in a WC match, 31-0 against American Samoa in the 2002 qualifiers. One goal every three minutes. FIFA were forced to modify the qualifying route after that fiasco, put Australia into the Asian Confederation instead, so that record will stay for a while now. Qualified comfortaby for 2006 and 2010 instead of playing minnows and then having to face a sudden death match against a top team which always ended in failure. Much better to play consistenty good teams I reckon.

do you think it would make sense to have the entire oceania and asia confederations to play a common qualifier campaign (with adjustment of allocated spots, like 5 total and no more matches with south american teams)?

 

[yojitani]

Japan deserves to be more highly ranked than Denmark at least... Turkey didn't even qualify! And why is Korea (south) ranked so low, below Scotland even! These rankings are so wrong.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Egypt are a good side, though their high ranking at #9 is pretty much down to their habit of winning the African Cup of Nations. Oh my, France: #21!!!

 

[partyBoy]

The 2010 world cup was awesome,i saw every game,I'm glad spain won but got disappointed when usa lost. I wanted uruguay to win as well,i don't like germany and i hate brasil...also sucks that Colombia didn't even qualify this time around for the world cup but the Colombian coach did make it with Honduras to qualify

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Apart from Suarez's infamous handball, Uruguay were one of the standout sides of the tournament for me: underdogs who punched above their weight while playing an entertaining style of football, and led by a star player in Diego Forlan.

In retrospect, Spain won the tournament without ever really playing to their full potential - their possession game was technically impressive, but could also be dull to watch when the ball bounced around the midfield for too long. Still, I think the best team in the world won it. Spain has it all: depth, balance, technical skill and experience.

 

[Fuzzy14]

Japan deserves to be more highly ranked than Denmark at least... Turkey didn't even qualify! And why is Korea (south) ranked so low, below Scotland even! These rankings are so wrong.

Oi! No wait. Good point well made. Sorry.

I guess it means RoK don't make a habit of playing decent teams on a regular basis to up their coefficient, but I agree with you they are far better than us.

Of course, the Unofficial World Cup was also contested at South Africa and Spain by beating holders Netherlands came out the victors, but they've got a long way to to catch up with us.

For some reason I got it into my head we lost against Algeria.

I nearly made the same mistake, I think the reaction of the English media made it feel more like an utter drubbing.

 

[takao]

actually i think spain might be already on the way down with their playing (funny to say when winning a world cup)
their midfield absolutley dominates the game but they just can't convert possession into goal chances.. even when they had 70%-80% of the ball how many good chances did they have ?
and it really shows that having many players from the same club helps a lot

all in all it was their defense who got them the title .. because you can't possible score less goals and win the world cup: 7 games 8 goals and going through the knock out games with _4_ 1:0 in a row...not even the italians in their worst times did that

edit: about the FIFA rankings: worthless
i rememeber when Austria was the EURO hosts 2008: it meant that we didn't have to qualifiy.. but for the fifa rankings it meant that for 2 years we only had friendlies which give less points that qualifier games.. and since we decided to play against good opposition to prepare for the tournament: we didn't win too many and then before the tournament we were on place ~120
which then ruined our seeding for the 2010 world cup (4. drawing slot) having to qualify against france, serbia and romania
and now we are around 60th again
a stupid rollercoaster which could have ruined our seeding for years to come just because you were a host country ?

 

[awmazz]

do you think it would make sense to have the entire oceania and asia confederations to play a common qualifier campaign (with adjustment of allocated spots, like 5 total and no more matches with south american teams)?

Asia, Oceania, Sth America and Concacaf have 1/2 a spot each I think, which they alternate with each other every four years to play-off for, so allocating the Oceania 1/2 to Asia would mean the Sth American and Concacaf play-off will always be with each other. It coud become a permanent fixture for the 'last WC spot'.

Oceania is separate from Asia really simply because the distances involved. Nations like Tonga or Vanuatu simply don't have the financial resources to fly their team to places like Syria or Iran etc for half of their matches. It's okay for minnows in Europe like San Remo or Lichtenstein who can hire a bus for a road trip I suppose, but Asia including the Pacific would span half the planet and require long days in planes and airports. Even NZ's budget would be stretched to its limit.

The Australian soccer federation only really started making moves to join the Asian federation once they knew they could afford it (and guarantee FIFA that they could) which was only in recent years. 25 years ago they would have gone broke spending millions trying to compete in Asia with little return on their money. Now the sport's more popular though, so they can do it and even proft from it.

PS. The distances involved was also a hurdle just for setting up the national league here. A Perth vs Sydney club game involves the same distance as from Lisbon to Moscow, just for a weekend club game. You need to guarantee enough revenue just to cover the costs of all those plane tickets every week, and Sydney vs Perth isn't exactly Eurpoean Champions League revenue!

 

[takao]

interesting will be when we are going to see extension of the world cup ... football is becoming a bigger business in asia (especially in the middle east) and many eastern europe leagues are constantly improving

UEFA isn't going to give up slots (considering the teams which have to be sent home already) and of the others none really have that much anyway

 

[Fizzoid]

Well, on the back of Carragher announcing his international retirement, it's now a double whammy. Hot Shot Heskey has also he's announced he's retiring from international football.

We're doomed I tell 'ya!

 

[theITGuy]

Well, on the back of Carragher announcing his international retirement, it's now a double whammy. Hot Shot Heskey has also he's announced he's retiring from international football.

I read an interesting stat...over Heskey's career he has the same number of goals than Miroslav Klose has just in World Cups alone...14...

Seriously I didn't even know he played in South Africa...

-J.-