Socceroos sixteenth in FIFA rankings

And here's another great football story http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/world-game-offers-endless-opportunities-for-young-indigenous-people-20090702-d6eq.html

3rd try - Just liking to point out, having proud Danish heritage - that it's nice to see Denmark still one ahead of Australia. (only other sports this might be likely would be yachting/rowing, perhaps badminton).

Only the top 21 really look strong. You'd expect the top 16 at the WC to come from them, but you never know what group you'll end up in and there are always surprises. I hate to harp back but that penalty against Italy really galls. We were running all over them at the end and the quarter final game was softish. We'd have been favourites to make the semis. Anyway - got to do it this time around. As primarily a rugby fan, I struggle a bit with the lottery of soccer results.

MC the question of resentment is best understood in terms of the motivation of whatever individual we are talking about. An AFC "visionary", with an eye to the future (i.e. more spots for Asia), will see it as a plus (Aust being 16th and staying there). Someone else who is only there because they're the son of an oil sheik, and are more worried about their own tin pot country missing out time after time, may well get resentful. Of course, the balance between the two camps in terms of power are quite finely balanced at this point.

Greg Russell - is there not a danger in the AFC that Australia being 'that high' won't be considered a fair dinkum 'Asian' team. Is it perhaps possible that there might be some resentment??

Remember Tim Cahill was not on the "Star footballer" radar a few years ago at Millwall(have you ever seen the Den & where it is no wonder) . So players can develop later in their career & do what Tim has done. Whos to say Nathan Burns or Dario Vidosic will not hit thgeir straps till 25 or so. A professional enviroment can improve players no end. Pim tells us so. Speaking of Tim:- http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/106766,new-telly-deal-for-tim-cahill.aspx

Pip Kwell & Bozza at there peak have been regarded in the worlds to five in their position.. One of the sad things about old soccer was it's inability to communicate what often was the sports story of the year.. We may never again get another Harry Kwell, he was when at Leeds considered by most along with Giggs & Carlos as one of the top five left sided players in the world... for however good Tim Cahill Dukes are they where and will never be considered among the best five in the world in there positions. .. only those glimpses of Ray Bartz on old footage approach Kwell's magic.

...it may one day become a question of fantastic depth, but very few mega-stars (and maybe a Kewell and Cahill only come along once a decade)

That's the $64 million dollar question (the bare minimum we are probably talking about!) You look through those names (and there are a few more you can probably add), and it does make for sobering reading. I'm starting to sound like a broken record - but that 22 to 28 year bracked have absolutely gone missing. A couple of points: 1. it's a tough, competitive world - our future football millionaires may become as scarce as grand slam tennis champs - for no other reason than more and more from across the globe have the exact same idea as we do. 2. As the EPL becomes the elite of the elite comps (and the evidence is that that's precisely what's happening) - openings for aussies will become less and less (like aussies reaching the semis of grand slam events); but 3. that aussies aren't making it to the EPL any more (in the future) because of additional competition, may not necessarily mean a worsening of the standard of the NT, if, for example, the bulk of the NT is scattered across the 2nd to 10th best leagues in the world (Serie A, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Russian, Turkish and Greek leagues, etc), and most importantly, are key members of those teams.

As an aside to this,have just been discussing on the "Dutch" article with Pippinu that despite the deficiencies of football pre Lowy Australia still produced players good enough to play in the EPL,Serie A etc. Given now the greater belief, better admin leading to better coaching uniformly throughout the country in reality we can do better. If these players Kewell ,Viduka Neill,Emerton,Grella, Bresciano,Chippers etc were produced in the NSL era given the superior professional enviroment kids going through system in future will be exposed, to we should go to another level. Bit of a time lapse at the moment but that will pass.

I think that's right Greg. Your average AFC delegate is hoping for an increase of 4.5 spots some day down the track (a certainty at some stage in the future I would suggest) - having a team in the top 16 and a few others top 32 on a semi-permanent basis would not do any harm at all. Those delegates with a bit of vision will understand that. Those delegates only concerned about their own country getting in might remain pissed off regardless.

Japan got in the top 10 in the late 1990's ...

Greg Here you are:- http://www.thebesteleven.com/2008/11/asia-all-time-highest-fifa-ranking-list.html

Does anyone know if any AFC team has ever been as high as 16 in the rankings? (Japan? South Korea after the 2002 WC?) Whatever, one should not underestimate the importance of this ranking rise in terms of AFC politics. Those in the AFC who are uncertain about whether Australia belongs in the AFC will be very happy to have an "Asian" team this high in the world rankings, because it will enable them to puff out their chests a bit more at the FIFA table. In short, this ranking helps Australia to solidify its position in the AFC with the powerbrokers of the Confederation.

What about a rankings system based purely on competitive results? If we used the Asian WC qualifiers, which have been an accurate reflection of team quality, Australia would be top anyway followed by Japan.

Peter, it is a 4 year cycle. The matches we played in second half of 2005 (July 1 release now excludes the 3 losses in the Confed Cup under Farina) give us a higher weighting overall - it's not purely the June matches. We should be able to maintain the No. 1 Asian spot for some time as Japan have an slightly worse record than Australia between 2006 and 2007. I'm very surpirsed that South Korea did not reach higher in this round of rankings.

I think all this proves is how flawed the FIFA ranking system is - two wins against lower ranked sides and a draw against a very low ranked side do not 16 places make (if that makes sense). It looks like the calculation needs give greater weight to who we beat rather than how often we win. We would not have a chance against a full strength Portugal or Denmark, hell we still struggle against Japan!

Hey, top job - taking data from my blog (football-rankings.info) and forgetting to mention the source! :) Again, keep up the good work!

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html Our ranking is now confirmed at 16!!! We are now officially better than Portugal according to the FIFA rankings. Japan dropped nine spots to 40 *chortle* Well done Janex, your list is spot on.

Dasilva: Neill is the Warne of football - has an opinion on everything, humility ain't one of his strong suits. MVDave: Netherlands was a friendly, so calm down.