U.S. Ranked 11th by FIFA
The United States has the 11th-best national team in the world, according to FIFA rankings released Wednesday.
On the strength of its quarterfinal appearance at the World Cup, the Americans moved up from 13th to equal their highest ranking ever.
Brazil, which defeated Germany in the final to win the World Cup, took over the top spot from France, which fell into a tie for second place with Argentina. Spain rose from eighth to fourth, and Germany climbed from 11th to fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 among the world’s 204 national teams were Mexico, Portugal, England, Colombia and Italy. Turkey, which finished third at the World Cup, is ranked 12th, while South Korea, which finished fourth, moved from 40th to 22nd.
Coaching Moves
Former Brazil World Cup standout Zico is the early favorite to take charge of Japan’s national team, the Japanese Football Assn. (JFA) said Wednesday.
The JFA’s list of candidates also includes two Frenchmen--Aime Jacquet, who coached France to its 1998 World Cup title, and Arsene Wenger, currently coach of Arsenal in the English Premier League--as well as former Mexico, Costa Rica, U.S., Nigeria and China coach Bora Milutinovic.
Zico, 49, who played on Brazil’s 1982 and 1986 World Cup teams, has lived in Japan for the last 11 years, playing for and later successfully coaching the Kashima Antlers of the J-League.
Spain appears to have settled upon its former youth team coach, Inaki Saez, as the replacement for Jose Antonio Camacho, who resigned Tuesday.
Saez, 59, played three times for Spain in the late 1960s, and the Spanish Football Federation is expected to select him for at least a caretaker role, if not a permanent one.
Under Saez, Spain won the European under-21 championship in 1998 and the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999.
France could follow suit and name its under-21 coach, Raymond Domenech, to replace Roger Lemerre if Lemerre is dismissed, as expected, at a meeting of the French Football Assn. in Lyon on Friday.
Meanwhile, Jomo Sono said in Johannesburg, South Africa, that he would resign today as South Africa’s coach to take a post as head of the South African Football Assn.’s technical committee, which oversees the country’s national teams.
Sono, 46, said he would recommend that either assistant coach Trott Moloto or under-23 coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba be named to replace him.
