The system is based on results over the last 4 years. Ghana did well in this World Cup, but don't have consistent results over the last 4 years. You'd expect them to be climbing, though. And they did - up 9 places since the last list. Uruguay and Paraguay were the biggest climbers.
I must admit, I'm surprised England went up. With a win, two draws, and a loss to the team now in 4th place I'd have expected a very slight fall. But remember that their results from Euro 2008 qualifying, where they did poorly, are getting further away so they have less of an effect.
What the rankings don't do is consider how good a team looked while getting those results. π
Edit: the new rankings also include (though with less weight) some recent friendly results:
England 3 - 1 Mexico
England 2 - 1 Japan
it seems that no matter what system you use, there's going to be major problems.
there just aren't enough games to making any ratings system be a truly accurate measurement -- the odd own-goal, goalie malfunction, red card meltdown, or weird weather event that might cause an upset will have an overly large impact.
Not to mention the effects of lousy officiating which seem to be a rather common factor.
Originally posted by mtthwThe only reason England's moved up is that Portugal has dropped down below them.
The system is based on results over the last 4 years. Ghana did well in this World Cup, but don't have consistent results over the last 4 years. You'd expect them to be climbing, though. And they did - up 9 places since the last list. Uruguay and Paraguay were the biggest climbers.
I must admit, I'm surprised England went up. With a win, two draws, and ...[text shortened]... ith less weight) some recent friendly results:
England 3 - 1 Mexico
England 2 - 1 Japan
Originally posted by Daemon SinPortugal and Italy (and Uruguay have climbed above them). Although if you look at the rating, that's also gone up slightly, so there has been a net positive effect in the last two months.
The only reason England's moved up is that Portugal has dropped down below them.
Originally posted by Tirau DanNo it's not. It's like saying New Zealand are top of the world rankings. Which they are: http://www.irb.com/rankings/
England 7th... that's really embarrassing and certainly was not deserved by their pathetic performance at the cup.
Its almost like saying NZ The Only Unbeaten Team from the World Cup are the real champs...lol but though Kiwis Rock.. we're not deluded.
Originally posted by Tirau Dannew zealand, north korea, nigeria, honduras, algeria, cameroon, ivory coast, italy, france.
Its almost like saying NZ The Only Unbeaten Team from the World Cup are the real champs...lol but though Kiwis Rock.. we're not deluded.
that's the answer, what was the question? π