Dunga remained true to his word that local players shall be given a chance for a slot on Brazil National Team which was traditionally reserved for European players by leaving out Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka and Ronaldo, Cafu and Emerson; the only players chosen from World Cup 2006 squad were Cicinho, Fred, Gilberto, Gilberto Silva, Juan, Lucio, Luisao and Robinho.
The US women’s division is a very strong unit expected to perform very well in the upcoming Women’s U-20 championships in Russia this coming August, hoping to bring some sanity to football reputation in their country whose Men’s division brought so much shame in the recent FIFA World Cup 2006.
The U.S. team is looked poised for a proud performance following their focused training for several months in California, series of friendly competitions against top squads, a total of around 50 games since January, and were the U-19 world champions in 2002.
FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany has ended but not for these girls who are as impressive to watch as their male counterparts. The 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship is taking place in Russia from August 17 to September 3, 2006 and matches will be held in four Moscow stadiums namely: Dinamo, Lokomotiv, Podmoskovie Sports Palace and Torpedo Stadion and one in St. Petersburg — Petrovskiy Stadion.
We shall give you monthly updates on team rankings by FIFA as well as keep track on managers of teams who made it to the world cup.
The big winners for team rankings include Italy (+11), Germany (+10), Argentina (+6) and England (+5) while the big losers were Mexico (-14) and USA (-11).
Below is the screenshot of the ranking I have prepared:
Part 1: Top 1 – 20
In this series of posts we shall look at each country’s profile that will see action during the games. We continue with Tunisia (player profile). The full archive is found here.
Only winning one game against Mexico in the last 28 years does not speak well of this team. Being the first African country to win a finals has put them in the record books though. Below is their world cup record:
1978: (lost) Poland; (draw) Germany
1998: (lost) England, Columbia; (draw) Romania
1998: (lost) Russia, Japan; (draw) Belgium
Former French national coach Roger Lemerre has led the team to lift the trophy at the Rades stadium during the CAF African Cup of Nations in February 2004.
Their six wins, three draws and only one loss ensured them a place in World Cup Germany.
Their solid combination of players makes Tunisian fans hopeful about their chances.
