I think the gap between the mediocre and the top teams are closing. More and more countries are using the same training methods, the same schools, the same styles, etc.. We saw that at Euro 2004 and World Cup 2002. Player development is almost equal in Europe now. The same is happening with the rest of the word. But think about this.. When it gets to the point where everyone is almost equal, who will dominate soccer? The most gifted, the most talented. The most naturalyl brilliant teams. Descipline will be abundant on all teams, structure the same, fundamentals will be a given... Brazil will always be the best. Having said that, I don't believe in these rankings. France topped the ranking for a measly 2 weeks when they won the World Cup, and didn't even regain it after winning Euro 2000. Spain hasn't won anything forever, yet they are always well placed in these rankings. These rankings, IMO, are more a judgement of how consistently a team does what they're doing rather than how well they actually play. Brazil win consistently, and the U.S. are consistently a bit betetr than mediocre. Spain always play well, but never get past the top teams. Winning tournaments gives you a short term boosts, but unless you maintain that record of winning big games and big tournaments, it is impossible for you to keep that spot.
What a great match it was! That's were I fell in love with world cup! (Well the whole US run in 2002). Are there any travel agents on the BBS? Wonder what it would take to put together a CF.net package for a group to go to Germany? hummm...
