China drop for third straight month
By Fang Xuan (www.chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-11-24 17:25

China slid four places down to No. 69 in the just-released November FIFA rankings. This is the third straight month that China has dropped in the rankings.

China's ranking within Asian countries also dropped one spot to seventh, after Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait.

Lack of international matches is thought to be the main culprit behind China's continuous fall. The early exit at the 2006 World Cup qualifiers made China have only one game -- a one to nil loss to Germany in a friendly -- capable of being counted in FIFA's point-calculation system.

Although China was crowned this month at the East Asian Games in Macau, the men's soccer matches were unluckily ruled ineligible for international class-A match status. China's 2-0 home loss against Serbia-Montenegro in a friendly was also excluded.

Japan climbed one slot in the FIFA rankings to 15th, which is one place ahead of World Cup hosts Germany. Another Asian power Iran moved forward two places to reach 19th. South Korea retained last month's rankings of third in Asia and No. 29 in the world.

The Czech forced their way up to No. 2 after two victories over Norway in World Cup Qualification playoffs. Brazil's firm occupation atop the ranking continues.