FOOTBALL Federation Australia chief executive John O'Neill will send a "please explain" to the game's world governing body after Australia was dudded in the latest FIFA world rankings released last night.
The Socceroos reached the second round of the World Cup but rose only nine places to No.33, reinforcing concerns that emerging nations are disadvantaged by entrenched football politics.
The Socceroos are rated lower than Guinea, who climbed 27 spots to 24 despite missing the World Cup.
They are also behind seven nations who failed to make it out of the group stage in Germany.
"Certainly we will be asking for some further information from FIFA on what the formula is that is driving that outcome," O'Neill said.
O'Neill was scratching his head trying to understand the Socceroos' position after the side's recent achievements.
"We had a very, very tough qualifying road to the World Cup - perhaps the toughest in the world," O'Neill said.
"After climbing that mountain, we were put into the pool of death.
"Along the way (Australia) beat the European champion and drew with the Netherlands, who were ranked three in the world at that time. To climb just nine spots is puzzling."
O'Neill said there were several independent sources, including The Times in London, that rated Australia as the great over achiever of the World Cup.
"To rise just nine spots appears not to be a true representation of what the team has accomplished over the past six months," O'Neill said.
In other bizarre elements of the rankings:
BRAZIL remains No.1 ahead of Italy despite losing in the World Cup quarter-finals;
NIGERIA and Cameroon, at No.11 and No.12, are ranked ahead of every African nation that qualified for the World Cup;
URUGUAY climbed eight spots to No.14 - ahead of World Cup finalists Ukraine (15), the US (16), Mexico (18), Paraguay (19) Ivory Coast (20), Sweden (22) and Croatia (23);
ASIAN heavyweights Japan (49) and Korea (56) crashed in the rankings, dropping 31 and 27 places respectively;
TRINIDAD and Tobago made the World Cup, but dropped 17 places to 64.
The rise of Uruguay, beaten by the Socceroos in a World Cup play-off, and Nigeria, which didn't qualify but held its position at No.11, caught O'Neill's eye.
"And you have to feel for Japan and Korea, our colleagues in the Asian Football Confederation who both played in the World Cup," he said.
"You would think they get some credit for being somewhere in the 30s.
"All might be revealed if you were able to get a better understanding of what was driving these changes."
As for the conspiracy theories, O'Neill said there was formula that weighted particular fixtures and confederations differently to others.
LMFAO
