Fri Jun 6 14:59:26 2008

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USA remains on top of women's rankings

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Nyon, Switzerland (Sports Network) - There is only two months to go before the Women's Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing, and the United States will enter that prestigious competition in the top spot as they own a 26-point lead on world champions Germany.

The top six spots remained the same from the last rankings with Sweden holding onto the third spot, followed by Brazil, Norway, and Korea DPR. Denmark (7th, up one) and France (8th, down one) traded places, with Canada and Japan occupying the ninth and 10th positions respectively.

June's Peace Queen Cup will provide a chance for some change in the rankings, while the Olympic matches will count the same as a World Cup game and could make for big changes in the next rankings in September.

The Republic of Ireland (28th, up three), Vietnam (32nd, up five), Austria (38th, up four), Trinidad and Tobago (41st, up three) and Costa Rica (45th, up three) each enjoyed improvements in the rankings, while Poland (30th, down three), Chinese Taipei (33rd, down three) and Hungary (39th, down four) each suffered slight drops.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking will be published on September 5, 2008.