Spain maintain FIFA lead; Japan rise, Egypt fall

Wed, 02 Feb 2011

Zurich - World and European champions Spain retained first place in the football rankings issued on Wednesday by the ruling body FIFA.

Freshly-crowned Asian champions Japan returned into the top 20 while African champions Egypt took a deep plunge in the list.

Spain lead an all but unchanged top 10 with 1,887 points from the Netherlands (1,723) and Germany (1,485).

Brazil (1,446), Argentina (1,367), England (1,195), Uruguay (1,152), Portugal (1,090), Croatia (1,075) and Greece (1,016) complete the top teams, with Greece moving up from 11th.

Egypt crashed from 10th to 33rd because their continental title from January 2010 by FIFA arithmetics their title is worth less points 12 months later.

Japan rose from 29th to 17th by virtue of a record fourth Asian title won on Saturday in Qatar. Uzbekistan were the biggest risers thanks to their semi-final berth at the event, up to 77 from 108.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/365470,japan-rise-egypt-fall.html.