By CALEB SONNELAND
World-champion Spain's stint atop the FIFA rankings is officially over, with the Netherlands being the usurpers.
Bert van Marwijk's side ascended to the No. 1 spot after the Spaniards crashed to a friendly 2-1 defeat to Italy earlier in August.
Only the seventh team to sit atop the rankings (after Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, France and Germany), the Dutch have been impressive in all competitions recently and boast one of the most star-studded team sheets in the world, yet they are the first to claim the top spot without ever winning a World Cup.
Elsewhere in the standings, Uruguay's triumph in the Copa America has propelled them to No. 5 ranked team in the world — the highest of any South American team (Brazil sits sixth following defeat to No. 3 Germany). England also benefited from the Germany-Brazil result, as the Three Lions climbed to No. 4 after previously occupying the sixth spot.
The United States rose two spots into the 28th position, behind Peru and Slovakia (tied for 26th) and just ahead of Serbia.
Here are some other stories to keep your Wednesday rolling along:
BAYERN, VILLARREAL ADVANCE TO UCL GROUP STAGE
The UEFA Champions League is beginning to take shape, with Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Apoel Nicosia all booked places in the group stages of the prestigious competition in Tuesday's qualifying matches.
Villareal recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Danes Odense BK behind a brace from Giuseppe Rossi, overturning a 1-0, first-leg loss (highlights can be seen here). Bayern Munich edged FC Zurich through Mario Gomez, 1-0, in Geneva adding to its two-goal advantage from the first leg of the tie.
Dinamo Zagreb entered the second leg of its tie against Malmo FF with a 4-1 advantage, but endured a scary comeback from the Swedish side to take the tie in a 4-3 aggregate victory.
It took a penalty shootout to separate Maccabi Haifa and Genk, but the latter netted all its penalties, while Maccabi Haifa put just one away. The two sides both recorded 2-1 home victories in the matchup.
Nicosia needed an 87th-minute goal from Brazilian Ailton to win the second leg 3-1 and take the tie in a 3-2 aggregate final score.
BARTON ALLOWED TO SPEAK WITH QPR
Often at the source of controversy, Joey Barton looks set to end his four-year spell at Newcastle United following a long dispute with the club.
Despite his status as a fan favorite, Barton has been told he is not in the future plans of the club and has been given permission to hold talks with EPL new boys Queens Park Rangers.
In the final year of his contract, the 28-year-old midfielder has been instrumental in the Newcastle's rise back in the Premier League. But Barton was made available earlier in the summer after criticizing the club's transfer policy through his Twitter account.
Barton looked close to signing a new deal in January, but talks stalled when Andy Carroll departed the club for Liverpool.
Barton has been at the club since 2007 when he joined from Manchester City for £5.8 million.
DE ROSSI "ABSOLUTELY PERFECT" FOR CITY – MANCINI
It seems that Roberto Mancini has his sights set on yet another top player after he revealed to the media that Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi would be "absolutely perfect" for the revolution occurring at Manchester City.
The vice-captain of the Serie A giants, De Rossi is in the final year of his contract, and despite flattering praise from Mancini, the Manchester City boss admits that the midfielder may do what fellow Roma striker Francesco Totti has done and stay in the nation's capital his entire career.
Mancini lamented the lack of weapons in his midfield arsenal, citing that Barry, Milner, De Jong and Toure were "not enough" when considering the pack schedule the club is slated to take on this season.
With Samir Nasri on the brink of a transfer, it seems that Mancini is still looking to bolster his already sparkling roster.
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Think Holland deserves the No. 1 spot? What do you think about the USMNT rising a couple spots? What did you think of Rossi's goals? Do you see Barton and QPR being a good match? Think there's any chance De Rossi ends up in Manchester?
Share your thoughts below.
This record is not as impressive as it seems. England split their games with Ukraine and beat up on a bunch of mediocre teams like Andorra, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. The only decent quality opponents they had to play were Ukraine and Croatia. It does not seem enough to me to place them as the 4th best team in the world ahead of such teams as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, etc.
My point was that the Dutch did just as well in the World Cup, loss-wise (I haven’t looked at ties or PK wins, which are ties).
And had they won, or brought their best players, the rankings would reflect that.
RK, maybe those folks have a point. Spain is the reigning European champion and the reigning World champion. And by they way, the Dutch lost a world cup game, the game that mattered the most, to Spain. And the Dutch have not won a major tournament since 1988, when Marco Van Basten led them to victory of the Soviet Union. Having said that, placing the Netherlands first is not nearly as bad as placing England 4th, ahead of such teams as Brazil and Argentina, or including Croatia in the top ten despite the fact that Croatia finished third in its group in the last WC qualification tournament.
My point is that the Netherlands aren’t the first team to be a world number one and not have won a world cup. If you want to get ruffled by how I said it, fine. My point stands and, no, I’m not getting caught up in minutiae and, yes, I very much appreciate and enjoy Ives’, Avi’s, Jose’s, etc’ work.
Yes it does, Spain was the first team to be ranked number one without ever winning a world cup, get your facts straight Ives!
Cyprus is really an up-and-coming league in Europe lately from their Champions league results. They’ve gone from 28 to 16 in 4 years, better than Scotland now.
And the Dutch didn’t lose any other WC game, like the Spaniards did.
Funny to hear that Spain “wins everything that matters”, now.
I see you point for sure. But I’m not sure how, or even if, the formula should account for whether or not you can represent that region at the Confeds Cup. The ranking should only be about one team playing against another team and getting a certain number of points for different scenarios (e.g. win/loss/tie, strength of opponent, home/away, etc). It would be nice if they could factor in squad strength, especially when the team is told they HAVE to field a U–23 team.
Bryan, I’m well aware of it. The Formulae should have been changed to account for it. How can teams playing in a Confederations tournament in which they’re not a member have those results factoring into their ranking. Had Costa Rica won Copa America, they would have not been able to represent South America in the Confederation’s Cup two years from now since they’re not part of the South American Federation.
Because Costa Rica played in Copa America and didn’t do well. Same reason why Mexico is no longer in the top 10. The formula doesn’t account for B and C teams.
well put
Always thought this also.
The Formula needs to be fixed badly. Whatever maths they use makes no sense. Hell, explain to me how Jamaica is ranked 43rd yet Costa Rica is at 60th?
Why isn’t Mexico in the top 10 and like many others No way in Hell is England #4. Ives, maybe it’s time to have the SBI top 30 rankings. I think anything outside of 30 is beyond the scope of most of us here.
Even if a player was offered a slightly better salary to go there, it would seem foolish to do so at this point when you might not see the field. Though I suppose some just care about the money.
Mancini reminds me of a spoiled child. It strikes me as a sign of a mediocre coach – stack a team with top players to mask poor coaching abilities. I mean, he continues to play a style that doesn’t suit his personnel. He did briefly allow a more attacking formation late in the last match, and I think he needs to continue to do this if he wants to avoid locker room drama.
Children, it’s based on a formula. It’s not a “Power Ranking”. Spain is second because they’ve accumulated fewer (weighted) points than Holland in the last 4 years.
They trampled their group in WC qualifying (9-0-1 with a +28 GD), and are doing well again in the Euro 2012 qualifying.
With all due respect, “without ever” not equal to “before”. Why do we so easily criticize the minutia of a group of writers who are working presumably very hard at keeping us all informed? Lay off the staff. Whether he used without ever or before, it wouldn’t have changed his point about the Dutch ascending to the top of the rankings. If you’re (not just Zac, but the collective “you”) worried about holes in his statements, then stop pulling the trigger and take it for what it is.
Baby…Ruth??
yeah, I think that’s crazy. They’ve tied their last two international matches and lost to France late last year. They haven’t been terrible, but 4th in the world? please.
Don’t know if there are 27 teams better than the US or not, but it’s certainly a better argument to have than there not being more than 3 that are better than England.
Euro teams have been racking up Euro Qualifying points since then. We have only had a couple of friendlies which we haven’t won.
These rankings are a joke. The US should be higher, but that’s not what is really wrong with this list. England at number 4 is f-ing ridiculous. On what grounds should they be that high? They haven’t won any big friendlies recently and they sucked at the World Cup.
To be fair, they beat the Dutch in extra time. So the sides were pretty evenly matched.
I like how there are 7 teams ahead of the US who did not even *qualify* for the 2010 WC, 6 who did not make it as far as the US did including Slovenia who was IN THE US’ group, 5 who made it as far as they did but no better including England WHO THE US was ranked higher than in the same group. I get it’s 2011 no 2010 and Europe is hard to qualify out of, but god these are not accurate whatsoever. Mathematical formula’s suck.
Also-most of this holds true for Mexico as well. 20? Really?
You don’t buy Japan at 16 why? Too low or too high? Japan is the best team in Asia and gets massive ranking points for winning the Asian Cup and beating up on minnows in WCQ. Sound familiar?
The ratings have never made a lot of sense. Consider it to be a rough guide. Or, if it’s close enough to the last World Cup, use the final standings for your rankings.There’s also the ELO Ratings, but I’ve never found those to be so great either.
Wasn’t Spain the top ranked team prior to winning the world cup? I know that they won the european cup but it still shoots a hole in your statement that the dutch are the first to be ranked no 1 before winning a world cup.
The England ranking is amazing. The Dutch and English both ‘benefit’ from not playing this month, as their friendly was cancelled.
Every month the ranking does something bizarre to invalidate it. I’m not buying Croatia @ #10 or Japan @ 16 either.
The idea that England is better or deserves a higher ranking than Brazil or Uruguay is hilarious.
United and Real Madrid haven’t been able to lure De Rossi in and they try every year. No chance he leaves Roma.
No kidding.
I don’t even think the Netherlands have played in the past month.
It’s pretty ridiculous that Spain isn’t number 1. They win everything that matters. Not to mention that the team that jumped them was the one they beat just over a year ago for the World Cup title.
Sloth from the Goonies.
City doesn’t have “enough” mid-fielders? For what, a second soccer team? So annoying. Mancini sounds like a spoiled heiress.
Are you kidding me with City?!
I mean seriously, is this a joke? How can this be allowed to continue?
Spain, reigning World and Euro Cup champions and home to 2 of the top 5 players in the world as decided by voting, are not first place because they lost a friendly. Man, FIFA’s rankings can be really messed up sometimes by those formulas.
Kuyt is terrifying to look at
Villareal better win with that 3-4-3.
Oh, and wow, City.