Azkals drop three spots in FIFA World Ranking

(Updated 10:07pm) The Philippine football team has fallen three places in the latest FIFA rankings. Following two draws with Indonesia and Malaysia, the Azkals beat Guam 3-0, and it was enough for them to retain their third spot in South East Asia. Bangladesh, Yemen, New Caldedonia and Tahiti, the latter of which rose an incredible 41 places in the rankings, all climbed above the Philippines, but with the Faroe Islands dropping 33 spots, the Azkals in total fall to 152nd in the world. The Azkals retain their regional ranking as the third best South East Asian nation, with Indonesia one place below them at 153, while Malaysia is at 157 and Singapore at joint 158, after they also dropped several places. The reason for the falling is mainly due to the lack of a major competition within South East Asia. International friendly matches carry far fewer points than major competitions and so the recently concluded European Championships gave the European countries a lot of ranking points, as discussed below. South East Asia Meanwhile the Suzuki Cup later this year will give the Azkals the best chance of climbing in the rankings as they can pick up a large number of points and even climb above their best ever ranking of 148 from earlier this year. Before that, however, the Azkals will be hosting a friendly competition which will be based on the Long Teng Cup. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are confirmed, but there is also the possibility of Guam joining the competition. Each of the games will be counted for FIFA rankings, but only as much as a friendly match would, as the tournament would be considered an informal friendly rather than an officially recognized competition. Vietnam are the biggest movers in South East Asia, dropping 22 places from 98th in the world to 120th. Thailand are now within reaching distance of becoming the top ranked South East Asian side, fifteen places below at 135th in the world.  Laos and Cambodia also fall a large number of places, eighteen and seventeen, and are now ranked in the 190s, their lowest FIFA ranking ever. European domination While economically Europe may be collapsing, in the football world the Europeans are still on top. Eight of the top ten nations in the world are from Europe with Spain leading the pack. Germany rose to second in the world while Portugal and Italy are the biggest climbers in the elite rankings climbing five and six places into fifth and sixth respectively. Oddly England are ranked fourth in the world, a fact that even the English are confused about. Of course the Europeans making up the top ten is mostly due to the recently concluding European Championships. By winning the competition Spain have become the first country to defend their European title and also win three major competitions in a row as they have now won the 2008 Euros, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros. The Spanish have truly become one of the most dominant sides in history. The only other two nations in the top ten are Uruguay and Argentina. Uruguay drop to third in the world after being overtaken by Germany while Argentina retain their seventh place ranking. Brazil, despite being the most successful country in history, winning five World Cups, are now out of the top ten and occupy eleventh place. Having dropped six places, it is the first time the Brazilians have ever been outside of the top ten in FIFA World Rankings, something which is sure to shake up their fan base, despite the more obvious explanation that FIFA rankings are very unreliable.  - AMD, GMA News