Azkals fall three spots in latest FIFA rankings

The Philippine men's national football team, the Azkals, dropped three spots in the latest edition of the FIFA rankings, from 127 to 130, good for 19th place in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Placing 127th was actually a record-high for the Philippines, but the team was unable to maintain its position after failing to get wins in the past two friendlies, a 0-0 draw versus Malaysia (141) in Malaysia, and a 1-0 loss to Azerbaijan (91) in Dubai.

In fact, the Azkals actually have not picked up a win since October 15, when they beat Pakistan (158) 3-1 in Bacolod, to cop the 2013 Philippine Peace Cup.

In-between those dates, the Azkals were blown out 4-0 by the United Arab Emirates (61), and managed a 1-1 draw versus India (152), both matches happening in November, 2013.

New head coach Thomas Dooley has also yet to pick up a win since being named to the position in February of this year.

[Related: Next up for Azkals - a friendly against Nepal]

The Azkals' next chance for a win comes in April, when the team will play Nepal (160) in Qatar, as part of the on-going preparations for May's AFC Challenge Cup.

Vietnam took over the top spot in Southeast Asia from the Philippines, rising 18 spots to 125, 17th overall in the AFC. On top of the region are Iran (42), Japan (48) and Uzbekistan (55).

Globally, there was no movement in the top five, with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Colombia lording it over the rest of the field, in that order. 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil is number nine. - AMD, GMA News