World Cup winner Italy closes in on FIFA leader Brazil

Zurich - Freshly-crowned World Cup champions Italy shot from 12th to second place behind Brazil in the latest football rankings issued on Wednesday by the ruling body FIFA. Brazil maintained first place with 1,630 points although the team went out in the World Cup quarter-finals, with Italy now on 1,550 points and Argentina up from ninth to third on 1,472 points. World Cup runners-up France (1,462), England (1,434), the Netherlands (1,322), Spain (1,309), Portugal (1,301), Germany (1,229) and the Czech Republic (1,223) complete the top 10. Germany shot from 19 to ninth on the strength of its third-place at the World Cup while the Czechs crashed from second to 10th because they made a first-round exit. The rankings underwent a complete shake-up due to the June 9-July 9 World Cup. FIFA is also using a new calculation method for the rankings, taking into account such as aspects as importance of matches and regional strength. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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