July 03, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1429

ZURICH (Switzerland), July 2: Spain leapt to the top of FIFA’s monthly rankings for the first time following its triumph at the European Championship, with Brazil and Argentina both shoved out of the top three.

Spain’s 1-0 victory over Germany in Sunday’s Euro 2008 final lifted it three places to make it just the sixth team after France, Germany, Brazil, Italy and Argentina to hold top spot in the 15-year-old rankings.

Brazil dropped to fourth place in the list published Wednesday, the first time since November 1993 that the five-time World Cup holders have been outside the top three.

The Spanish, who with seven matches in June played more than any other side, headed an all-European trio.

Italy’s troubled run to the quarterfinals was enough to push it up one spot to second place, albeit with 1,404 points to Spain’s 1,557, while Germany jumped two places to third on 1,364.

The fact that most of the major action took place in Europe caused Brazil and Argentina to slip.

Last month’s No. 1 Argentina was sixth, with the Netherlands’ blistering first-round performances at Euro 2008 – which included a 4-1 win over France and 3-0 win over Italy – enough to move it between the South American rivals.

Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and France rounded out the top 10, followed by Russia, which was the biggest riser in the top 50 with its Euro 2008 semifinal spot lifting it 13 places to No. 11.

Cameroon was the highest-ranked African team in 13th, with Mexico at No. 19 the best of the CONCACAF sides. Japan was the best-placed Asian nation at No. 34, just four spots behind the free-falling United States – down nine places.—AP