Uruguay takes second Place in FIFA rankings

London : Spain maintained their top spot in the latest FIFA rankings published Wednesday while Uruguay leap-frogged Germany to take second place.

Brazil and England moved up one spot to fifth and sixth, respectively, as they took advantage of Portugal`s plunge from fifth to 10th in the rankings. Despite beating Italy 3-0 Friday and earning a 1-1 draw with Uruguay last month, the Russian national team dropped two places to 13th, falling behind the Italians and Chile. Some of the biggest leaps were made by Tunisia, up 10, and Egypt, up nine, which benefited from their strong performances in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. New Zealand stormed 30 places up the table to 100th, outstripped only by Benin, which jumped 52 places to 72nd after upsetting highly-fancied Mali 1-0 in an African World Cup qualifier. There were mixed fortunes for Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, as the Poles rose three spots to 62nd, but the Ukrainians dropped two to 52nd place. Euro 2012 will run from June 8 through July 1. IANS