ALLAN THE MAN

The Philippines climbed to its highest place in the global football ladder once again, emerging as the second best team in Southeast Asia according to the latest FIFA world rankings released Wednesday.

From 147th, which last October became the country’s all-time high in the rankings, the Philippine Azkals jumped to 143rd to become 20th in Asia and only trail regional powerhouse Vietnam, which ranked 138th, as the best squad in Southeast Asia.

The country’s ranking was boosted by the national team’s impressive performance during its Middle East tour last month, where they forced Bahrain in a nil-nil draw last October 12 and lost narrowly to Kuwait, 2-1, last October 16.

Thailand, which held the top spot in Southeast Asia for quite some time, dropped seven points to slip to 146th to be behind Vietnam and Philippines. Myanmar, meanwhile, became the fourth best team in the region after taking the 156th spot in the ladder.

Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar will play the Azkals in the group stages of the 2012 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup this November.

Aside from the Philippines, five other countries enjoyed its highest FIFA ranking in history, namely Algeria (19th), Haiti (57th), Dominican Republic (92nd), St. Kitts and Nevis (106th) and Timor-Leste (187th).

Reigning World Cup champion Spain continues its reign as the best football team in the world after taking the top spot once again in the world rankings, followed by Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Italy in the top five.

Japan (24th), meanwhile, remains the best team in the Asia zone, followed by South Korea (32nd), Australia (33rd), Iran (44th) and Uzbekistan (69th).

World governing body FIFA calculates every month the world ranking of every country based on the result of matches (a win, a loss or a draw), its importance (i.e. a friendly or a World Cup match), and the strength of the opponent ranking-wise.

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