Dutch Football - Holland move uup to fourth spot on FIFA ranking

"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football

Holland move up to fourth spot on FIFA ranking

Wednesday 12 November 2008

The Dutch national football team have moved up from fifth to fourth spot on the FIFA world ranking of national teams.

Holland have passed Brazil who held fourth spot last months.

Spain are still top of the ranking, followed by Germany and reigning World Champions Italy.

After a series of good results England are back in the top 10.

The team of Fabio Capello moved up from fourteenth to tenth spot.

Sweden who Holland will face in a friendly next week are 29th, which is still better than the 33rd spot of Scotland, who are the highest placed opponents of Holland in the qualifications group for the World Cup.

The top 10:
1. Spain (1657 points)
2. Germany (1413)
3. Italy (1356)
4. Netherlands (1306)
5. Brazil (1286)
6. Argentina (1181)
7. Croatia (1158)
8. Russia (1079)
9. Czech Republic (1062)
10. England (1058)

World Cup qualifications opponents:
33. Scotland (761)
49. Macedonia (603)
54. Norway (572)
82. Iceland (423)