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ITALY CLIMB TO SECOND
Lippi's Italy are second behind Spain.
New Italy coach Marcelo Lippi has seen his side move up to second place in the latest FIFA rankings, which were released on Wednesday.
Lippi, who led Italy to their 2006 World Cup success, returned to the helm following Roberto Donadoni's departure following Euro 2008 and guided the team to a 2-2 draw against Austria in his first game back.
That was enough for his side to move ahead of Germany, who drop to third, while Euro 2008 champions Spain remain at the top of the list, 200 points clear of the world champions.
There was only one other change in the top 10 with Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey moving up three places to 10th.
Russia, who were also reached the last four in Austria and Switzerland, dropped out of the top 10 to 12th.
Elsewhere, Mexico were one of the biggest movers climbing eight places to 24th to be the highest ranked CONCACAF nation.
They won their first game under new boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, defeating Honduras 2-1 as their World Cup qualification campaign resumed.
The standings could change dramatically over the next few weeks with the a host of friendlies and World Cup qualifiers around the globe scheduled to be played.
Rankings:
1 Spain 1565
2 Italy 1339
3 Germany 1329
4 Holland 1295
5 Croatia 1266
6 Brazil 1252
7 Argentina 1230
8 Czech Republic 1134
9 Portugal 1120
10 Turkey 1033
11 France 1019
12 Russia 1013
13 Romania 1007
14 Cameroon 999
15 England 991
Selected Others:
16 Scotland 976
32 Northern Ireland 761
38 Republic of Ireland 662
53 Wales 549
