World Cup 2010 - Rankings: Spain progress

Eurosport - Tue, 29 Jun 22:30:00 2010

1 (1) - Argentina - Keeper Sergio Romero has been studying Germany's penalty takers in a bid to prepare should Saturday's showdown result in the dreaded penalty shoot-out. And he'll be taking a leaf out of Jens Lehmann's book, who had a crib sheet on his person against Argentina in the 2006 quarter-final shoot-out.

2 (2) - Brazil - Brazil's preparations for the Netherlands game have been delivered a blow by Elano limping out of training early. The Selecao are already without midfielder Ramires, who is suspended, for the match in Port Elizabeth while two more midfielders, Felipe Melo and Julio Baptista, are also doubtful through injury.

3 (3) - Netherlands - More bad news for Brazil: Ryan Babel has vowed the Dutch will turn on the style after having been criticised for lacking flair so far at the tournament. But the Liverpool forward seems to be forgetting he may not even be on the pitch to influence how they play and is likely to instead be warming the bench again.

4 (4) - Germany - A psychic octopus called Paul, who has correctly picked the winner of Germany's four World Cup matches so far, has tipped Joachim Loew's side to beat Argentina. The England-born aquarium dweller even predicted their defeat to Serbia, so he must be right about the quarter-final clash too.

5 (5) - Spain - A 1-0 win over Portugal was enough to send Spain through to the quarter-finals, but they made hard work of breaking down a stubborn Portuguese back line and in Fernando Torres they have a shadow of the striker we know from Liverpool. Nevertheless, they should be favourites to make it to the semis.

6 (6) - Uruguay - Key defender Diego Godin is doubtful for the quarter-final clash with Ghana with a thigh problem. He trained separately for the first 15 minutes of a practice session with fellow Diegos Forlan and Perez.

7 (7) - Ghana - Striker Asamoah Gyan suffered an ankle injury in training and sat out most of a rigorous two-hour session as Africa's last hopes prepared for the game with Uruguay.

8 (8) - Paraguay - Paraguay have the dubious honour of having won the first penalty shoot-out of the competition to advance to the quarter-finals. But the match against Japan was without doubt the dullest of the tournament so far and the South Americans did little to suggest they will go any further.

9 (9) - Portugal - Defensive tactics failed to work against Spain, although they did manage to frustrate the European champions for an hour. Cristiano Ronaldo was again poor though, and with his loss of form went any hope of reaching the quarter-finals.

10 (11) - USA - As if it was not bad enough crashing out of the tournament to Ghana, the US have had their noses rubbed in it by Iran, whose foreign minister has said the 'Great Satan' got what they deserved.

11 (13) - Chile - Chilean fans have grieved their team's exit to Brazil, but are keeping upbeat about the future of the young squad after their best performance at the tournament in decades.

12 (10) - Japan - Little attacking intent from the Blue Samurai saw them pay the price against Paraguay, although their opponents were little better going forward. Yuichi Komano was the villain of the piece, hitting the bar with his spot kick, although he can console himself with the probable offers of takeaway pizza adverts on his return home.

13 (12) - England - Fabio Capello has identified Bobby Zamora as a man who can turn around England's fortunes in the future, despite the Fulham striker a) turning 30 in January and b) not being that good. The Three Lions drop a place, considering such a bleak future.

14 (14) - Mexico - Mexico may be out of the World Cup, but their boffins are designing the ball of the future, which could beam out TV replays and light up in bright colours when it crosses the goal line to clear up any refereeing gaffes.

15 (15) - Slovakia - Midfielder Vladimir Weiss, son of the coach, said: "It was a good result just to get here, anything else was a bonus." (Like knocking out the holders, reaching the last 16 and building up experience for next time round). No bad at all.

16 (16) - South Korea - Huh Jung-moo's defeated team have wasted no time in converting their pain into pride after their elimination by Uruguay, vowing to return to the next tournament a stronger side capable of beating anyone.

17 - Slovenia - Coach Matjaz Kek asked for his players to be given time to mourn after their dreams of qualifying for the second round of the World Cup were crushed by a late US goal.

18 - Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast romped to a 3-0 victory over North Korea but the one-sided win was not enough to prevent them becoming the fifth African side to exit the World Cup in the first round.

19 - Australia - Australia can be proud of their World Cup, picking themselves up after a big loss in the opening match against Germany, coach Pim Verbeek said.

20 - South Africa - South Africa became the first host nation to go out of the World Cup in the first round since the tournament began in 1930 but victory over France restored pride in Bafana Bafana.

21 - Switzerland - Switzerland's World Cup campaign came to a shuddering halt after an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Honduras in Group H saw both teams eliminated.

22 - New Zealand - Unheralded New Zealand bowed out of the World Cup unbeaten and ahead of the world champions, a far cry from the three heavy defeats in their only other appearance at the finals.

23 - Serbia - Serbia, who beat Germany 1-0 in their last match, lost their chances of advancing and finished bottom of the group but only an offside flag against Marko Pantelic denied them a place in the last 16.

24 - Denmark - Lost their record of having never been eliminated in the group stage as they were outclassed by Japan at the Royal Bafokeng stadium with a spot in the second round at stake.

25 - Greece - We would love to put them near the bottom for their anti-football tactics but they did win a game before bowing out with a whimper against Argentina.

26 - Italy - Father Time finally caught up with poor old Italy when they were deposed as world champions after suffering a dramatic and shocking 3-2 defeat at the hands of World Cup debutants Slovakia.

27 - Nigeria - Defender Joseph Yobo said the Super Eagles had only themselves to blame for blowing an extraordinary chance to reach the last 16 of the World Cup by drawing 2-2 with South Korea.

28 - Algeria - Became the fourth African side to be eliminated and went home without scoring. They have now failed to score from open play in their last seven matches, their only goal since January's African Nations Cup quarter-final coming from a penalty.

29 - Honduras - Coach Reinaldo Rueda said his team restored honour and dignity with a goalless draw against Switzerland but they go home without scoring a goal.

30 - Cameroon - French coach Paul Le Guen has quit after his side's exit from the World Cup where they failed to earn a single point.

31 - North Korea - North Korea are pondering a change in tactics for their final Group G match against the Ivory Coast as they try to salvage some pride from their first World Cup appearance for 44 years

32 - France - President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a wholesale review of French football following the national team's humiliation in the World Cup, and said no player should receive bonuses after their dire showing.
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