ZURICH, Switzerland -- Germany climbed to the top of the FIFA rankings on Thursday after winning the World Cup for the first time in 24 years, while several European rivals paid the price for their dismal performances in Brazil. Trevor Siemian Jersey . Germany, which beat Argentina 1-0 on Sunday to win a fourth World Cup, replaced deposed champion Spain in first place. Argentina jumped three places into second in the rankings, while the Netherlands soared 12 spots into third after beating host Brazil to clinch third place. Reaching the quarter-finals took Colombia to fourth and Belgium to fifth in FIFAs monthly rankings, which take into account all 64 World Cup matches. Spains title defence surprisingly ended in the group stage, and the team has dropped to eighth place. First-round exits also led to Portugal going down seven places to 11th, Italy dropping five to 14th and England plummeting 10 spots to 20th. Canada fell eight spots to No. 118, one spot below the Central African Republic and just above Lebanon. The United States fell two places to 15th despite reaching the round of 16 where they lost to Belgium. The Americans were overtaken by the Dutch, Chile and France. Riley Reiff Jersey . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. Eric Kendricks Jersey .com) - Houston Texans interim head coach Wade Phillips confirmed Monday that starting quarterback Case Keenum sustained a sprained right thumb during Sundays 25-3 loss in Indianapolis. http://www.vikingsauthenticshop.com/Customized/ . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field.SAO PAULO - Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is worried the street protests that are planned during the World Cup could hurt his teams chances of winning the title. Scolari says that although Brazilians have the right to complain about the government and demand improvements, perhaps the protests wont be coming at the "right time." He said the protests "could, big-time" affect his players performance during the World Cup, although he will not prohibit them from talking about the subject during the tournament. In an interview with Globo TV late Sunday, Scolari also said Brazil should have done a better job in its preparations for the World Cup, and said he has already made up his mind on 21 of the 23 players of his squad. Violent anti-government protests erupted across Brazil last year as people took to the streets calling for better services and questioning the billions being spent on hosting the World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics. The protests have since diminished in size, but they are widely expected again in the run-up to this years football tournament. "I think the protests can happen," Scolari said. "If they are peaceful, then thats democracy. Everyone has the right to protest. But I dont know if its the right time." The coach had already tried to distance the national team from the protests during last years Confederations Cup, when the largest public demonstrations in a generation broke out at the start of the warm-up tournament. Protests happenned in all six host cities at the time, although matches and teams were not directly affected as Brazil went on to win the title. Everson Griffen Jersey. The players openly talked about the protests last year and the coach said they will be allowed to do it again during the World Cup. "They are national team players and they are on a mission," he said. "They can express themselves and say look, I also want a better Brazil, but I dont want it to be something that causes problems to our environment." Scolari also criticized Brazils preparations for the World Cup, saying that the country wasted time and should have done more to get things ready more quickly. "We could have done a better job to take advantage of these seven years that we had to prepare everything that was going to be needed, from airports to roads to education," he said. "But we lost time and we now we are out of time." Scolari last week confirmed nine players who will make Brazils squad — David Luiz, Oscar, Ramires, Willian, Paulinho, Julio Cesar, Thiago Silva, Fred and Neymar — and on Sunday he said there are only two spots remaining in the team. "We are still making observations, there are a lot of things we are still looking at," he said. Scolari will announce the official 23-man squad on May 7. Seven possible alternates will be announced later. Brazil will play friendlies against Panama and Serbia just before the World Cup opener against Croatia on June 12. Cheap Nike Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Nike Packers Jerseys Cheap Nike Vikings Jerseys Cheap Nike Lions Jerseys Cheap Nike Colts Jerseys Cheap Nike Texans Jerseys Cheap Nike Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Nike Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Nike Patriots Jerseys Cheap Nike Jets Jerseys Cheap Nike Browns Jerseys Cheap Nike Broncos Jerseys Cheap Nike Chiefs Jerseys Cheap Nike Bengals Jerseys Cheap Nike Steelers Jerseys Cheap Nike Titans Jerseys ' ' '