NANI OUT AS WORLD CUP CURSE STRIKES AGAIN

Manchester United and Portugal winger Nani is the latest player to fall victim to an emerging World Cup curse, after being ruled out of the showpiece event.

Portugal confirmed the news in a team statement saying, "After tests we conclude he is unfit to participate in the World Cup."

The 23 year-old suffered a shoulder injury in training on Friday and tests have confirmed he will not be fit for the tournament.

England skipper Rio Ferdinand has already been ruled out of the World Cup while Côte d'Ivoire captain Didier Drogba is touch and go after suffering a broken arm in a warm-up game against Japan. The African nations have suffered badly with injuries with Drogba's club mates John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien having been ruled out of action for Nigeria and Ghana respectively.

The fitness of Dutch winger Arjen Robben remains a major concern for Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk after the Bayern Munich winger limped out of his side's 6-1 win over Hungary last week.

However it is better news for Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios who has been passed fit to play, as has Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Initial fears that both would be unable to make the tournament have proven unfounded.

SPAIN TOP RANKINGS AS ENGLAND CLIMB AGAIN

The announcement of the latest FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings has seen European Champions Spain retain top spot ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands.

The top three remain unchanged for the fifth successive month, since November 2009, but the rest of the top ten saw some considerable action this month.

Former World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has seen his Portugal side move up two places to fourth at the expense of defending World Champions Italy and three-time winners Germany who both drop a place to fifth and sixth respectively.

Meanwhile Fabio Capello's England climbed the rankings for the second successive month as they jumped one place to seventh with France dropping down to eighth.

Croatia re-entered the top ten just behind Argentina who are unmoved in ninth, while Australia have now broken into the top twenty after moving up four places to 19th.

This summer's hosts South Africa, have fallen seven places to 88th.

This month's biggest gainers were Senegal who climbed an impressive 22 places to 72nd whilst the biggest losers were Guam who fell 14 places to 196.

Full FIFA World Rankings here.