Atletico Madrid’s defender and Dutch international John Heitinga (pictured in an orange jersey) continues his ascent in the FTBL chart of La Liga players. He returned in the Top 23 some 5 days ago and has now grabbed the 5th spot in the chart of defenders.

Heitinga took the 5th spot in the rating from Barcelona’s Rafael Márquez, who has been sidelined by injury for two months now.

Holland’s two victories in World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Iceland and Norway allowed Heitinga to boost his rating by 96 rating points to 101.83 over all. He now ranks 22nd in the FTBL rating of the world’s best defenders.