Barcelona skipper Carles Puyol (pictured) could use Spain’s World Cup 2010 qualifier against lowly Armenia on Saturday to try and overtake Chelsea’s John Terry and Ashley Cole in the FTBL World Ranking of defenders.

Brazil’s Dani Alves is the world's best defender at the moment, with an overall FTBL rating of 137.45 points, and it look unlikely he will slip and give any rival a chance to outflank him when Brazil take on Bolivia in their qualifier on Sunday.

Cole, Terry, and Puyol, in the meantime, are crowded behind Alves with ratings between 127 and 128 points, waiting for an opening. The plank for Terry and Cole in England’s qualifier against Ukraine will amount to approximately 13 rating points, giving Puyol a good chance to edge past them as he will have to clear a bar of just 8.5 points against the very modest Armenia.