Fiorentina’s Alessandro Gamberini (pictured right) rose through the ranks to capture the 2nd spot in the FTBL ranking of Italian defenders as the Italians labored hard in front of their home crowd to defeat modest Cyprus (3:2)  in last Wednesday’s World Cup 2010 qualifier: only veteran defender and World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro now stands between Gamberini and the top spot.

Gamberini and Cannavaro played the game without substitution, but contrary to the Juventus man, who failed to make substantial inroads in the ranking, Gamberini earned a solid 11.4 rating points in the FTBL system.

Twenty-eight-year-old Gamberini now has an overall FTBL rating of 83.67 points, while Cannavaro has 95.51 points. Gamberini could close the gap as early as in the next game as is already guaranteed a bonus of 4 rating points, while Cannavaro will have to “defend” 10 rating points.