Villarreal’s 31-year-old Spain international Juan Capdevila (pictured in a red jersey) grabbed the lead in the FTBL Top 23 of the world’s best defenders after Spain beat Iraq 1:0 in the Confed Cup in South Africa to be the first country to qualify for the semi-final in the competition.

Capdevila played the entire game, picking up 15.45 rating points, a huge gain for a defender. His overall rating now stands at 142.64 points, 74.60 of those earned just in his last 5 appearances. The Spaniard has now overtaken Chelsea’s England international John Terry (141.75 points) at the top of the chart.

It is worth noting, though, that Capdevila could lose his newly acquired leadership as early as in the next game if Spain are unable to beat tricky South Africa by a wide margin; he will have a high plank of 19 rating points to beat.