THE HAGUE - Dutch national team coach Bert van Marwijk considers the first ever top spot on the FIFA World Ranking as an honor.

The world governing football body FIFA announced the monthly ranking of August, based on past and present results, on Wednesday.

The Netherlands dethroned European and world champions Spain, who were at the summit of the FIFA Ranking for more than one year. The Dutch profited from Spain's latest defeat in a friendly against Italy (2-1), which cost them valuable points. The friendly of the Netherlands against England was cancelled due to the riots in the UK.

"We are stable at top level," Van Marwijk reacted in the daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. "But I rather would have become World Champions."

Spain dropped to second place, Germany stayed third and England rose to the fourth position (+2). Copa America winner Uruguay became the top ranked South American country on fifth place with Brazil dropping to the sixth position (-4).

'Oranje' became only the seventh team, after Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, to be atop the global ladder. Unlike their predecessors the Netherlands never captured the world title. The Dutch lost the World Cup finals of 1974, 1978 and 2010.

"We can be quite happy that we are on top,"  Van Marwijk added.  "We are talking about the greatest sport in the world and our tiny country is first. It does not explain everything, but it says something about our stability and the level we play. But once again, I'd rather exchange the top position for a world title."

The Dutch will probably not enjoy the first position for a long time. Only if they beat San Marino and Finland in their next Euro 2012 qualifiers and Spain will lose at home against Liechtenstein they will also top the FIFA Ranking in September.