Panama's day,  on the world stage, Wednesday March 9 was like the old game of snakes and ladders. 

Or,  more pointedly, you win some, you lose some.

On the winning side ( depending on your point of view on mining) Panama’s Fraser Institute ranking as a country ripe for  exploitation climbed  eight points to the number 48 slot.

On the losing side its football ranking (soccer) fell, also by 8 spots.  FIFA  the governing body of the game, released a  ranking of soccer teams worldwide, with  Panama dropping  eight places to 68^th. 

The ranking, of 202 teams, is headed by World Cup champions Spain, followed by the Holland and Germany.

Argentina got the best ranking in the Americas,ousting Brazil from fourth place.

Uruguay remains in seventh place, behind England. Chile is ranked 14. Paraguay, 24 and Mexico 27. Honduras rose one place to 38.