Warriors slide down Fifa world rankings
By Augustine Hwata
THE Warriors have taken a slight tumble in the latest Fifa/Coca Cola World Football rankings as they fell by one place down the ladder to end the year in their worst ever position since the introduction of the rankings in 1993. According to the rankings released yesterday Zimbabwe will finish the year as the 30th best team in Africa and 119 in the world.
Zimbabwe neither gained nor lost any points during the period under review and have remained on 246 points. The Warriors beat Mozambique 3-1 in an international friendly in Maputo on November 17 but the result has made no positive changes to the team’s position. At the last ranking, Zimbabwe were 118 in the world and 30th in Africa.
In 2009 Zimbabwe finished the year in position 109 while they where 97th at the close of 2008. Zimbabwe went to Christmas as number 87 in 2006 and were 76th in December 2006. In April 1995, Zimbabwe achieved their best ever ranking of 40 in the world and were rated the eighth best team in Africa but they are now a caricature of their former self.
However, the win against the Mambas of Mozambique, who are ranked 25th in Africa meant that Zimbabwe did not make a huge plunge but just managed to keep their place in top 30 in Africa out of the 52 football playing nations on the continent. Zimbabwean players intending to move to major league like England will find it hard to secure a work permit as was the case with Onismo Bhasera because of the poor rating.
In England, a player from outside the European Union will not be considered for a work permit if his national team is ranked outside the top 70. Anything else will require a special dispensation. During the month of September, Zimbabwe were 118 in the world while in August they had been placed at 113. African champions Egypt remain the best team on the continent with 1 078 points and they moved from 10 to position nine in the world.
Ghana are the second best team in Africa and 16th in the world as Cote d’Ivoire (21), Nigeria, (32), Algeria (35) and Cameroon (37) complete the top African slots. The Warriors’ next opponents in the African Cup of Nations Group A qualifier Mali are ranked 13 in Africa and 67 in the world with 488 points. Cape Verde, who held Zimbabwe to a 0-0 draw at the National Sports Stadium in October are 17th and 75th respectively as the other team in the pool Liberia are 43 (163).
World Cup winners Spain with 1 887 points are the top team in the world ahead of Netherlands on 1 723 and Germany are third ahead of Brazil. Meanwhile, the Young Warriors will play neighbours Zambia on the weekend of January 7-9 away in a first leg qualifier for the 2011 All Africa Games. The return fixture will be in two weeks time in Zimbabwe for the Under-23 competition.
The winner of the round will play either Botswana/Swaziland and whoever progresses will meet Angola/Namibia in the next round of the Zone Six qualifiers. The winners will join hosts Mozambique for the All Africa Games finals in Maputo.
