{"id":450768,"date":"2011-06-30T07:29:23","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T07:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/30\/super-warriors-soar\/"},"modified":"2011-06-30T07:29:23","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T07:29:23","slug":"super-warriors-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/30\/super-warriors-soar\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Warriors Soar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Augustine Hwata<\/p>\n

30 June 2011<\/p>\n

\n

Zimbabwe’s Warriors jumped 39 places up the table on the Fifa\/Coca-Cola World Rankings for June with bullish coach Norman Mapeza yesterday saying the journey back to the top table of African football had just begun.<\/p>\n

The Warriors, who beat Mali 2-1 in a Nations Cup qualifier during the month under review, were the best performing side of all the national teams.<\/p>\n

On the last rankings in May, Zimbabwe were ranked 126th in the world, but the Warriors have now risen to 87th place.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe have been making a steady rise since April when they were in 129th place.<\/p>\n

The Warriors now have 380 points and are the 22nd best team in Africa and have made their best move since the introduction of the Fifa\/Coca Cola world rank-ings.<\/p>\n

It’s the first time since January 2009 that Zimbabwe have stormed back into the top 100 when they were ranked in 96th place.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe are tied on points with Benin who dropped seven places.<\/p>\n

Two goals from striker Knowledge Musona at Rufaro on June 5, saw Mapeza’s charges reviving their seemingly faltering campaign in the qualifiers.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe had lost 1-0 to Mali in Bamako in a Group A qualifier after registering a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Cape Verde.<\/p>\n

Cape Verde, who lost 1-0 to Liberia in their last game, are still topping Group A but are ranked lower than Mali.<\/p>\n

Mali are ranked 78th in the world and 19th in Africa with 416 points after dropping two places.<\/p>\n

The Eagles of Mali are just a place above Cape Verde who are 20th, with 397 points, while Liberia are 32nd in Africa and 125th in Africa.<\/p>\n

Warriors’ coach Mapeza said it was important that Zimbabwe continue with their revival.<\/p>\n

“I think we just have to win the next games so that we continue improving on the rankings.<\/p>\n

“It’s good for the nation and it’s good for everyone who is involved in our football if we are making such steady pro-gress,” said Mapeza.<\/p>\n

Mapeza said it was also important for the players who will now stand a stand a better chance to break into the European leagues, like the English Premiership, where the Fifa rankings are also considered.<\/p>\n

“The positive movement is good especially for our players who stand a chance to break into the European leagues.<\/p>\n

“We have to play and win the next game and continue with the revival,” said Mapeza.<\/p>\n

Besides playing Liberia at home, the Warriors will travel to Cape Verde to face the Blue Sharks.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a motivation for us that we have moved a step forward.<\/p>\n

“After the defeat to Mali, people continued working together as a unit and that is what brought us the result in the reverse fixture.<\/p>\n

“It shows that if we work together as a team, we can achieve great things,” said Mapeza.<\/p>\n

The Warriors’ best position on the ran-kings was during the Dream Team era under the late Reinhard Fabisch when they were placed 40th in the world in April 1995.<\/p>\n

Their lowest ranking was in October 2009 at 131st place.<\/p>\n

“I think we had the poor rankings because of those games in Asia but now is the time to work hard and improve again,” said Mapeza.<\/p>\n

Mapeza said he will sit with Zifa and plan ahead for the remaining qualifiers.<\/p>\n

“I had a meeting with Zifa but we still have to meet again after the Cosafa championship,” he said.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe, because of their revival, could start receiving inquiries for competitive friendlies and their next one could be against Bafana Bafana.<\/p>\n

The South Africans were scheduled to play Nigeria but the Super Eagles pulled out, leaving Bafana Bafana in a quandary.<\/p>\n

Cote d’Ivoire, with 922 points, remain the best African team and are now 14th in the world as they climbed seven places.<\/p>\n

The Elephants have scaled new heights, reaching their best position since the introduction of the world rankings while Ghana, on 735 points, are the second best African side.<\/p>\n

Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Algeria and Tunisia complete the top 10 slots in Africa.<\/p>\n

Among the top 10 teams in the world, only leaders Spain and closest challengers The Netherlands, have retained their positions.<\/p>\n

Brazil, third last month, have lost points and are in fifth place while England have moved into fourth behind Germany.<\/p>\n

A total of 131 international “A” mat-ches have been played since the previous edition of the Fifa\/Coca-Cola World Ranking, consisting of 61 friendlies, 22 Gold Cup matches and 48 qualifiers for confederationchampionships.<\/p>\n

This takes the total number of games played this year to 386 and focus now shifts to the Copa America for the next games.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

See original article:
\nSuper Warriors Soar<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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