Warriors down in rankings

THE Brave Warriors continue to slide down the Fifa rankings and are now placed 114th from their previous 101st position in September this year.

According to the latest Fifa rankings released last Friday, Namibia went down largely due to their inactivity on the Fifa allocated international dates.The 1-0 defeat against Zambia during the Cosafa Castle Cup in Zimbabwe on October 25 this year, did not affect their performance on the listings as the competition is not sanctioned by the world football body.In Africa, Namibia also went seven places down between September and November this year.The national side is now placed 29th compared to the 23rd spot it occupied in September this year. Namibia has not qualified for the 2010 African Nations or the World Cup and the Fifa dates appear to be the only matches that can keep them in action.This year, Namibia played only seven games, winning three, drawing three and losing one.Namibia played against Botswana, Liberia, Angola, DRC, Swaziland, a South African Development team and Zambia in their matches for this year. Despite the slim chances of the team seeing any further action this year, Warriors team manager Tim Isaacs said they were hoping to make use of any opportunity that might come their way in the next two to three months.Namibia did not utilise the official Fifa friendly match days of November 16 and 18 and will have to wait until the weekend of March 3 next year to land a match.Isaacs said they were hoping to host at least two African countries that will compete at the African Nations Cup in Angola in from January 10-31.TOP NATIONS COMINGHe said they made contact with countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana for possible friendlies ahead of the continental championship, but nothing concrete has been established yet.’We would like to play those countries as they would prepare for the Nations Cup here at home. We are willing to take them on and it’s just a matter of time before we conclude the deals. These matches will be competitive, but the aim is to give the opposition the chance to prepare themselves for the Nations Cup while it also serve as a learning curve for our young players,’ he said.* Meanwhile, 2010 Fifa World Cup hosts South Africa are ranked 16th on the CAF ranking and 86th in the world, while Angola are placed 19th on the continent and 94th in the world.Cameroon is heading the African ranking, followed by Ivory Coast (2nd), Nigeria (3rd), Algeria (4th), Egypt (5th), Ghana (6th), Mali (7th), Gabon (8th), Burkina Faso (9th) and Benin (10th).The world rankings are headed by Spain, followed by Brazil and Netherlands in third place, while world champions Italy are 4th, Portugal (5th), Germany (6th), France (7th), Argentina (8th), England (9th) and Croatia in 10th place.The next rankings will be announced on December 16. corry@namibian.com.na