Warriors move up

NAMIBIA’S Brave Warriors have moved up four positions to 109th in the world, according to the latest Fifa rankings released on Wednesday.
The Brave Warriors have moved up to 28th position on the African continent and sixth in the SADC region.

They have also overtaken regional rivals like the DRC who dropped four places down to 111, Zimbabwe who dropped eight places to 117, and Kenya who dropped a massive 14 places to 112.Warriors coach Tom Saintfiet says he is delighted with the team’s new position, but would however like to see them ranked in the top 100 bracket. This he says should be achieved through results from the upcoming matches. ‘That’s a nice move. It would be better if we can move into the top 100. We are looking forward to the next matches, maybe we can move into the top 100 positions on the rankings,’ he said.Meanwhile the 25-man preliminary Warriors squad that was expected to be named yesterday, to face world cup host South Africa, will only be named on Monday at NFA Soccer House. Zambia are the top ranked nation in the SADC region after moving up 11 places to 73rd in the world and 14th in Africa.South Africa climbed four positions to 81st in the world, 16th in Africa and second in SADC, while Malawi were the biggest climbers in Africa, moving up 17 positions to 82nd in the world, 17th in Africa and third in SADC.Mozambique dropped 10 places to 82nd in the world, 18th in Africa and fourth in SADC, while Angola climbed seven positions to 88th in the world, 19th in Africa and fifth in SADC.Egypt, who were crowned the African champions for a third successive time after beating Ghana in the AFCON 2010 final last Sunday, were one of the biggest movers in Africa. They climbed 14 positions to 10th in the world and first in Africa, overtaking Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria on the continent.It was the first time that Egypt had broken into the top 10 in the world, with their previous highest ranking being 15th in January 2009.Nigeria climbed seven positions to 15th in the world and second in Africa, while Ghana also climbed seven positions to 27th in the world and fifth in Africa.Cameroon dropped nine places to 20th in the world and third in Africa, while the Ivory Coast dropped six positions to 22nd in the world and fourth in Africa.The biggest climbers in Africa were Gambia (up 18 positions to 98th in the world), Malawi (up 17 positions) and Egypt (up 14 positions), while the biggest losers in Africa were Guinea (down 17 positions to 90th in the world), Kenya (down 14 positions) and Mozambique (down 10 positions).Spain are the top-ranked nation, followed by Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal. Germany is next, followed by France, Argentina, England and Egypt. www.namibiasport.com.na