According to the latest rankings released by the world football governing body from Switzerland last week, the Warriors are now ranked the 109th best national team. The team fell a rung down from the previous rankings owing to a lackluster performance at the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Challenge in Kenya early this month. Last month, Zimbabwes successful COSAFA Senior Challenge campaign had seen them shoot to sixth in the Southern African region and moved them up 23 places in the world rankings to number 108.
The Warriors slide in recent months has been attributed to the failure to qualify for next years African Nations Cup and the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which fellow Southern African nations Angola and South Africa will host respectively. Zimbabwe will watch the tournaments from home after an embarrassing qualification campaign that cost Brazilian-born coach Jorge Valinhos his job earlier this year. However, the Warriors fortunes appeared to have changed for the better earlier this month when they won a record fourth COSAFA Senior Challenge title after defeating Zambia 3-1 in the final in Harare. But their bubble was bust in the CECAFA Challenge where they participated as guests.
At its peak in 1994 the team was ranked 40th in the world. Meanwhile, there was no change at the top with Spain continuing to lead the way ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands. The Spaniards once again took the crown of Team of the Year, as their surprise defeat to the USA at the FIFA Confederations Cup was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record in the 16 matches they played.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News