Flying Warriors

after Zimbabwe galloped another 12 places up the ladder of the Fifa/Coca-Cola rankings, to move into 74th place on the global table.
The Warriors powered to their highest position, on the world rankings, since January 2007, when they were ranked 72nd on the globe, and they have returned into the light after the dark days when they were struggling in 129th place just four months ago.

The senior national football team was in 110th place when Mapeza took over as coach and, after a difficult period at the beginning where a loss to Mali and a draw against Cape Verde rocked his boat, they slipped into 129th place in April this year.
That was just two places better than their worst ranking of 131st place, in the world in October 2009, and amid all the gloom that followed the loss in Mali, a number of people started to question

Mapeza’s capacity to lead the Warriors to greatness.
But times have been changing and a 2-1 win over Mali at Rufaro set the stage for the Warriors’ recovery and, when they followed it up with a deserved 2-0 victory over Zambia in an international friendly at the same venue, the tide had turned.
So, in terms of actual number of places gained since Mapeza became the Warriors’ coach last year, the Warriors have moved 36 places up the world rankings.

Zimbabwe were the biggest movers, among the African countries ranked in the world top 100, in the month under review after gaining 12 places up the table while Cape Verde, who are in our 2012 Nations Cup qualifying group, were second after gaining 10 places.
Algeria were third, after they moved six places up, with Nigeria fourth after gaining five places up the table.
Cote d’Ivoire leads the African rankings, with Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso occupying the top five places while Zimbabwe moved into 17th place on the continent.

The Warriors overtook Botswana (78th), who were 68th in the world when Zimbabwe were out of the top 100 four months ago, and Fifa now also ranks us as a more powerful football nation than our bitter rivals Zambia (18th in Africa and 76th in the world).

Zimbabwe is also ranked better than Mali, who slipped into 21st place in Africa and 81st in the world, in the latest rankings while Liberia, who will take on the Warriors at the National Sports Stadium on September 4, are ranked 31st in Africa and 123rd in the world.
The Warriors are just three places lower than Guinea (14th in Africa) and seeded team Egypt (2nd in Africa) but are ranked better than Mozambique (26th) and Comoros (40th), who will engage in a play-off for the right to join Group H of the 2014 World Cup Africa Zone qualifiers.

Mapeza said there was need not only to consolidate the gains made in the past few months but to also battle long and hard to ensure that the Warriors give it their best possible shot in their campaign to reach the 2012 Nations Cup finals and to keep rising on the table.
The youthful coach, who captained the Warriors at the turn of the millennium, before following joining the exclusive club of Sunday and Misheck Chidzambwa – which features men who skippered and coached the national team – said his target was a top 10 place in Africa and a top 50 position in the world.

“It’s encouraging that we keep doing well on the world rankings because that means some people are noticing the hard work that we are putting into the team,” said Mapeza.
“There has been a lot of sacrifices from the technical staff, the players and a lot of other people who have been working behind the scenes to get us to where we are today.
“I have always felt that as Zimbabwe we should always be in the top 10 in Africa and we should always be in the top 50 on the world rankings and that is what we are working on to try and achieve.

“We have an exciting group of players who are determined to succeed and I feel that, if we work together as a nation, the sky is the limit in terms of what we can achieve in football.”
Mapeza knows that the prize the fans really want right now is a return to the Nations Cup finals, six years after our last dance with the cream of the continent, and that will possibly need his men to beat Liberia at home and Cape Verde in their backyard in their final two matches.

The Warriors could also automatically qualify by winning against Liberia, and holding out to a draw in Cape Verde, provided the Atlantic Ocean islanders lose in Mali next weekend and the Eagles fail to win in Liberia in their final group game.
Mapeza and his men would have been in total control of their destiny had they beaten Cape Verde at home last year but a frustrating goalless draw, against a background of fierce internal fights within the football leadership over who should be national coach, derailed their campaign.

The Warriors return to the National Sports Stadium, the scene of their goalless draw against Cape Verde, for the tie against Liberia next weekend.
Zimbabwe were ranked 49th in the world when they played at their first Nations Cup finals in Tunisia in 2004 and were ranked 53rd on the globe when they returned to their second Nations Cup show in Egypt in 2006.

The highest ranking for the Warriors was when they were ranked 40th in the world in April 1995 during the good days of the Dream Team.