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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Warriors continued to slide down the Fifa/Coca-Cola World Rankings after dropping four places on the world stage from 102 to 106, according to the latest rankings released by Fifa from its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, yesterday. On the African continent, the Ian “Dibango” Gorowa coached side dropped from 27 to 29, largely due to their 0-0 draw with lowly Tanzania last week.
With Tanzania ranked 38 in Africa and 129 on the world stage before their international friendly encounter with a hastily arranged Zimbabwe side, the draw enhanced their rankings both in Africa and on the world stage since they were ranked lower than the Warriors.
They are now ranked 124 in the world and 27 on the African continent just two places off Zimbabwe.
There is no team from the Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa) in the African Top 10 bracket with the African Nations Cup hosts, South Africa, the best ranked Cosafa side at 11th in Africa.
Cote d’Ivoire are still the best team in Africa, followed by fellow World Cup 2012 participants Ghana, Algeria and Nigeria.
To avoid the embarrassment of ending the year outside the Top 100 bracket on the world stage, Zimbabwe now needs to win their next friendly match, set to be against 120th ranked Mozambique but a defeat to the Os Mambas would see the Warriors sliding further down and going to the Chan finals in South Africa as the worst ranked side.
The basic logic of these calculations is simple: any team that does well in world football wins points which enable it to climb the world rankings.
Online Reporter