Zebras up one place in FIFA rankings
Mqondisi Dube | Friday January 9, 2015 12:48
Peter Butler’s charges were in position 107 in December’s rankings after a barren run in Africa Cup of Nations group stage qualifiers, which saw the team fail to register a win in six outings.
But in rankings released yesterday, the Zebras were placed one place above neighbours Zimbabwe with 308 points.
On the continent, the Zebras are ranked 29th just below Tanzania.
The Zebras endured a tough AFCON campaign, managing only a solitary point in the group stages after being grouped with giants, Tunisia, Senegal and Egypt. They failed to qualify for this month’s AFCON finals, which kick off next weekend in Equatorial Guinea.
World champions, Germany, remain the top ranked team in the world, while Algeria, favoured to win the AFCON, are number one in Africa. Algeria is ranked 18th in the world.
Meanwhile, the Zebras face a less demanding 2015 with two only two tournaments, the COSAFA Senior Challenge and the 2016 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers to focus on. South Africa will host the COSAFA Challenge while Rwanda will organise the 2016 CHAN edition.
It will be a stern test for Butler, who has been told by the Botswana Football Association (BFA) to reach the semi-finals of the regional tournament and also qualify for the CHAN finals. Butler replaced Stanley Tshosane in February last year. Tshosane remains the only coach to take the Zebras to the AFCON finals, achieving the feat in 2012.