Brave Warriors move up in world rankings

WINDHOEK, 25 OCT  – Namibia’s senior national football team, the Brave Warriors moved seven places up in the world rankings in the latest International Federation of Football Associations (Fifa) rankings released on Wednesday.
In September, Namibia was ranked 116th in the world and 29th in Africa.
They are now ranked 109th in the world and 26th in Africa.
In the two months under review, the team has played three competitive matches, winning two and drawing one.
The Ricardo Mannetti-led side drew 1-1 with Zambia before beating Mozambique 2-1 in Maputo and winning 1-0 in Windhoek.
They also played a friendly match with Botswana where they lost 1-0, but that was not on a Fifa recognised date.
In Africa, Tunisia remain on top of the rankings, while Belgium lead the global rankings.
Gibraltar are the world’s best movers, jumping eight places to number 190 worldwide.

Mozambique are the worst movers, sliding down nine places to number 122 in the world rankings.
Brave Warriors coach Mannetti on Wednesday said the move up the rankings is a good one for the team as it proves the hard work being put in by the technical team, the players and the association.

“The aim was to be in the top 100 and last year we managed to do that for the first time in more than 15 years. We aim to continue moving up the rankings so that should we qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations 2019, we will get a good seeding and be drawn in a good group,” he said.

From October 2016 until June 2017, Namibia was in the world top 100 teams.
The Brave Warriors will this year play Equatorial Guinea in an Afcon qualifier and Ghana in the Hage Geingob Cup in November.
(NAMPA)