Bafana climb in FIFA rankings
Bafana Bafana continued their impressive run in the FIFA world rankings released on Thursday, moving up six places.
The move was triggered by an impressive run in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers where Bafana finished the campaign unbeaten.
The latest move sees the SA national team move from 57th to 51st in the world.
They now lie 11th on the continent.
Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba said the rankings were important in highlighting the team’s progress. Mashaba took over as new national coach in August and has since turned the national team into a force to be reckoned with.
“I am very impressed by this progress but I believe we still have a long way to go. Gradually we will get to where we want to take this team to. There is a lot of talent and will; and those two are catalysts for sustainable success,” said Mashaba.
A total of 150 new 'A' international matches have been taken into account for the November Edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, bringing the total number of matches evaluated in 2014 to 817.
Sixty-one of these matches were part of continental qualifiers in Europe, Africa and the CONCACAF region, with the other 89 being friendly matches.
An impressive qualifying campaign saw Bafana rack up 12 points in six matches.
Bafana are currently in camp preparing for the 2014 Nelson Mandela Challenge against Ivory Coast scheduled for Sunday at Mbombela Stadium. Kickoff is at 15h00.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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