Before the World Cup Bafana Bafana were sitting in the tiolet of the FIFA world soccer rankings and we abused the crap out of them for playing crap but I can finally say that perhaps we're seeing the latent results of the SWC with the boys moving up the FIFA ranking.
Bafana Bafana have moved up six notches in the Fifa rankings - from 58th position to 52nd - and captain Aaron "Mbazo" Mokoena attributes the improvement to the hard work and sheer dedication of all the players.
"This is wonderful news for South Africa that we are gradually but surely going up the ladder on the Fifa rankings," said Mokoena after Fifa released the latest rankings.
"We have been working hard after laying a solid foundation for the team during the 2010 World Cup. The support we have been getting from the entire country has been incredible and hence the players are striving hard not to disappoint our people.
"Everywhere you go you come across many South Africans proudly wearing the Bafana Bafana jersey and that in itself is inspiration to us as players.
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| Bet he's chuffed |
"We are busy with the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and everything is going according to plans and we are topping our group which has seven-time African champions Egypt.
"For us the most important is for Bafana Bafana to reclaim that respect we earned after winning the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations.
"You will recall that at that time Bafana Bafana were ranked 16th in the world and number one in Africa, that's what we want to see happening again.
"We are working hard to make all South Africans proud, which will also be in line with a pledge by the Safa leadership that Bafana Bafana must be number one in Africa. Forward ever, backward never for Bafana Bafana," said Mokoena.
He said they were geared up for the Mandela Challenge on November 17 against the US at Cape Town Stadium.
Bafana Bafana are unbeaten in three matches under coach Pitso Mosimane. They beat the Black Stars of Ghana 1-0 in a friendly, Niger 2-0 in an Afcon qualifier and played to a goalless draw with Sierra Leone in another qualifier.
Safa chief executive Leslie Sedibe said: "When we took over, one of the first things we promised to do was to better the Bafana Bafana rankings. It is a work in progress and we are happy things are beginning to shape up well for us."
The top 20 rankings for October (September position in parentheses):
• 1. Spain (1).
• 2. Netherlands (2).
• 3. Brazil (4).
• 4. Germany (3).
• 5. Argentina (5).
• 6. England (6).
• 7. Uruguay (7).
• 8. Portugal (8).
• 9. Croatia (11).
• 10. Russia (25) 11. Egypt (9).
• 12. Greece (12).
• 13. Norway (14).
• 14. Chile (10).
• 15. Slovenia (19).
• 16. Italy (13).
• 17. Ghana (20).
• 18. France (27).
• 19. Ivory Coast (23).
• 20. Slovakia (16).
Well done boys, should you drop the ball again rest assured we'll be waiting with all sorts of insults and bashing.
BCM
sowetan
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