Eagles move up in FIFA rankings
By Adekunle Salami, Published: Thursday, 29 Apr 2010



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With just 42 days to the kick off of the 2010 World Cup, Nigeria moved up two places in the current world football rakings released by the Federation of International Football Association on Wednesday in Zurich. The country, placed 22 last month but was ranked 20 in the new rankings.



The rankings also revealed that Nigeria is 3rd in Africa with a total of 883 points. The country did not earn any point this term. Egypt remains number one in Africa and 13 in the world with 967 points while Cameroon is second and 19th in the world with 887 points.



Cote d‘Ivoire, Algeria and Ghana are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively on the continent and 27th, 31st and 32nd in the world. Gabon, Burkina Faso, Mali and Tunisia are the other countries in Africa‘s top 10 rankings.



The Super Eagles did not play any match in the month under review but the few games played by other teams helped Nigeria to move up in the global football ladder.



According to FIFA, only five matches were used for the current rankings because leagues all over the world were on their final lap. There was no FIFA match free day for international games in the month under review.



Argentina, Nigeria‘s Group B opponent at the World Cup moved up two places to claim the seventh position in the rankings while Greece is 12th despite dropping one place on the ladder.



Another opponent of the Eagles, Korea Republic is ranked 47 after moving up two places on the ladder.



However, Spain‘s five-month reign came to end on top with Brazil reclaiming the number one position and pushing the reigning European champions back into second place.



150 international matches have been played so far in 2010. There is likely to be significant movement in next month‘s edition of the rankings, the last before the big event in South Africa , as the 32 teams start their preparations in earnest by playing friendly matches to decide on their best line-up.



http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100429015178

they are coming up gradually. the best the eagles expect from us is support lets do that pls,