The
high-riding Banyana Banyana moved from 53 to 51st position. The upward trend
might have been influenced by the 5-0 demolition of neighbours Mozambique and a
credible 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe this month.
The
top five rankings on the continent remain the same with Nigeria (32) leading
the pack followed by Cameroon (48) and Ghana (49). Banyana Banyana remain in
the 4th position followed by 2012 AWC Champions Equatorial Guinea (52).
Banyana
Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza was elated upon receiving the news and said
this was a great stepping stone for his squad to continue building on their
success.
“This
is good for the girls. It is encouraging to see the girls’ achievements being
rewarded. The intention is to continue our rise and break into the top 20 in
the world,” said Mkhonza.
“Our
immediate goal is to break into the top three on the continent because I
believe we are far much better than the fourth place we currently occupy. We
were at the Olympics and reached the finals of the African Women Championships.
I think we are not far off from being among the best on the continent,” he
said.
The
soft-spoken coach expressed appreciation to Banyana Banyana’s number one
sponsors, Sasol for their continued support in helping the squad realise its
goals.
“I
would like to thank Sasol and SAFA for the support they have given to women’s
football in the country as well as our fans for standing behind us. The
continued growth on the rankings should serve up as motivation to the players
to keep working harder and represent the nation with pride,” said Mkhonza.
The
next rankings will be released on Friday, 2 August 2013.
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