By Fredrick Nadulli aka Razor,
Member countries of Cecafa had varied feelings as world football governing body FIFA released its global rankings.Kenya,knocked out of the running for a place in the nations cup next January,dropped five places to position 116.
The Harambee Stars recently lost in an international friendly away to Morocco.Uganda,still alive in the qualifiers,dropped by the same number of places.They now lie 84th and rank highest in the region.The fall of the Cranes may be attributed to their back to back losses against the Hawks of Togo,who beat them in Kampala and Lome respectively.
Rwanda,chucked overboard by CAF for fielding an ineligible player in Dadi Birori,paid the ultimate price by falling two places,from 93 to 95.Newest entrants South Sudan lie at 186 globally,a step down.Tanzania meanwhile rose five places to 110,while Burundi went up two to stay at 128.
AFCON QUALIFIERS
Besides Uganda who carry the regional flag in the Afcon qualifiers,Ethiopia and Sudan both recorded massive climbs up the charts.Sudan went up 26 places to settle at 107,their unprecedented win against African champions Nigeria in Khartoum undoubtedly playing a major part.
Ethiopia Walia Ibex of Ethiopia,somewhat struggling to get their groove back after some classy perfomances in the recent past,occupy position 111,a huge climb from their last ranking at 132.The win against Mali almost certainly a catalyst of that rise.
REST OF AFRICA / WORLD
The Desert Foxes of Algeria sit pretty at the African summit with 989 points.Trailing them is the Ivory Coast,Tunisia,Cape Verde,Ghana,Egypt,Cameroon,Senegal,Nigeria and Togo.
World champions Germany still rule the global roost with 1669 points.Completing the top 10 are Argentina,Colombia,Belgium,Netherlands,Brazil,France,Uruguay,Portugal and Spain.Former world cup winners Italy pull up at 11th.
