Fifa rankings confirm Flames doom, down by four steps to 122
The gloom surrounding the Flames has been confirmed by a four-places slip from position 118 to 122 on the September Fifa/Cola-Cola rankings released on Thursday.
Former interim Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet, who left the country on Wednesday at the end of his tenure, inherited the team when it was ranked 108, but left it 14 places down the ladder.
Under Saintfiet, who won one game and lost four, the 1-0 and 2-0 defeats at the hands of Botswana and Nigeria last week have the Flames moving further away from the desirable top 100-band. Teams ranked in the top 70 are considered world football powerhouses.
In the Cosafa football bloc, Malawi emerged seventh out of 14 teams and remained 33rd in Africa from 54 ranked national teams. South Africa has replaced Zambia as Cosafa’s best team.
Commenting earlier on the general despair surrounding the Flames, football administrator Jimmy Fombe called for a proper football development strategy.
“Malawi’s football lies in the hands of administration. We need to strategise. We are expecting instant results yet investment in football is zero. At some point, we have to accept we have failed the nation and let others come in,” said the ex-Mighty Wanderers vice-general secretary.
Ex-Bata Bullets coach Nsanzwirimo Ramadan, who follows Malawi football with keen interest from South Africa, said attention needs to be paid on grass roots football.
“The major problem is that we forget the grass roots, I mean development which needs investment. We work without long-term plans. So, we treat our national team on short-term basis which becomes like an event,” said the Burundian who also coached MTL Wanderers.
Flames fringe defender George Nyirenda called on football authorities to expose players to international football from Under-17 so that they mature when they get to the national team.
On the rankings, Bafana Bafana are 62nd in the world and 12th in Africa having gone a step down whereas Chipolopolo went 11 places down to 71 on the overall chart and 14th on the continent. Cote d’Ivoire are first in Africa followed by Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria and Mali.
In the world, Cote d’Ivoire are 19th followed by Ghana at 24, Algeria 28th while Nigeria and Mali are ranked 36th and 38th respectively. Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy and Colombia make up the top five in that order, according to Fifa website.
