The Bafana Bafana slide continues unabated — with the Fifa rankings announced on Wednesday plummeting South Africa still further to 48th position in the world and eighth on the African continent.
The previous Fifa rankings in October had Bafana 46th in the world and seventh in Africa — which reflected the ongoing decline from the 17th world ranking achieved after Bafana Bafana won the African Nations Cup in 1996.
African nations now ranked higher than South Africa are Cameroon (22nd), Nigeria (25th), Tunisia (28th), Senegal (30th), Egypt (33rd), Morocco (35th) and Côte d’Ivoire (41st).
Nine games without a victory have materially affected Bafana’s position and eroded South Africa’s standing in world soccer.
And the coaching crisis following the recent resignation of British-born Stuart Baxter has not helped matters either.
Now, with South Africa out of the 2006 World Cup and urgently needing to improve the current rating before hosting the 2010 World Cup, every game in the forthcoming African Nations Cup in Egypt takes on a special significance.
A significant rise in the Fifa rankings, which continue to be headed comfortably by world champions Brazil, is that of the Czech Republic, who have moved into second position — followed by The Netherlands, Argentina and France. — Sapa