Nigeria moves up 3 places in FIFA ranking
Nigeria recent successes ar beginning to positively affects its ranking in the world football hierarchy.
Nigeria has moved up to the 33rd position in the latest FIFA global rankings released on Thursday. The Super Eagles gained three spots from last month's ranking following their victory against Ethiopia in Sunday's World Cup first leg play-off in Addis Ababa.
The Super Eagles have been rewarded for their victory in Addis Ababa with an upward move in the FIFA rankings released on yesterday.
The Super Eagles have had a topsy-turvy year rising to 28th position in May but falling down to 36th in September. Their recent victory over Ethiopia has now pushed them up three places on the rankings.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia dropped two spots to finish 95 ahead of their return leg against Nigeria in Calabar next month.
Cote D'Ivoire continue to be the top ranked African side moving up two places to 17 this month. Ghana also moved up one spot to finish in 23rd position while Algeria dropped four spots to finish in 32nd position just ahead of Nigeria.
Spain remain the leading country in the world followed by Germany, Argentina, Colombia and Belgium in the top five.
Meanwhile Falconets Head Coach, Peter Dedevbo, yesterday said he had selected 25 of the 30 players earlier invited for camping in preparation for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Qualifiers.
Dedevbo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the 25 made his final squad selection ahead of their fixture in the opening round of the qualifiers.
The Nigerian under-20 women football team will face Sierra Leone in the qualifiers, with the first leg game on Oct. 26 at the Abuja National Stadium.
“We have just concluded the screening of all the 30 girls who were invited to our camp which opened on Oct. 6.
“Five out of the 30 girls have been dropped ahead of the first leg game against their Sierra Leonean counterparts.
“The five dropped players failed to make the cut for the 25-player squad expected to represent the Falconets in the two legs of the qualifier against Sierra Leone,'' the coach said.
He said the five dropped players were Faith Alex, Mary Ologbosere, Ihuoma Onuegbu, Ugo Njoku and Abosede Kayode.
Dedevbo said the remaining 25 players would be used for the first and return legs of the qualifier, with the second leg slated for Nov. 9 in Freetown.
The coach, however, said he would scout for two or three more players to strengthen the squad after the qualifier against Sierra Leone.
The players picked for the matches against Sierra Leone included Sarah Nnodim, Halimat Ayinde, Patience Okaeme, Jiroro Idike, Kemi Abiodun, Victoria Aidelomon, Winifred Eyevbokia, Fabian Briggs and Bidemi Aluko.
Others are Asisat Oshoala, Cynthia Aku, Uchechi Sunday, Gladys Abasi, Yetunde Adekoyejo, Chidinma Edeji, Amarachi Ojimma, Mabel Michael, Osarenoma Igbinovia, Sandra Chichi and Oluchi Ofoegbu.
The rest are Fasilat Adeyemo, Hauwa Abdullahi, Juliana Duru, Ebere Okoye and Joke Sangonuga.