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| Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi |
Nigeria moved up three places in the
latest FIFA rankings released by the world football body on Thursday,
staying at 28th in the world but fourth in Africa.
Keshi told SuperSport, “If
Nigerians are happy with the rise in the rankings, then I am also happy
with that too but to be perfectly honest with you, that’s not what I am
most concerned about.
“I am concerned about providing things that Nigerians will be happy about.”
The team have yet to play any game since
playing a 1-1 draw with Kenya in Calabar in March, a game that did not
help them in the rankings for April as they dropped one place to 31st.
Keshi added, “Right now, I am focused on
the upcoming friendly against Mexico and more importantly, the games
against Namibia and Kenya next month and also, the big one in Brazil
(the FIFA Confederations Cup) where we will meet some of the best teams
in the world. Victories in the matches we will play in the coming days
will make Nigerians happier.
“As for the FIFA rankings, I don’t know
how FIFA determines the positions but like I said, if Nigerians are
happy, then I am too.”
In the latest rankings, Ivory Coast,
Ghana and Mali are still ahead of Nigeria as they occupy the top three
positions in Africa. Algeria (35), Tunisia (41) and Zambia (46) lined up
behind the African champions in the rankings.
Africa Cup of Nations finalists, Burkina
Faso (50), are eight, while South Africa (56) and Equatorial Guinea
complete Africa’s top ten.
Nigeria’s opponents in the World Cup
qualifiers Malawi (109), Kenya (122) and Namibia (125) gained no points
in the latest release thus remaining where they were last month.
Super Eagles opponents in the FIFA
Confederations Cup in Brazil – Spain (1), Uruguay (17) — occupy places
above Nigeria except Tahiti who were 135th in the rankings.
FIFA said only seven matches were played in the last month, all of which were friendlies.
The next ranking will be published on June 6.
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