SIHLANGU 2ND IN COSAFA

MBABANE – Sihlangu are celebrating a record world ranking without even kicking a ball in the last seven months and four days.

Standings released by FIFA yesterday saw the national side occupying the 88th spot in the world and second position in the region (COSAFA); the country’s highest rating ever.

The October 1993 record of 92, which stood for close to 24 years, eventually tumbled yesterday.
 After stuttering on the world soccer governing body’s charts for over two decades,  Sihlangu moved up 10 places to achieve what looked improbable five years ago when they were on  the 190th spot out of 206 football nations.

The national outfit, with 378 points, are now second in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) standings behind reigning regional champions, South Africa. There are 14 countries in the region and they include heavyweights, Zimbabwe, and 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) surprise winners, Zambia.

It seems the gamble by the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) to keep the team inactive for over half a year has paid off. The basic logic is that a team that does well in world football wins points, which enables it to climb the ranking. However, in Sihlangu’s case, the inactivity ensured the team did not lose points, and places following the resurgence in 2016 headlined by the winning of a COSAFA Cup bronze medal.

According to FIFA, an average of points gained in every match over the last four years is taken into consideration, something which has partly resulted in the country’s current tally.

Sihlangu’s last game was the decisive AFCON qualifier away in Blantyre, Malawi on September 4 last year. After an impressive qualifying campaign, Malawi won the game by a solitary goal to end Swaziland’s hopes of reaching the AFCON finals in Gabon in January this year for the first time.

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