Fiji football guns for better FIFA ranking September 05, 2008
As the chances of the Fiji Football side qualifying for the 2010 World Cup has proven to be well out of reach, Juan Carlos Buzzetti and his band of warriors plan to enter tomorrow’s qualifier against Vanuatu with the aim to improve its ranking on the world stage.
In the latest FIFA ranking released on Wednesday, Fiji has moved up three places from 146 to 143.
And the Fiji team management wants the national team to move further up the ladder and want nothing less than a win in its remaining matches in of the playoffs, the first of which will be tomorrow followed by the away match against Vanuatu next Wednesday and the home match against New Zealand on November 19.
Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar said the remaining matches will be used to gauge the performance of the younger players that have been given the break on national level with bettering Fiji’s ranking also given a priority.
“Fiji is out of contention but is not down and will field its best lineup in all the remaining matches of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, said Kumar.
“Coach Carlos Buzzetti has lined up his best squad for the two matches against Vanuatu and we are expecting positive results in both the matches as well as that against New Zealand later in the year also.
“We have a relatively young squad and just one overseas based player for the two matches but are confident of our chances.
“I am calling on all Fiji supporters to come out in numbers and wear white and black tomorrow to rally their support to the team on its home ground.
Meanwhile the performance of the Fiji U12 team in Danone Nations Cup and Ba’s participation in the O-League later this year will also act as contributing factors to Fiji’s standing on the FIFA ranking.
Euro champs Spain still maintains its number one spot on the ranking and is followed by Italy and Germany.
Fijilive
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comments on this story
hkhan3
Friday, September 05 2008
The fans lack poignancy when it comes to Fiji soccer team, and therefore, lack deep rooted support. The cause for this, in my opinion, arises from selection biasness, that has been going on forever. Under the auspiciously overwhelming support from FFA (to the extent of neglecting the survival of other districts), Ba always performs well and hence, gets the accolade. This leaves other districts holding the wooden spoon and becoming underlings. The result: anger, disappointment, distrust of FFA and no support for "Fiji team", which really is a bunch on Ba players with FFA's blessings. Anyway, I would still say, best wishes to Fiji team.
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