Pascalinah Kabi
MASERU — Lesotho rose to position 160 out of 204 countries on the latest world rankings released by Fifa on Wednesday.
Lesotho was previously on position 161.
On the African continent, Lesotho now lies on position 43 out of the 53 countries.
The modest jump however comes after Likuena were meekly bundled out of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament by unfashionable Sao Tome in January. Lesotho lost 1-0.
Likuena team manager Khiba Mohoanyane said the modest jump should serve as a rude wake-up call to the country.
“Despite climbing a step further, this is a rude wake-up call to us as we should have been in a higher position had we not lost to Sao Tom,” Mohoanyane said on Friday.
He said Likuena management was disappointed that Lesotho had failed to make any meaningful progress in the Fifa rankings.
“It is a worrying factor and we are very much aware that we must start working harder and claim our rightful position in these rankings,” he said.
He said this could only be achieved if Likuena starts winning more games.
“This is a message that we should start winning more games so that we will be able to claim our rightful position,” Mohoanyane said.
“We should be ranked higher than teams like Sao Tome who were lowly placed before we gave them a ladder to climb on,” he said.
Sao Tome, who knocked Lesotho out of the qualifiers, jumped 23 places up to position 115 in the world and 33 in Africa.
Mohoanyane added the Likuena technical team had already drawn a plan of action which would be used for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June this year.
“We have a programme leading to Fifa qualifiers but it is yet to be blessed by the national executive committee,” Mohoanyane said.
Likuena has been drawn against newly crowned African champions Zambia, Ghana and Sudan.
Zambia are in position 41 in the world and fourth in Africa while Ghana are ranked 23rd in the world and third in Africa.
Ivory Coast in the highest ranked African country at position 15 while Spain are the world’s top team after lifting the World Cup at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
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