FIFA World Rankings: Nigeria remains 40th

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have remained on the 40th spot with 726 points in the May FIFA World Rankings released on Thursday.
According to the rankings table on the website of the world football governing body, Nigeria remained unmoved from the spot it occupied in the April rankings.
The position has also left Nigeria on the 5th spot in the continent behind Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso respectively.
The Super Eagles Media officer, Toyin Ibitoye, reacting to the rankings said it was a reflection of what happened in the month under review.
“The ranking have come again and the Super Eagles were ranked 40th in the World and 5th in Africa, the same position we were as at the last ranking.
“I think it is nothing to worry about. In the month reviewed, nothing happened and there were no friendly games and no official games.
“The new FIFA ranking is a reflection of what happened during the month, but we will continue to do what we are doing to work and prepare the team.
“We are ready for the challenges coming up. Next month will be very busy for us; we will be going to camp for training.
Ibitoye said that the Eagles would concentrate more on the task ahead which were qualifiers for the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“We will concentrate on preparing for the crucial game against Bafana Bafana of South Africa. This will be the qualifiers towards the 2018 Nations Cup.
“But last month’s assessment by FIFA is justifiable because it has been a quiet month for the teams in international front,’’ he said.
On the global scene, it was a quiet month on the international front with only seven games played.
The top 20 places remained static following April, with a one-place drop for Slovakia (24) into accounting for the only movement inside the leading 73 nations.
Bolivia (73, plus 1) brought about that small ripple of motion, but outside the top 100 there were some notable changes.
A pair of wins for Madagascar (111, plus 9) over Malawi (114, minus 14) saw them claim the titles of the month’s biggest movers up and down the table respectively.
Also, South Sudan (146, plus 8) are not far behind after similarly twice seeing off Somalia (206, unchanged).
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on June 1, 2017.