Villaflor: Sitting with the Top 100
WITHOUT playing a single match, the Philippine National Men’s Football Team climbed up its highest FIFA ranking ever at 111, two spots up from its previous best a month ago.
The ranking, announced a few days ago, will probably stir debate anew among Asean federations. Consider that Thailand is the reigning Southeast Asian champions, and yet Vietnam (102, is the top-ranked Asean country, followed by the Philippines. Thailand, ranked 122 and unchanged, is 20 rungs lower than Vietnam and yet it remains the team to beat in the region.
The other traditional Asean powerhouses don’t even make it to the top 170, but there’s no arguing that Malaysia (171), Singapore (172) and Indonesia (164) can beat any of its higher-ranked neighbors on any given day. Still the ranking offers a hierarchy, and nothing like hierarchies fire up the competitive spirit among teams and individuals. For the more salient aspects of the ranking, points earned are based on match results, strength of opposition and the confederation it belongs, and importance of the international match.
The FIFA fact sheet states: “The basic logic of these calculations is simple: any team that does well in world football wins points, which enable it to climb the world ranking.”
But why do teams climb or fall in the rankings even if no game was played? FIFA’s answer in its frequently asked questions page isn’t really one: “The longer it is since a match was played, the less important it becomes for the ranking. This continues until, after four years, the match no longer has any impact on the calculation of the ranking. As a result, it is possible for teams to climb or fall in the ranking even if they have not played.”
Okay. I don’t get it. So I’ll leave it at that and just accept that team ranking, including our very own Azkals, will rise and fall. Besides, it is only the Azkals -- the players, the coaching staff and management -- who can actually do something about their ranking.
It is a chance they will get when they play in international friendlies in a few months. One team that has extended an invitation for a friendly is Bahrain, which although ranks lower at 116 than the Philippines, has an average position of 99 since the FIFA ranking was created.
The Middle Eastern nation peaked in 2004 when it ranked 49 in the world, which means this team has pedigree and should test the Azkals if its slated friendly on September 11 pushes through.
Another team that Azkals management is hoping to play against in a friendly in October is Australia. Ranked 40, the Socceroos will probably put the Azkals in their right place, but the match will offer a serious challenge as to how much improvement the Azkals need to have a realistic chance against Asia’s big boys.
These friendlies will prepare the Azkals mentally for the Big One, the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in January. A decent result against Asian powerhouse Australia and a convincing win against Bahrain will also give them a confidence boost as they battle Southeast Asia’s toughest in the 2018 Suzuki Cup starting this November. And yes, positive results from these friendlies will help the Azkals’ cause of finally joining FIFA’s Top 100 Club.