Thursday, January 17 2008

click on pic to zoom in

National Under-18 chess champion Esan Wiltshire returns to Piarco Airport after his surprise victory at the recent tenth annual Junior Orange Bowl Int...

CUBA recaptured the No 1 spot in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) rankings yesterday.

FIFA’s January ratings show the Cubans retaining their Coca- Cola world ranking of 71st while Haiti dipped four places to 73rd in the world, losing the CFU pinnacle position they held in November and December last year.

Cuba, semi-finalists in the 2006-2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup a year ago, last held the CFU No 1 position in October last year.

Eight-time Caribbean Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago retained third in the region and the label as highest rated English-speaking Caribbean side while climbing three places to No 78 on FIFA’s list.

Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, who sank to an all-time low 103rd three months ago, are 98th in the world and stay fourth in the CFU, while Guyana displaced St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) at No 5.

The Guyanese, who defeated SVG 1-0 — on a Gregory Richardson goal — in a friendly international on Sunday, are 129th on FIFA’s list while SVG plunged 29 places — the biggest drop on FIFA’s world list for January — and are now sixth in the CFU.

Barbados, seventh in the CFU, slid 14 places to 142nd in the world in spite of a 3-2 win over Antigua and Barbuda in a home friendly on Sunday.

The CFU’s Top ten is completed by Bermuda, who are 147th in the world and eighth in the region, followed by St Kitts and Nevis (151st) and Suriname (152nd).

St Kitts and Nevis jumped nine places up the FIFA ladder and re-entered the CFU’s Top ten at the expense of Antigua and Barbuda, who dropped five places in the world to 110th. They are now 11th in the region.

Mexico and the USA remain unchallenged as the top teams in CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football.

Ranked 15th in the world, the Mexicans stay No 1 in CONCACAF ahead of the USA (20th), and Honduras are a distant third in the confederation at No 54 on the FIFA list.

Canada (56th) and Panama (64th) are fourth and fifth respectively in CONCACAF, with Costa Rica (69th), Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica completing CONCACAF’s Top-ten.

There is no change among the world’s top teams, with Argentina at No 1, stalked by Brazil and Italy, with Spain fourth and Germany fifth.

CFU Rankings — January 2008

(world ranking in brackets)

1 Cuba (71)

2 Haiti (73)

3 Trinidad & Tobago (78)

4 Jamaica (98)

5 Guyana (129)

6 St Vincent & the Grenadines (130)

7 Barbados (142)

8 Bermuda (147)

9 St Kitts & Nevis (151)

10 Suriname (152)

11 Antigua & Barbuda (156)

12 Dominican Republic (164)

13 Bahamas (174)

14 Grenada (176)

15 Turks & Caicos Islands (179)

15 Netherlands Antilles (179)

17 St Lucia (181)

18 Dominica (188)

19 Cayman Islands (191)

20 British Virgin Islands (193)

21 Puerto Rico (196)

22 Anguilla (198)

23 US Virgin Islands (201)

23 Montserrat (201)

23 Aruba (201)