The development should come as a major boost for coach Norman Mapeza and his charges ahead of the crunch Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia in Harare next week.

It has been a phenomenal rise for Zimbabwe, who only in April were ranked 129th. But successive victories over Mali and Zambia’s Chipolopolo have boosted the Warriors standing, and things could get even better with another win over Liberia.

Mapeza is hoping the good news would help boost his team’s morale ahead of next week’s tie.

“The good news is a motivating factor for our players and [it]boosts confidence, but we need to work a lot harder because this is a must-win match. While I appreciate that we are now better ranked, we should not get carried away,” he told the media yesterday.

Zimbabwe though are still way off their best ever world ranking of 40 achieved way back in 1995.

By Staff reporter and agencies

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