Hello all, the latest world soccer (football) rankings are out and the most active have undoubtedly benefited! The competitors of the African Cup of Nations (ACN) have largely improved their positions in the international hierarchy while World Cup qualification has been good for everyone except the United States! Winners of the ACN, Nigeria, moved to 30th in the world after their victory over Burkina Faso in the Final of the tournament. Having said that, the team from Burkina Faso secured 55th position which - while not surpassing their highest achievement of 37th in 2010 - is a tremendous position for the side. Perhaps on the less deserved side, hosts South Africa did still move up in the rankings, going to 60th. Additionally, the Ivory Coast took 12th position: their peak since the awards were given beginning in 1993. As for those who advanced due to their World Cup qualifying and other exploits, England moved into the top 5 (4th to be precise) after a stunning victory over the juggernaut that is Brazil (who remain in 18th position). While Jamaica advanced to 56th overall after drawing with heavily favored Mexico, the U.S. fell to 32nd as Costa Rica and Honduras approached the top 50. Two teams that consolidated their positions in that mile-high club include Panama (in 42nd) and Venezuela (in 45th)! Further up, Italy and Colombia fell to 5th and 6th respectively as Portugal and Croatia moved up to 6th and 9th. Last but not least, there was no change in the top 3 as Spain and Germany occupy 1st and 2nd convincingly while Argentina holds 3rd a little less securely.
Moving on to the latest Champions League action now, Celtic were ceremonially slaughtered by Juventus at home by a 0-3 margin beginning with when Alessandro Matri slotted home in the 3rd minute. While Celtic brought pressure to bear in an effort to equalize for the rest of the 1st half and much of the 2nd, the Italian giants went on to strike twice more - through Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic - in the 77th and 83rd minutes respectively. Meanwhile, in Spain the hosts Valencia only saw a bit of goodness in a match largely dominated by the French visitors PSG. Echoing France's recent military successes, the Parisian side struck early and often through Ezequeil Lavezzi and Javier Pastore in the 10th and 43rd minutes. Nevertheless, PSG's dominance tapered off by the end which allowed Adil Rami to give Valencia a chance in the second leg with only a one goal deficit. As for the game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund, the Ukrainian hosts illustrated once more the difficulty of away sides to attain victory in Eastern Europe. Taking the lead around the halfway point of the first half, Donetsk wasn't good on through the intermission: Robert Lewandowski equalized Darijo Srna's 31st minute goal with one of his own 10 minutes later. On to the second half where Douglas Costa performed admirably to make a 68th minute goal though the Donetsk defenders could not stop Dortmund's equalizer. Coming up from the back, Mats Hummels saved the German side's skin with an 87th minute header that ended the game at 2-2. Of course, one of the largest match-ups of the day - between Real Madrid and Manchester United - also ended even despite a spirited performance by the visitors. Danny Welbeck's 20th minute strike could have set a remarkable tone for the game though Cristiano Ronaldo equalized just 10 minutes later. Of interest for the next leg: Madrid dominated the efforts tally while United had a monopoly over the disciplinary account! Don't forget the upcoming fixtures between Galatasaray and Schalke; Porto v.s. Malaga; Arsenal against Bayern; and obviously Milan and Barca!
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