Zambia leads the world after African Cup of Nations win
The Global Cup ranking at the end of February 2012 is a concentrated mix of African Football and Winter Sports.
Of the 2847 GSN points awarded so far in 2012, 41% come from the Football African Cup of Nations, in which sixteen countries competed to be crowned the best footballing nation in Africa, and 36% from World Championships in Skeleton, Luge, Bobsleigh and Speed Skating All Round, all held in February.
With Zambia, it’s the first time an African nation leads the Global Cup: this is as much a reflection of Zambian determination in winning the Cup on penalties against odds-on favourites Ivory Coast, as it is a tribute to the international worth of African football.
The Winter Sports countries have battled it out in five World Championships: Bandy, in which Sweden won ahead of Russia and Kazakhstan, Luge, where Germany beat Russia and Italy, Bobsleigh, another one for Germany, ahead of Canada and the USA, Skeleton, won by the USA ahead of Germany and Great Britain, and finally Speed Skating All Round, won by the Netherlands ahead of Canada and Norway.
The overall Winter Sports title for the month of February goes to Germany, with a slim lead over Russia, the US, Sweden and Canada.
The other piece of news is that the USA are only in 7th place overall in the Global Cup. Another of the greats, China, is 8th, chiefly on the strength of their Diving World Cup triumph: they lead the ranking with 3 times as many points of Canada, Russia and the USA.
It’s still early days however: the first two months of 2012 have awarded only 2847 points vs 6162 points at the same time last year. The battle for the Global Cup is still a long way from being over.
