Milutinovic

JAMAICA'S NATIONAL men's football team continues to fall down FIFA's world rankings and this month has hit an equal all-time low of 96 - one place below its August mark.

In December 1994 the Jamaica team also dipped to that ignominious mark of 96 before starting its rise up the charts, which peaked with a rating of 27 after its historic appearance at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Since then, it's been pretty much all downhill for the Reggae Boyz, who have been idle since Technical Director 'Bora' Milutinovic took a 22-man squad, comprising Jamaica-based players, on an ill-fated tour to Asia which reaped poor results including an 8-1 walloping against then 45th-ranked Iran.

The Boyz are also in danger of slipping down the CONCACAF rankings and have only held on to eleventh place by a mere three points from St. Vincent and the Grenadines who, at No. 97, are only one position behind Jamaica in the world and CONCACAF standings.

Jamaica has 361 points to SVG's 358. Regional powerhouses Mexico (1,026) and the United States (897) top the CONCACAF standings and are ranked thirteenth and eighteenth in the world respectively.

Highest-rated teams

Trinidad and Tobago are the highest-rated Caribbean team at 64 (477 points) although they slipped one place from their August mark. They are followed by Cuba at 71, Haiti at 88 and then Jamaica.

At the pointy end of the scale, world champions Italy have assumed the No. 1 position with 1,488 points - ahead of South American sides Argentina (1,451) and Brazil (1,444). European countries Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, England and Croatia round out the top 10.

Caribbean rankings

1. Trinidad and Tobago (64), 2. Cuba (71), 3. Haiti (88), 4. JAMAICA (96), 5. St. Vincent and the Grenadines (97), 6. Guyana (103), 7. Barbados (109), 8. Antigua and Barbuda (131), 9. Bermuda (135), 10. Dominican Republic (139), 11. Suriname (143), 12. St. Kitts and Nevis (146), 13. Grenada (162), 14. St. Lucia (163), 15. Bahamas (168), 16. British Virgin Islands (179), 17. Turks and Caicos Islands (181), 18. Netherlands Antilles (182), 19. Dominica (186), 20. Cayman Islands (188), 21. Puerto Rico (195), 22. Anguilla (197), 23. US Virgin Islands (200), 23. Montserrat (200), 23. Aruba (200).