Eto'o's Shirt Costs a Lot of Money

Who knew that obtaining Samuel Eto'o's shirt would cost so much money?

The story begins here: Tanzania lost a hard-fought encounter against Cameroon 2-1 in recent World Cup qualifying. Tanzanian defender Nadir Haroub gave away his jersey to Cameroon star Samuel Eto'o after the game in Yaounde. It's tradition, you know?

The local media praised Haroub and said his performance was the reason Eto'o was keen to swap jerseys with him.

But the Tanzanian Football Federation (TFF) didn't see it that way. TFF bosses were clearly not amused by the gesture and told Haroub that part of his allowance would be used to replace the jersey.

The team's management insisted that Taifa Stars players were not allowed to give away jerseys as the federation could not afford a new set of jerseys for each match.

But following criticism from the media and fans alike, the TFF has backtracked and said the player would not be punished. The decision has been reversed ...

"It's obvious he couldn't say no to Eto'o," said TFF president Leodegar Tenga.

"It was a wise decision to give his jersey to such a famous player. This will make our country known," he added.

A fund-raising drive was already underway with fans donating money to help Haroub meet the cost of replacing the jersey.

MY POV: Times are tough around the world these days. Even the simple football tradition of swapping shirts isn't exempt.

African FIFA Rankings

FIFA have just released their new world ranking table and there are some surprises.

Coming in at first place is newly crowned Euro 2008 champions Spain, who knocked former #1 Argentina off the top with their exceptional performance in Austria/Switzerland.

Argentina had held the top spot since October 2007. This is Spain's first time at the top of the table.

How did our friends in Africa do?

The African table tells an interesting tale.

Cameroon retained their place as Africa's highest ranked side in the latest rankings.

The Indomitable Lions are still ranked at 13 in the world while Ghana, who are second in Africa dropped four places in the overall ranking to the 20th position.

This follows the Black Stars 2-0 defeat at the hands of Gabon in the World Cup qualifiers last month.

There were some big African movers on the global rankings after a month of 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Swaziland leapt 38 places overall and Cape Verde are up from 109th to 85th. Big movers!

But the biggest movers are Burkina Faso (flag above), their 100% record in the 2010 qualifiers so far has taken them from 111th in the world to 64th - a move of 47 places.

Some other countries and their rankings include Angola, who slipped 6 places to 61st, Kenya, who leapt 23 places to 92nd in the world and Sierra Leone, who are now 137th in the world after going up 26 places.

The ranking system is based on international results over the past four years with more points awarded for wins in major tournaments.