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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
A LEADING European-based global football database has ranked Zimbabwe champions Dynamos among the top 10 clubs in Africa and, as a stronger side, in the period under review, than English Premiership sides Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Hull City and Queens Park Rangers.
The Glamour Boys moved three places up the table to sit on 10th place and South African champions, Kaizer Chiefs, who are ranked the sixth most powerful club on the continent, are the only Southern African side ranked higher than DeMbare.

The rankings were updated on Sunday.
Amakhosi chairman Kaizer Motaung yesterday hailed Football Database for tracking and documenting the performance of clubs in the world and said they owed their lofty ranking to their strong start in the South African championship race.

Chiefs have won eight and drawn one of their first nine league matches, while they have also won the MTN8 Cup this season.
“It’s encouraging to see Football Database tracking and documenting the performances of clubs on the African continent,” Motaung, who has just celebrated his 70th birthday, told his club’s official website yesterday.

“So, going forward, one can compare our standard with other countries as well. The ranking also shows the great start our club has had at the start of the PSL season.

“Looking back, the start of this season reminds me of 1984 when Kaizer Chiefs also had a fantastic season, winning four titles, including the league. In that season, Joe Frickleton was our coach, a Scotsman.

“An interesting coincidence is that our present coach, Stuart Baxter, is also a Scotsman.”
Chiefs, who have moved 81 places up the global rankings, now sit in 127th place in the world with 1 561 points.

Interestingly, both Chiefs and Dynamos, who are the most successful and most supported football clubs in South Africa and Zimbabwe, also share the same nickname as they are affectionately known as the Glamour Boys by their fans.

DeMbare have won the domestic league championship three times in a row, under their coach Callisto Pasuwa, and are odds-on favourites for a fourth straight title this season and are ranked the 202nd most powerful football club in the world with 1 516 points.

Four-time African champions, TP Mazembe, who were knocked out of the semi-finals of this year’s CAF Champions League, are ranked the top African side while their Congolese rivals, AS Vita, who knocked DeMbare on their way to the final of the continent’s premier inter-club showcase this year, are ranked third in Africa.

Sudanese giants Al Merreikh are ranked the second most powerful team on the continent while their bitter rivals, Al Hilal, are in fifth place with Moroccan side, Raja Casablanca, in fourth place.

Tunisian giants Esperance (seventh), Cotonsport of Cameroon (eighth), Etoile du Sahhel of Tunisia (ninth) and Dynamos make the top teams in Africa.

DeMbare, runners-up in the CAF Champions League in 1998, Al Merreikh, runners-up in the old CAF Cup of Cup Winners in 1989, Al Hilal, runners-up in the old CAF Cup of Club Champions, Cotonsport, runners-up in the 2008 CAF Champions League and Chiefs, winners of the old CAF African Cup of Cup Winners are the five of the clubs, in the top 10 sides on the continent, who are yet to be crowned champions of Africa.

Mazembe are four-time African champions, AS Vita were African champions in 1973, Raja Casablanca are three-time Africans champions in ’89, ’97, ’99, Esperance have been champions of Africa twice and Etoile du Sahel were champions of Africa in 2007.

Dynamos and Highlanders are the only two Zimbabwean sides who are ranked in the world top 500, according to the list released by Football Database, which calls itself the greatest source of football data in the world.

Bosso are ranked in 406th place, in the world, with 1 454 points, having dropped 59 places down the ladder from the last time the rankings were published, and are ranked as a stronger football side than QPR, who are in 577th place.

FC Platinum are ranked as the third strongest Zimbabwean football club, in 529th place, with 1 412 points, having gained six places up the table, while four-time Zimbabwe league champions CAPS United, widely considered as the third biggest football team in the country, are ranked in fourth place by Football Database.

The Green Machine, who are chasing their first league title in nine years and are in a very strong position, dropped 47 places down the table, which enabled FC Platinum to take over third place in the country, with CAPS United having in 533rd place, on 1 411 points, a point less than the platinum miners.

Motor Action, winners of the domestic league title in 2010 who disbanded after being relegated from the Premiership last year, are still ranked on the global charts although their inactivity means that they have crashed 73 places down the table, as other active clubs take over, in 606th place with 1 394 points.

Chicken Inn find themselves 100 places below Motor Action, having dropped five places down the rankings, and are ranked in 706th place, in the world, with 1 376 points while another defunct club, Monomotapa, are in 824th place, with 1 353 points, but their inactivity has seen them plunge 114 places down the table.

European champions Real Madrid lead the global rankings with 2 023 points, up from second place since the release of the last rankings, while German giants, Bayern Munich, regarded by some as the best club in the world, have dropped one place into second place with 1 986 points.

Italian giants Juventus are in third place with 1 938 points, Barcelona (fourth), with 1 928 points, Chelsea (fifth), with 1 924 points, Manchester City (sixth), with 1 914 points, Atletico Madrid (seventh), with 1 878 points, PSG (eighth), with 1 869 points, Roma (ninth), with 1 826 points, and Liverpool, with 1 812 points, complete the top 10 in the world.

Africa’s Top 10 Ranked Football Clubs
1.     TP Mazembe – DRC
2.     Al-Merreikh – Sudan
3.     AS Vita – DRC
4.     Raja Casablanca – Morocco
5.     Al Hilal Omdurman – Sudan
6.     Kaizer Chiefs – South Africa
7.     Esperance – Tunisia
8.     Cotonsport – Cameroon
9.     Etoile du Sahel – Tunisia
10.   DYNAMOS – Zimbabwe