Despite having the might of the Brazilian home crowd behind them the Oceania champions couldn’t overcome the huge gap that separates amateur and professional football. However with Jonathan Tehau’s lone goal against Nigeria, the side did cement their name in the Confederations Cup history books.
New Zealand meanwhile has seen their world ranking increase, moving up two positions to 55th where they sit equal with Honduras and four spots behind Panama – two CONCACAF sides the All Whites could face in their intercontinental play-off for a spot at the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.
Five other OFC sides have seen their world ranking improve with Solomon Islands moving up four positions to 162, Samoa and Tonga have climbed one spot to 187 and 189 respectively. Vanuatu move up one place to join Tonga at 189th while American Samoa is up one spot to 195.
However Fiji, like Tahiti, has seen their stocks plummet as they now find themselves 191 in the world after falling nine positions. Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands have both slipped three places to finish at 197 and 204 respectively.
For more on the world game go to www.fifa.com

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