The Ethiopian national football team a.k.a. walia’s, challenged the defending champions Zambia in a Group C match on Monday, breaking 31 years of failing to qualify for the finals of the African cup of nations tournament. Hopes were so high on Monday that even the embassy in Pretoria shut for the day so staff could go to Mbombela and support their team.
The Walias showed good football. If it weren’t for a missed penalty and many near-goal misses, they had a chance to
The Walias has made their first game after 31 years in the African Cup of Nations with Zambia and managed to get a draw, despite the fact that it was playing with ten men.
Courtesy to Jemal Tassew, the goalkeeper, sent off for his now trademark murder attempt.
I am sure many remember his infamous but unnoticed comment that he “planned to keep him out”.
What was he talking about? His attempt to crush the Sudanese striker in which he himself got hurt at a qualifying match against Sudan.
Is it too much to hope his injury, this time, kept him out of pitch for long before he hurts the team and another human being.
The unnecessary yellow cards showed a concerning deficit of discipline which should be corrected if we wish to keep our best for 11 more games.
“I’m happy as we missed a penalty and drew. This is our first experience after 31 years so, as you see, it was fantastic for our football,” Coach Sewnet Bishaw told reporters.
“The players have shown their characters, and shown the rest of the world they can play football.
Coach Herve Renard of Zambia admitted his team were fortunate not to lose following a disappointing display. He told reporters: “First of all I would like to congratulate Ethiopia for a very good performance.
“I’m not surprised — I said be careful of this team, they are able to play very good football. “Today, we have to thank our goalkeeper — without Kennedy Mweene it could have been a very, very bad result.
All in all it was a good result. Lets hope the team get more confidence in going forward.
Leave a Comment