Jimma AbaJifar is EPL’s big surprise

Emerging a strong title contender in its first ever Ethiopian Premier League season Jimma AbaJifar is considered the biggest surprise package of the first round sitting second on the table with 25 points from 15 matches. Beefing up the squad for the second round is already a priority agenda. Though he didn’t have a good record during his time with Trans-Ethiopia, the former Saint George and national team player Gebremedin Haile has done well with AbaJifar steering the side to second place. They have seven wins, four draws and four defeats and have scored eleven goals while conceding only six. It is not only the expertise of Okiki Afolabi’s one man strike force with nine goals in 11 appearances, but also for the strength of the defense.
What makes the story even sweeter is AbaJifar’s bad start with a single win in its first six outings and three consecutive defeats. A historic home win over Ethiopia Bunna in the seventh fixture, it was AbaJifar all the way through the first round with only one defeat on the road to Saint George. Handing strong side Dedebit its first defeat after a 2-0 away victory, the Jimma based outfit appears a force to be reckoned with.
A striker Afolabi from Nigeria, in good form goal keeper Daniel Agyei and a midfielder Aminu Mohammed both from Ghana and a defender SisocoAdama from Mali, the foreign investment appears to have paid off. A little brush-up for the second round and some luck, boss Gebremedin could write a new chapter in his football history book becoming the recent time’s first footballer to win a title both as a player and a coach