With the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying second round group match against Sierra Leone in just six weeks, the newly appointed Ethiopian national team Coach Abraham Mebratu remarked that he is not having a problem selecting players because he has been following the recent league season closely.
“Being a CAF Coaching Instructor I know a lot about the Ethiopian Premier League and am lucky to have Sewnet Bishaw beside me, for he is someone to depend on,” Abraham stated at a press conference held in Capital Hotel on Tuesday.
Coming back from a decade stay in Yemen Football, Abraham has now been bestowed the responsibility of reviving an Ethiopian national team that had been forgotten over the past eight months. A long vacant hot seat, a newly elected EFF executive body, a recently closed league season and above all footballers wondering around, many suggests Abraham has a high hill to mount and a short time to build a strong national squad. The qualifying matches for the Nations Cup in Sierra Leone are on September 23, 2018 followed by a home match against Kenya on October 5, then a return leg in Nairobi after four days.
Luckily, Abraham was handed no ultimatum unlike his predecessors; Yohannes Sahle, Gebremedin Haile and Ashenafi Bekele. He promised nothing and is therefore free of any pressure from the Federation. “It is not all about the 2019 Cameroon qualification but our main goal is about building a strong national team for the 2020 CHAN Championship stages,” EFF president Essayas Jirra told the conference.
Abraham’s short term plan is to select three players in each position and then select the final 23 players to be ready for the qualification matches.
Newly appointed Waliya boss Abraham at ease and confident
Gebremedin leaves champions to take over Mekele
Bagging his first ever Ethiopian Premier League title with this season’s surprise package Jimma AbaJifar, head coach Gebremedin Haile flew to Tigrai region to look for a new adventure with last season’s strong side Mekele. The Champions AbaJifar is to start rebuilding because a number of its key players migrated to the Tigrai region following their boss. “I wonder why he left the side that he built from the scratch to a miraculous championship title. It is amazing even leading AbaJIfar into the 2018/19 African Champions League didn’t interest him,” Admassu Assefa said.
Although it is a rare case that champion coaches leave their teams, Gebre may be looking for a new adventure with Mekele famous for huge home support and a lavish stadium. In addition to securing a lucrative new contract with Mekele, a number of his squad members who played a huge role in helping AbaJifar to dream championship are on their way to Mekele after signing new contracts.
The 2015 African Nations Cup veteran Seyoum Tesfaye from Dedebit, former national team defender Elias Biyadgelegn from Woldya, winger Samuel Saliso and midfielder Yared Hassen from Woldya, Ghanaian midfielder Gabriel Ahmed, and the midfield duos from champions AbaJifar: Yonas Germew and Amin Nesru are the star player that have reached Mekele. They also have extended the much appreciated Guinean goalie Philip Avono’s contract for another season.
After signing his handpicked players while others are playing hide and seek with the players’ transfer market jokers’ and fat pocketed middle-men, it appears that Gebremedin could quite achieve a new adventure and retain the title with a new team.
Tirunesh heads high quality women’s field for Berlin Marathon
Multiple world and Olympic gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba leads the elite women’s field for the BMW Berlin Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on 16 September.
The 32-year-old Ethiopian, who has three Olympic gold medals and nine world titles on the track and cross country, has a marathon PB of 2:17:56. That time, which she set when finishing second at last year’s London Marathon, makes her the third fastest woman in history. Tirunesh is keen to beat this time in Berlin and, given ideal weather conditions, might even get close to the world record of 2:15:25, set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003.
Tirunesh will face four other women with PBs faster than 2:20, including defending champion Gladys Cherono and two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat. Cherono regained the Berlin Marathon title last year in 2:20:23, having won in 2015 with a PB of 2:19:25.
Kiplagat, 38, won world titles in 2011 and 2013 and nearly picked up a third gold medal in London last year, eventually settling for silver by just seven seconds. The Kenyan set her PB of 2:19:50 in 2012 and is a previous winner in London, New York and Boston.
Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia set her PB of 2:19:31 on the second of her three Dubai Marathon victories. The 2010 London Marathon champion will be returning to Berlin for the first time since taking the world bronze medal in the German capital back in 2009.
Waliya Boss Abraham Mebratu names assistants
Newly appointed Ethiopian national team head coach Abraham Mebratu made his deputies official, including highly regarded former national team skipper Mulugeta Meheret.
Mulugeta Meheret, who won four Premier League titles with Saint George, two Cecafa championships and played midfield for Hawassa, Saint George and the Ethiopian national team, would have joined Hawassa as Wubetu Abate’s replacement as head coach had it not been for the call to national duty. Famous for having a single booking in more than twelve seasons as a player Mulugeta is expected to bring something completely different.
He has experienced the real situation of chasing a dream and winning something special for his country.
With four Premier League titles and over twelve years’ experience as both Saint George and national team full back, Fasil Tekalegn is the other assistant chosen by Abraham. An assistant to Saint George under current Coach Vaz Pinto and the national side under Mariano Bareto and Yohannes Sahle, the usually reserved Fasil is expected to pass on his abundant experience to his players.
Wubeshet Desalegn is goal keeper coach. Formerly a goalie with the Ethiopian national and Olympic team and later an assistant to Lucy head coach Selam Zeray, Wubshet is tasked with a heavy undertaking. He must produce a goal keeper from out of nowhere for every one of our big name clubs’ goal keepers are foreigners. “It is wise of Abraham to call all three former players to bridge the gap of his lack of playing experience at higher levels,” Asrat Yalew suggested.
Additional staff will soon join Abraham who made a name in Yemen steering the Olympic team to its first ever appearance in the Asian Cup final.
