Ethiopian U-17 national side nick named “Red Foxes” encounters its Ugandan counterpart in the CECAFA Zonal qualification group opening match today. Ten national teams including the host Tanzania took part in the tournament from which the Champion and Runner-up book a place in 2019 African U-17 Cup final.
Seven of the twenty squad members selected from national champions Hawassa, the Red Foxes under head coach Temesgen Dana are boasting the service of 14 year-old Ethio-Swedish Naanol Tesfaye currently under the hot radar of European Clubs including Manchester City and Leeds United.
The hosts Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan are potted in group “A” while Ethiopia, Kenya, title favorites Uganda, Southern Sudan and Djibouti are drawn in group “B” with Chamazi the venue for the group stage.
The group opening match today against Uganda, the second showdown against Djibouti takes place on Tuesday followed by the match against South Sudan next Sunday then the group final match against Kenya on the 22nd of August. Four matches in eleven days Red Foxes that are in Camp for three weeks in the resort town Hawassa are expected to go past the group stage. “This time fill no doubt about the players’ age for the MRI test was under the Eagle eyed professionals. We are ready to give the best that we can” Temesgen Dana told reporters on their departure to Darussalam on Wednesday.
Hosts Tanzania is the hot favorite to win group “A” where Sudan and Rwanda are the dark horses capable of any surprises. Ending a 20 years-old stand-off with Ethiopia and now busy making a head on progress in the dramatic Peace, Love and Unity campaign spear head by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Eritrea is the only absentee of the zonal championship.
Ethiopian U-17 “Red Foxes” out hunting in Tanzania
National team boss Abraham reaches Hawassa
New Ethiopian national team boss Abraham Mebratu invited thirty four players to camp to prepare for the 2019 African Nations Cup final group qualification second round fixtures against visitors Sierra Leone. Though a back breaking undertaking to build a competitive side out of the blue for Waliya’s last meeting was a shocking 5-0 defeat to Ghana eleven months ago, Abraham is optimistic that he can setup a humble contingent in time for the qualification home match on 9th September at Hawassa International Stadium. “I am focused on building a competitive team. We will have a humble yet determined side ready for the home match against Sierra Leone,” the ever charming boss suggested.
They now have less than a month to find the best 23 players. Camp will include medical tests, fitness workouts, technical and tactical trainings in the coming weeks.
Since none of the goal keepers in the top eight are Ethiopians, all four are called from struggling sides. The likely first choice is Abel Mamo from Mekelakya (12th), T/Mariam Shanko from Hawassa (8th), Samson Assefa from Diredawa (10th) and Tsion Mered from relegated Arbaminch .
Petro Jet play maker Shimeles Bekele, Samoha striker Oumed Oukri and mid fielder Gatoch Panom from El-Group all three from the Egypt league, mid fielder Binyam Belay from Eskederbu of Albania are expected to join the team according to international regulations.
Lidya Abebe You learn about life in refereeing
Just like many of the 336 players at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018, Lidya Tafesse Abebe discovered her passion for football at an early age. The only difference is that the Ethiopian fell for refereeing.
“I just love it,” she told FIFA.com with a smile. “I played football at school when I was a young girl and I was at a club for seven years. Basketball was another of my favourite sports. Whenever I watched a football match, I would watch the referees and say to myself: ‘Being a referee is a tough job’. But I kept on thinking about it. My teacher was a refereeing instructor and he told me I could learn how to do it. And that’s how I started. I was 12 at the time.”
Her instructor’s words would prove prescient and Abebe made her dream a reality by becoming a FIFA referee. The 38-year-old was part of the team of officials at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan the following year, while she has also been selected to officiate at France 2018.
“Being a referee is challenging and you learn for your life,” Abebe said. “For example, whenever I go out on the pitch, I completely change the expression on my face. I become strong and I make decisions. People love me for that. They come to me and say: ‘Hey Lidya, you’re completely different, on and off the pitch. Sometimes I’m funny, sometimes I’m strong. I referee men’s games as well and that’s why people say it’s challenging. But for me, it’s easy to do; it’s my life.”
It is that attitude that helped her find her way back to football after the birth of her child. “When I was pregnant, I thought to myself: ‘I feel like my body is strong’. One month after my C-section, I told my friends: ‘I might be big, but I feel light’. Four months after giving birth, I decided to start training again. When I arrived at the stadium, people started laughing and saying: ‘Look, that’s Lydia’. But I just weighed 20 kilos more than usual.
“I would go to the gym in the morning, go home, have a rest, eat healthily and then go swimming for almost three hours,” she continued. “People made fun of me, but I live for being a referee and wanted to come back and participate at a World Cup and the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations. That was my vision. Everyone, including the media, said I wouldn’t make it back. After three months of training, I took the fitness test for the Women’s Premier League and I passed. Everyone was surprised. I also did the tests for the men’s second division and the U-17s, and passed those too. Eleven months after giving birth, I was officiating a semi-final at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations and ran for 120 minutes [the fixture also served as a qualifying game for Canada 2015].”
Such an impressive achievement did not go unnoticed, and later that same year, she was named as the best female referee in her homeland. The U-20 Women’s World Cup in France is next on the agenda for the likeable Ethiopian, who – like the 336 players at the tournament – has shown that it pays to follow your dreams.
One needs to be crazy to understand Ethiopian Football
Ethiopian Football is hard to understand even to senior experienced coaches. Shocking surprises and unsolvable riddles seem to pop up out of nowhere. The latest is Gebremedin Haile’s departure from Premier League Champion Jimma Aba Jifar to take over 4th place runner up Mekele.
Usually when a team wins the championship their leader prepares them for further adventures like retaining the title and international fixtures like the African Champions League.
So the reason that Gebremedin ran away from the champion team to lead the rebuilding Mekele is a riddle in need of some sorcery. One assumption is that Gebremedin jumped away from AbaJifar looking for big money.
The migration of seven players who played key roles in Jimma AbaJifar’s championship dream to Mekele following their boss Gebremedin is the other bizarre phenomena. Of course money is a priority for these players but the incident shows that they have no dream to play at a higher level that is African Champions League next season. They would rather collect fat checks. Ask these players their dream and sure they want to represent Ethiopia and play for a big European club. What a nation with its football cursed for good.
