A two year lucrative contract attached to no commitment, national head coach Abraham Mebratu appeared shy of speaking against the domination of foreign footballers in particular goal keepers. There are only two sides without any foreign players while 14 out of 16 sides employing foreign goal keepers each boasting an average of three players.
The foreign strikers may not be real threat to Abraham since the home grown locales are the one performing by far better than the imports in their respective sides. Amanuel G/Kidan of Mekele leads the top scorers’ chart with 14 goals followed by Addis Gidey with 13 and Mekelakya’s Menyelu Wondemu with eleven goals.
On the other hand there appeared no goal keeper that stands taller than others for there are only two goalies currently active. Upcoming Sidama goal keeper Coffee’s Lealem Berhanu decaying on the reserve bench since joining Saint George last season, Abraham is left with no option other than taking in the only two goal keepers regularly in line for their teams. But Abraham kept quiet to voice his concern of the threat to the public.
Abraham could have advised Lealem to look for a club that could give him a chance to regular play or advice Saint George to lend him to another club so that he could stay active and fit. But charming and diplomat Abraham appeared cautious of antagonizing the clubs as well the Football Federation that appears oblivious about the chronic problem. Nevertheless the problem is growing and no one charge in addressing it the proper way. As usual lucky Abraham once again saved from hell for Ethiopia lost the chance of staging 2020 CHAN Championship. Therefore he is hardly under pressure to get worried about Ethiopian goal keepers.