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Ethiopia Vs Angola
Do or die decisive match today
By Michael Samson
Do or die decisive match
today Seyoum Abate commented on the 4th African Cup Final that
Ethiopia would have fared better had it taken part in the Tunisia
final than zonal Kenya and Rwanda teams. Maybe he has forgotten that
Rwanda reached for the cup final demolishing one of Africa’s great
soccer country Ghana, while the Ethiopian team was eliminated from the
final after a 3-0 defeat by Guinea. Why we cannot accept defeat in
dignity and learn from it is still a real problem. The Ethiopian
Olympic National Soccer team is to visit its Angolan counterpart in
Luanda today. Seyoum, Head Coach of the Olympic Team, arrived in the
Angolan capital on Thursday with 18 of his squad members who are not
favored to win today’s decisive match for Athens this coming July.
Ethiopia is leading the group, which is comprised of Morocco, Angola
and Uganda with six point and two goals. Defeating both Angola and
Uganda at home, by scoring one goal in each matches, while losing 4-0
to Morocco in Rabat. Second after Ethiopia is Morocco with 5 points
followed by Angola with 4 points and at the bottom Uganda, with just a
single point.
Thus, defeating Angola in their own home turf will be the turning
point for the visiting Ethiopians, and the return match against
Morocco in Addis Ababa, in front of the home crowd, will likely go in
favor of Seyoum’s squad. Then comes the match with neighboring Uganda
in Kampala, the last qualifying match.
Seyoum has the opportunity to prove his belief that his team is
capable of performing better than our East African neighbors by
qualifying for the Athens Olympic and write his name in history books
as the first man who lead Ethiopia into the Olympic Soccer Cup Final,
a long time dream of the country’s soccer crazed population.
Play maker Ashenafi Girma is not to enjoy the two away-matches because
he is suspended from the two-game with a red card earned at the home
game. Injured Saddat is also not to journey to Angola for the decisive
match.
Despite the short comings and with just two weeks preparation, Head
Coach Seyoum Abate who always has a way of parachuting in with the
most unpredictable away result is expected to keep his words that the
Ethiopian team could have performed well better than East and Central
Africa representatives in the Tunisian nations cup finals.
Addis Ababa City Circuit Motor Rally
A grand price racecar in the show
The annual Addis Ababa
city circuit motor rally takes place today at Meskel square in the
morning sun.
Challenging the country’s most popular sport: Soccer, motor rally is
now rising high to attract sports fans and participants. In the
season’s first city circuit today, the highest number of cars ever are
lined up to battle for the titles in four categories.
According to the motor association marketing officer Tsega Kumilachew,
25 cars are to take part. The first category in the less than 1000cc
category, five cars are to join the race while in 1001-1300cc six cars
are registered. In the 1300-1600 and 1600-2100 turbo category seven
cars each take part. The former record number of cars was 21 and this
time four more cars are added to give the city circuit more color.
The first category which is comprised of 5 race cars is to cover 10
rounds; cars in the 1301-1600cc category cover 16 rounds, and the
turbo racers need to shine in 20 rounds.
Last season’s Awassa city circuit winner, the 20 year old Samrawit
Mebratu is so far the only women racer to challenge the male dominated
sport. Samrawit not only won her category but also took the over all
championship from which she became the most famous women sports
personality in Awassa. Her father veteran racer Mebratu Haile is also
to take part in today’s city circuit.
Last season’s Awasa city circuit champion young contender George Paulo
is the competitions favorite while the veteran racer Umberto Gula is
expected to challenge him.
The competition’s new phenomena, an international Grand Prix racecar
is to show an exhibition two laps between the category races. Chiro
Yamachiro is in the driving seat for the highly exciting show.
Great Ethiopian Run donate 300,000
Birr to Athletics Federation
Derartu came second in Japan
The
Ethiopian Athletics Federation becomes the main beneficiary of the
three year old Great Ethiopian Run, now the biggest road race event in
Africa. Its donation for the building of the Sendaffa Athletics
Village has increased in accordance to the rising number of
participants each year.
Following the successful conclusion of the 2003 Total Great Ethiopian
Run in September in which 18000 participants took part more than
300,000 Birr of the race surplus has been donated to the Ethiopian
Athletics Federation owner of the Sendaffa village. Thus the donation
in the past three years adds up to 820,000 birr.
According to the Great Ethiopian Run organizers, the donation have
been given to the federation as a contribution towards funds required
for the building of the Sendaffa Athletics village, which will serve
as a national training center for Ethiopia’s future champions. Last
year, more than 2000 race numbers (representing a cost of 60,000 Birr)
were given away for free to youngsters from Anti Aids clubs as means
of encouraging them to participate in sport.
With total participation and the number of invited big stars from
overseas rising each year, the costs of staging the race have now
risen to around 1.9 million birr. At the same time the international
profile of Ethiopian premier athletics competition has also grown. The
one-hour documentary program about this year’s event was transmitted
more than twenty times on three different sports satellite channels
throughout Europe Asia and Africa.
The organizers are now planning the fourth edition of the 10 Km road
race which will be staged in Addis Ababa on 28 November 2004.
In the meantime the two time Olympic Gold medallist Derartu Tulu came
second in the Chiba 6Km cross-country race in Japan. Derartu still
favorite for third Olympic gold, clocked 18:50 seconds twelve seconds
late than Australian 24 year old Benita Johnson who came in 18:38
seconds for her third successive annual championship.
Coffee to sign loan agreement with
three local Clubs
The
defending champion Ethiopian Coffee is preparing for the coming
international match against its Ugandan counterpart Express. In the
meantime, Coffee is said to start negotiations with three different
clubs to sign player loan agreements.
The Olympic team and Electric striker Tafesse Tesfaye, Yared Abeje of
Banks, and Arba Minch Textile central defender Degu Abebe are the
three most wanted players in the Ethiopian Coffee shortlist.
According to sports
weekly “Saint George”, the three players short-term loan signing, to
play against foreign clubs, is a normal thing, widely in used in other
soccer countries. Thus Coffee with no designated goal scorer is to
persuade the three clubs to loan it these soccer players for the March
7 match against Express F.C. in Kampala.
Head Coach Tilahun
Mengesha, so far in good terms with both fans and players, is said to
be under pressure to find a solution for the club’s weak point, which
is a central defender, and top finisher who could make a real
difference in international matches, especially when the game is on
foreign soil in front of menacing crowds. Failure to deliver at least
a first round qualification may place Tilahun’s stay at Coffee in the
hot seat.
Coffee’s new acquisition
Berhanu Kasim of Adama Kenema is illegible to take part in the
international arena and central defender Samuel Demissie, (Kukusha )
still not yet fully recovered; defensive midfielder Anteneh Alamirew
still suspended for international matches; Aspirilla (Mamo Alem Shanko)
late registration in the club; all these short comings may rock
Coffee’s dream of reaching a quarter finals where one million dollar
is up for grabs.
The three teams are
expected to reach an agreement, since the players are said to be much
happier to lend their expertise to Coffee. If Coffee comes out a
winner after the return leg in Addis Ababa the next encounter would be
against the Nigerian club.
Also in the new signing
deal is Saint George who got a green light to sign in the Ghanaian
striker Abraham Kelo. Despite submitting all the necessary documents
the now shaky Ethiopian Football Federation ignored the transfer
request until the beginning of the week. It is only after the club
submitted a letter of grievance to the Football Federation, that
Abraham finally got permission to play for the reigning champions who
are now 9th in the league table.
In the meantime, Saint
George sent the Cameroonian striker Silvestry to his homeland after a
two-month trial that failed to impress the now under pressure Dutch
manager Haans. Silvester’s fellow countryman Majo is said to be in
good form to stay in the club until the end of the season.
The premier league
defending champions Saint George will take part in the coming East and
Central African zonal club championship. |
Tuesday
February 24' 2004
