Already having best sports personalities in the likes of Haile, Kenenisa, Trunesh and Meseret on the shelf, Ethiopia is on the look out for new sports heroes in the new Millennium. Ethiopia needs not only athletics but also heroes in football, basketball, boxing, cycling and others. It is not only the actual performers but also those play a significant role from behind the curtain. sport’s leadership is one thing the nation is really in need of. Capital sport announces a vacancy for a Hero of the week” spot. Isn’t the new Millennium all about new success?

Ethiopia lose final place after humiliating defeat
Seven coaches for six matches! Surprising

Following a humiliating home defeat at the hands of minnows Namibia, Ethiopia has lost the best of chances of an African Nation’s Cup final place in three decades. What is more surprising is that of group favorite Democratic Congo’s relegation to second place while under dog Namibia booked an automatic qualification topping the group with ten points.
Six group qualification matches later, Namibia with three wins and one draw finished on tip of group ten while former champion DRC finished second with two wins and three draws to total nine points. Libya came third with seven points with Ethiopia bottom of the table with only two wins and four defeats and a total six points.
What was the most surprising part of the qualification was that of Ethiopia’s chance to return to the Nation’s Cup final after thirty years absence. Had Ethiopia been strong enough to win the final qualification match with four goals margin, booking a place for the 2008 Ghana nations cup final was easy to grab. With DRC the group leader until the final match held to 1:1 draw with host Libya, Ethiopia appeared to be the unexpected nations cup final guest in the assumption of an easy home win. However all hope flew away at the end of the match that climaxed in a 3:2 win to visitors Namibian.
The Ethiopian side dominated the first half with more than half a dozen goal scoring chances that missed target. Four went wide while two were saved by the day’s hero goal keeper Atil Mabah.
Berhanu Bogale gave the lead for the home side at the 22nd minute sending home a shot that rebounded from the goal keeper after Taffesse Tesfaye’s shot. Leading 1-0 at half time, with the best hope of qualification and the theater in front of the home fans no one expected the visitors for a surprise second half come back. However the visitors who had nothing to loose returned revitalized with extra charge in the second half dominating in midfield with superior ball possession. Rudolf Bester leveled the score sheet twenty minutes into the final whistle, the turning point for the visitors. Though the home strike force led by South Africn based Fikru Teffera and young Saladin Said, the squad went out of steam to simply wait for the final whistle. Saladin gave the home side a spectacular lead only to be cancelled out minutes later. Knowing their encounter, bone tired Namibia went out for an all out attack that paid off two minutes in to injury time, the winning goal from Oliver Riser who rose to automatic national hero status helping his country to its third African nations soccer cup final.
More than thirty years as soccer coach, Tsegaye Desta, lead actor in Ethiopian premierleague coaches “Merry Go Round” theater, once again failed to keep his word that he built a strong side capable of defeating Namibia at home. Let alone victory, playing ninety minutes was seen like mountain climbing for Tsegaye’s squad. Out of steam for the second half, the Ethiopian national soccer side conceded three goals in twenty minutes. This much for Tsegaye’s big talk of a strong side. Well, seven coaches for six matches-what can one expect? Thus Ethiopia is denied one additional color for the extra ordinary African Millennium celebration courtesy of EFF president Dr Ashber’s ‘enlightened’ leadership.
In the mean time Senegal, Nigeria, Tunisia, Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Angola, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Morocco Zambia and the hosts Ghana have booked their places in the cup final. The remaining three will be decided in matches that take place next week. Cameroon, Ghana and Egypt are hot favorites for the title while those who finished up to fifth are to represent Africa in South Africa at the World Cup.

Ethiopian premier league players transfer market in high swing
Saladin becomes most expensive player

Though the future Ethiopian premier league soccer is in the limbo of two heavy weights and the fate yet unknown, players are switching sides as if nothing unusual happens around. What is more surprising is even those clubs damned for ban by the federation president are the one busy in the transfer market.
Former Mugher Cement and rising national side striker Saldin Said appears to become Ethiopian club's most expensive player in his move to the nation's richest side Saint George. Claimed to start negotiation with South African side Super Sport where international Fikru Tefera based, Saladin is said to secure 70000 ETB transfer fee with Saint George for a two year contract. The deal with Saints already sealed with a clause that permits him join the South African side if the deal goes through.
Ethiopian national side goal keeper Sadat Jemal also claimed to sign a contract deal for his second spell with Defense Force FC for undisclosed amount of transfer fee. Formerly with Ethiopian Coffee, Defense Force and Mugher Cement, Sadat had been in and out of his performance in the past seasons. "I promise to work hard and be the best in the country" Sadat said after the signing.
Head coach to Mugher FC,Abraham T/Haimanot moved fast to replace two of his star players before the pre season kicks-off. In place of Sadat he signed former national team and Electric long served shot stopper veteran Tsegazeab Asgedom from Adama Kenema FC. Being most experienced goal keeper in the premier league many considered Tsegazeab the best catch for Mugher Cement. "You can not believe how fantastic he is in game reading" said a former club mate in Electric. As of the striker Abraham signed one of last season premier league top scorers Dawit Fekadu to shoulder the responsibility formerly with Saladin. Top scorer for Air Force FC many suggests that Fekadu yet to bloom might flourish under Abraham who strongly advocates giving chances for young talents.
In the mean time well traveled through premier league clubs and forth spell with Insurance FC, Seyoum Abate sacked more than ten senior players to give chance for new faces. Seyoum not only kicked out players he also sent home assistant Mersha Mideksa after a season with Insurance. The one signing of senior player so far is goal keeper Adamu Numero from Electric.
In its part Electric EC also intensely participated in the transfer market vowing to win back its former players now with different clubs. Though the premier league leading scorer Tafesse Tesfaye is the big fish awaited to fall in the bowel,others are said already to sign transfer deals. National side full back Tamrat Abebe has confirmed the reunion from Saint George while striker Eyob Tadesse returned after two seasons with Ethiopia Banks. Both players, grown up through the ranks of Electric's most popular youth policy to reach even to national level left Electric for ill treatment for being home kids. Although the amount of signing fee for these players is undisclosed Electric has now in no position except agree with the price and go on build strong side to bring back the glory days of triple titles.

Seyoum Kebede on the look out for premier league hot seat

Two successful seasons in Yemen’s soccer league, last year champion Seyoum Kebede returned home to once again try his luck in the Ethiopian premier league. Though the news is not yet confirmed, Seyoum is on top of the shopping list of one of the run away league clubs Methara Sugar Factory.
The former Saint George head coach who won the premier league title once stayed in Yemen for two seasons in which time he steered-Al-Sakar club to a league title and second runner –up of the Yemen league. With all this under his belt his first application to Ethiopia Banks’ football club head coach position failed to impress the club executive committee that appointed Ashenafi Bekele for the new season. Though Ethiopian Banks’ vacancy announcement for head coach position enticed five coaches-Worku Dergeba, Tesfaye Fetene, Captain Melaku, Seyoum Kebede and Ashenafi Bekele, the committee approved Asehenafi’s employment as expected. Seyoum finished runner up for the position.
In the mean time Abraham Mebratu became the only Ethiopian soccer coach remaining in Yemen. Sewnet Bishaw is already at home in mid season, Seyoum followed suit at the end of the season finishing third in the league and semi finalist at the knock out championship.
Although many Ethiopian players in the Yemen league are back home for Winter break and Millennium celebrations, the story goes that they all are to return to Yemen where they earn better salaries and benefits than home. According to sources most of the players there earn USD 1000 each as monthly salary with full accommodation plus USD 100 incentive bonus for every win. Coaches are earning from 1500 up to 2000 USD per month plus incentives bonus.
Yordanos Abay, Samuel Demisse (Kukusa) Anwar Siraji, Yemen league season top scorer of with 18 goals Berhanu Kasim and Samson Michael are a few former Ethiopian national side popular players now based in Yemen. With Seyoum coming back home it may mean the hey day for Ethiopian soccer coaches in Yemen comes to an end.
It is recalled Ahly –Senaa FC, that appointed an Iraqi head coach after Sewnet Bishaw’s controversial resignation, was crowned Yemen league season championship. Abraham Mebratu helped his side Al-Ahly to finish knock out cup finalist.

Kifle Boltena serious about change in Coffee
Tsegaye back from Tanzania

Back from a two week high level soccer coaching course in Tanzania and Holland Tsegaye Kidane Mariam and Kifle Boltena returned home in time for the Ethiopian premier league new season. Adding those two the relatively younger generation foreign educated coaches number five.
Former Agricultural Marketing FC popular player Tsegaye currently one of the highest paid club coaches with ETB 5000 monthly salary, had been with Trans Ethiopia FC for two seasons in which time he helped the side to finish second runner-up of the premier league two seasons back, the highest in the clubs history.
Tsegaye joined Harar Brewery FC last season following the club’s unexpected decision to sign back former coach Gebremedin Haile.
A season with Harar Brewery, Tsegaye happened to be the right man at the right place in the right time to grab the chance of a two week high level coaching course in Tanzania given for the region through the Ethiopian football federation. With all costs covered by world governing body FIFA Tsegaye traveled to the said country to return with a high level soccer coaching certificate now shouldering the responsibility of leading one of the five remaining clubs to stick with EFF president Dr As heber Harar.
In the mean time Ethiopia coffee’s most popular head coach since Seyoum Abate, Kifle Boltena obtained high level coaching certificate after two weeks stay in Holland. Famous for talent scouting when he was with Electric’s junior side; Kifle is now back to basics that is scouting youngsters for the Ethiopian Coffee senior side. Confident in his newly acquired knowledge from Dutch football, he is said to down play the transfer of veteran players with significant signing bonus. According to sources in the club, Kifle’s efforts to retain the likes of Ethiopian soccer top scorer Tafesse Tesfaye who is said to link to his former side Electric Fc. Defender Wosenu Maze and team skipper Edilu Derege are also free agents looking for a side capable of paying significant signing bonus. Debrom Hagos already resigned for a journey to Canada, Kifle is to miss four of his seasoned players yet not active in the transfer market.
Some veteran Ethiopian Coffee supporters are in doubt of Kifle’s capacity as head coach to steer the club for its first ever Ethiopian premier league title. “I am not sure kefle could stay full season with Ethiopian Coffee for the pressure of supporters is too heavy”, said Elfinesh Sisay a strong Coffee supporter.
Currently, Ethiopian football has five relatively young soccer coaches with certificates from abroad. Gebremedin Haile of Trans Ethiopia from Germany, Abraham T/Haimanot of Mugher from Brazil, Tesfaye Fetene from Hungary, Tsegaye Kidamematiam from Tanzania (CAF) and Kefle Boltena from Holland.

Premiership-pressure+yoth=failure

By Mike Hytner

With news that Manchester United have signed a nine-year-old child in the hope he will turn out to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo, eurosport.yahoo.com suggests the pressures put on ever younger players these days is far too great for them to succeed at the highest level.
With news that Manchester United have signed a nine-year-old child in the hope he will turn out to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo, eurosport.yahoo.com suggests the pressures put on ever younger players these days is far too great for them to succeed at the highest level.
And to back up our claim, we have delved back in time to find a handful of other youngsters who have failed to live up to the great expectations placed on their small shoulders.
Nii Lamptey -Perhaps the most unfortunate of all the players on our list, Lamptey has endured terrible heartache since his rise to prominence as a 16-year-old at Anderlecht. Dubbed the ‘new Pele’, the Ghanaian dazzled fans with his silky skills and he won a move to PSV Eindhoven before Ron Atkinson brought him to Aston Villa in 1994. Once there though, his problems began as a legal wrangle with his agent led to a rapid decline in his fortunes. A string a clubs and four continents later, Lamptey returned to Ghana after being subjected to terrible racism during a spell in Germany and losing two children, one to a rare disease and the other soon after birth.
Valeri Bozhinov -The talented Bulgairan made his Serie A debut at the tender age of just 15, but has since failed to fulfil his vast potential. A respectable return of 16 goals in 65 games for Lecce prompted comparisons with: Wayne Rooney and a big-money move to Fiorentina soon followed, but once in Florence the problems began both on and off the field. A loan spell with Juventus last year proved largely unsuccessful although his summer move to Manchester City could yet revive his career.
Freddy Adu -The great hope of US ‘soccer’ (pictured here) Adu tried, but failed, to make the jump to European football several times before eventually signing for Benfica earlier this summer. Another player dubbed as a ‘new Pele’, the Ghana-born striker made his MLS debut at the age of 14 but, despite the hype surrounding him, he could not hold down a place in DC United’s starting XI. Like, Bozhinov, his move to Portugal could be the making of him as a player, or, indeed, the breaking of him.
Theo Walcott-Selected by Sven-Goran Eriksson to join the England squad at the 2006 World Cup, the nation were led to believe the then lJ-year-old was some kind of secret weapon who was capable of bringing the famous trophy to England for the first time since 1966. Unfortunately, the Arsenal striker did not playa single minute in Germany and a year down the line, many people are still scratching their heads over his inclusion. Now 18, Walcott still has time to turn it round, but question marks remain over whether he can handle the pressure.
Cherno Samba -With a frankly ridiculous record of 132 goals in 32 games for Millwall’s youth sides,the 14-year-old was quickly identified as the ‘next big thing’ back in 1998. But a protracted £1.5 million transfer to Liverpool fell through and he was eventually released by Millwall without having made his professional debut. He summed up his career progression rather succinctly by saying: “At 14 I played for the under-17s. I was still playing for the under-17s when I was 17, which means I didn’t improve my football.” Now 21, Samba is currently without a team after having been released by P~1b at the end of last season.
Owen Price -A contemporary of Rooney and Wayne Routledge in the England youth teams, Tottenham paid Charlton £500,000 for the prodigy who entered the Guinness Book of Records for scoring the fastest ever video-taped goal as a 14-year-old. That goal even convinced a major boot sponsor to snap Price up, but the youngster could not make the grade at White Hart Lane and he eventually left to play in the Conference South for Lewes. From Sussex, he left England to play for Swedish first division side Sundsvall, and has since failed to re-appear on British football fans’ radars.
SonJy Pike -At the tender age of seven, Dutch club Ajax saw Pike’s huge potential and invited the promising toddler to train at their Academy of Excellence. But the pressure heaped on his shoulders at such a tender age proved too much to handle, and Pike could not continue in the path that was chosen
for him. He explained: “I couldn’t take it, and I got ill, really screwed up. I stopped going to training and stuff, because I was so screwed up I couldn’t hack it.” As a result, he suffered a nervous breakdown in 2000, before getting out of the three years later. He is now studying psychology at Dundee University.