Ethiopian
National Team Starts Preparation,
Preliminary Squad Named
March 15, 2003
Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
The Ethiopian Senior National
Team has kick-started preparations for the vital African Nations Cup
qualifier against Liberia on March 30. A preliminary squad of 25
players has been named and the team is now staying at the Ethiopian
Hotel from where it trains at the Addis Ababa Stadium twice a day.
The tie against Liberia in
Addis Ababa will be the side's first match since its capitulation in
the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup in December.
Ethiopia's German coach Jochen Figge will also be keen to prove his
critics wrong after coming under a strong wave of criticism in the
past three months following the defeat. The public, on the other hand,
will be equally anxious as many see this as the best chance for
Ethiopia to qualify for the Nations Cup for the first time in 22
years.
Figge has named a
preliminary squad of 25 players last week with no less than eight new
faces in the squad. The Arba Minch Textiles duo of Adugna Gelaneh and
Mekonnen Gelaneh have a chance to become the first fraternal pairing
in the team since Ashenafi and Million Begashaw made their appearance
for the National team way back in 1993. Ethiopian Premier League top
scorer Yordanos Abay is back in the side after recovering from injury
and Figge keeps faith with Yared Abeje, the Club Banks striker who
scored the only goal in Ethiopia's narrow 1-0 victory at home over
Guinea in October.
Surprisingly, there is no
place in the side for the central defensive partnership of Anwar Siraj
and Yilma Tesfaye. The duo were subliminal in keeping out Guinea's
Abubakar Titi Camara in October's fixture, but miss out this time for
unspecified reasons.
Ashenafi Girma,
star player of the Ethiopian Under-20 team at the World Youth
Championships in Argentina in 2001, returns back to the team after
missing the Guinean tie. The 21-year-old has been in sublime form for
his club side Ethiopian Coffee and is in contention to be the
Ethiopian Premier League Player of the Year.
Former Ethiopian Coffee striker
Mamualem Shanko returns from his trails in Yemen to be included in the
side, but time might have just run out for Kefyalew Tesfaye, the St.
George defender who just returned back to Ethiopia after a year in
Finland.
Ethiopian Preliminary Squad for the Liberia Game
Abebe Wasihun, Adugna Gelaneh, Ambaye Taddesse, Andargachew
Solomon, Andualem Arega, Andualem Gizaw, Andualem Nigussie, Anteneh
Alamirew, Anteneh Feleke, Ashenafi Girma, Berhanu Kasim, Ermias Kidane,
Getu Teshome, Hayder Mensur, Mamualem Shanko, Mekonnen Gelaneh,
Mulualem Regassa, Muluken W/Yohannes, Samson Mulugeta, Tsegaze'ab
Asgedom, Wakjira Anbesse, Wubshet Desalegn, Yared Abeje, Yordanos Abay,
Zewdu Bekele.
|
|
