AFCON
Ethiopia’s Coach Abate names squad for AFCON 2021
Ethiopia’s head coach Wubetu Abate has named a 25-man squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021.
“We have picked a strong team that should be able to perform well at the tournament in Cameroon,” said Abate.
Ethiopia are placed in Group A alongside Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and hosts Cameroon.
The squad is dominated by locally based players featuring in the Ethiopian Premier League with only two abroad based players in Shemeles Bekele (El Gouna, Egypt) and Mujib Kassim (JS Kabilye, Algeria).
Bekele together with Getaneh Kebede and goalkeeper Jemal Tasew are the only three players who were part of Ethiopia’s team in their last appearance at the 2013 AFCON held in South Africa.
The Walia Ibex will open their campaign against Cape Verde on January 9th at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, before facing the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the same Stadium on January 13th in their second group match. They will play their last Group match against Burkina Faso on January 17th.
The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) announced that the team will travel to pitch camp in Yaounde on December 27th.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Tekelemariam Shanko (Sidama Coffee), Fasil Gebre Michael (Bahir Dar City), Jemal Tasew (Adama City)
Defenders: Ramadan Yesuf (Wolkite City), Desta Yohannes (Adama City), Asrat Tunjo (Ethiopian Coffee), Suleman Hamid (Saint George), Yared Bayeh (Fasil Kenema), Aschalew Tamene (Fasil Kenema), Megnot Debebe (Saint George), Menaf Awol (Bahir Dar City)
Midfielders: Amanuel Yohannes (Ethiopian Coffee), Menaf Fitsum Alemu (Bahir Dar City), Gatouch Panom (Saint George), Mesoud Mohammed (Jima Aba Jifar), Shemeles Bekele (El Gouna, Egypt) , Firew Solomon (Sidama Coffee), Bezabeh Meleyo (Fasil Kenema)
Forwards: Abubeker Nasser (Ethiopian Coffee), Getaneh Kebede ( Wolkite City), Amanuel Gebre Michael (Saint George), Mesfin Tafesse (Hawasa City), Dawa Hotessa (Adama City), Shemeket Gugesa (Fasil Kenema), Mujib Kassim ( JS Kabilye, Algeria)
AFCON
Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
AFCON
CAF president blasts Ghana, others over stadium ban
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
AFCON
Present and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
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